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What do I need to make my mower remote controlled?

TrailTamer

TrailTamer

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Joined
May 26, 2020
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Down By The River
I have a Toro Proline walk behind mower with hydro drive.

I want to have some fun with it.

What will I need to make it into a R/C rig? I used to play with traxxas r/c’s but it was in circa 2004

I tried to find parts but I can’t really find right words to search. Ex: controller with toggles that’s up/down on both sides rather than ones I always find which have side to side and up/down toggles. And what actuator/servo I need to control hydro drive’s pump controls?

The video attached show how the hydro pump operates (old video before I rebuilt linkages). My thought is to have actuators attached to hydro pumps’ control arms (handle controls disconnected).

Bonus if the controller and something on the mower to turn on/off the pto remotely

I want to mount a camera on the mower and mow my yard from my couch. Help me to make this to happen. :dustin:
 
Spektrum should have an air radio that would work for that. Mine all have a spring loaded right stick but there's probably a way around that. Tons of extra functions that would control everything down to the camera.

The servo part is going to be a little trickier, maybe talk to Dethmachinefab abut how he's running his tank.
 
You can use one stick for the drive with mixing. Real easy. I got a frsky Taranis qx7 running the tank, I think it's 16 channel capable so plenty for your needs. To run the hydro levers your going to need linear servo actuators. I know the pumps have some decent spring pressure to overcome. These plug in like a regular servo but also have a separate power supply from the battery because they use way more juice than can pass through a receiver.
 
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This operates the gun elevation.

It is not fast so it may be an issue when the dog runs in front of robomower
 
Dethmachinefab said:
I know the pumps have some decent spring pressure to overcome.
Click to expand...
Thank for your post! I’ll look into those.


The pump lever have almost no resistance. They move freely when disconnected from control linkages. I’d imagine it’ll be tricky to make a servo/actuator set up to make the mower to stop and not creep.

Maybe one of those larger gear box servos? If I remember correctly my traxxas emaxx and rustler remote controllers had knobs to fine tune it’s steering servo as if it got knocked out of alignment or whatever. To dial out its creep/rolling when it’s suppose to stay still
 
TrailTamer said:
Thank for your post! I’ll look into those.


The pump lever have almost no resistance. They move freely when disconnected from control linkages. I’d imagine it’ll be tricky to make a servo/actuator set up to make the mower to stop and not creep.

Maybe one of those larger gear box servos? If I remember correctly my traxxas emaxx and rustler remote controllers had knobs to fine tune it’s steering servo as if it got knocked out of alignment or whatever. To dial out its creep/rolling when it’s suppose to stay still
Click to expand...
Well thats good, you can use a faster servo then. I was familiar with the hydro gear pumps I had on my old buggy, and they sprung back to center.
 
Chinese 1/5 scale servos will have the torque needed to operate levers and hold positions bonus points is they're cheap.

You can swap the levers in most radios so you don't have the spring back function.
 
DWT said:
Chinese 1/5 scale servos will have the torque needed to operate levers and hold positions bonus points is they're cheap.
Click to expand...
I found this on Amazon. Good one to get?

ANNIMOS 60KG Digital Servo 8.4V High Voltage Stainless Steel Gear Large Torque High Speed Waterproof 1/5 Baja Servos 270 Degrees https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KTSCN4...abc_DQ6ZEEYZ6VYYKKFFC294?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

What do I need for a receiver? The receiver will step down the volt from 12v to ~8v? Can i power it with a 12v lawn mower battery?
 
I will like to use both levers to drive the mower as I don’t think a single lever as a single lever/joystick can steer it as tight (zero turn, one tire drive forward other drive backward) ?
 
TrailTamer said:
I will like to use both levers to drive the mower as I don’t think a single lever as a single lever/joystick can steer it as tight (zero turn, one tire drive forward other drive backward) ?
Click to expand...
It can full skid, lever right or left pivot in place.
 
TrailTamer said:
I found this on Amazon. Good one to get?

ANNIMOS 60KG Digital Servo 8.4V High Voltage Stainless Steel Gear Large Torque High Speed Waterproof 1/5 Baja Servos 270 Degrees https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KTSCN4...abc_DQ6ZEEYZ6VYYKKFFC294?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

What do I need for a receiver? The receiver will step down the volt from 12v to ~8v? Can i power it with a 12v lawn mower battery?
Click to expand...
the receiver will step down nothing and if you feed it 12V it may die.
What you want is a big ass castle BEC programmed to 2s voltage(8.4V) and use that to step down the voltage.
Run the servo power leads straight from the BEC, only run the signal wires to the RX. Cut the RX out of the high current stuff entirely.

opentx is still viable.
EdgeTX is the new hotness.
frsky 9x will run edgetx or opentx. comes with opentx installed.
still my recommendation for cheap/functional.

you can single stick it and the TX will mix the servo outputs based on stick position. They will be relative to the forwrad/back position.
or you can install the centering bits back on the throttle stick and have two centerig gimbals for left/right hydro control and drive it just like you sit on the machine.
centering on the servos to avoid creep won't be a problem. They're more accurate than you are running the handles.
remote PTO is handled by a servo throwing a switch or a solid state relay.
 
TrailTamer said:
I found this on Amazon. Good one to get?

ANNIMOS 60KG Digital Servo 8.4V High Voltage Stainless Steel Gear Large Torque High Speed Waterproof 1/5 Baja Servos 270 Degrees https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KTSCN4...abc_DQ6ZEEYZ6VYYKKFFC294?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

What do I need for a receiver? The receiver will step down the volt from 12v to ~8v? Can i power it with a 12v lawn mower battery?
Click to expand...
That's not a terrible servo, I use stronger on my 1:10 rigs so I'm a bit power biased but it will probably work fine.

You can step the voltage down from the battery on the mower or just run a cheap 2s pack to power the radio and servos. I have some 2s packs and some nice servo horns for 1/5 scale servos I'll send you for free, it's stuff I don't need but you can use so win/win.
 
going to GPS it like those roomba mowers ?

you could get some killer strait lines
 
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