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Project: M8 TRX6
- Thread starter Greatscott
- Start date
Well, here is the second part...
The detail is amazing. I am even more amazed it arrived in great condition, it was sent in a plastic bag, with not protection at all.
Untitled by Scott O, on Flickr
Man, I was Traxxas sold the TRX6 as a kit, with no body or electronics...
Oh well, I have abused my TRX6 body, and will need replacing soon.
The detail is amazing. I am even more amazed it arrived in great condition, it was sent in a plastic bag, with not protection at all.
Untitled by Scott O, on FlickrMan, I was Traxxas sold the TRX6 as a kit, with no body or electronics...
Oh well, I have abused my TRX6 body, and will need replacing soon.
OSRC
I wanna be Dave
That is an awesome start! Surprised no one yet has really come out with a semi/truck style body, the chassis is perfect for it.
Finally got caught up on my school work, and carved out a little bit of time to work on this project.
First, I ripped apart an old servo and turned it into an ESC. It works great, the next step is figuring out the resistance balace between the two directions so I can replace the pot with resistors. I think it is 2.5kohm on each side, but I need to play with it to find out.
Untitled by Scott O, on Flickr
Next, I used the ESC to figure out what channels are what on this thing, thankfully, after the multi-ESC circuit, the wiring is straight forward. I was a bit surprised, the wiring going into a slip-ring, so I do not have to limit rotation at all.
If you are interest, here are the colors:
• Blue/Yellow: Winch
• Purple/Green: Boom in/out
• Black/Red: Back lift (single)
• White/Orange: Front Lift (dual)
Untitled by Scott O, on Flickr
The little board on the base is a 5 ch ESC, that gets power and signal through what looks like a standard 3-conductor servo connector. Given that I have no plans of buying the radio needed to run this guy, it will find its way into a landfill via my trashcan; after removing the servo lead, of course.
At a tipping point between deciding if I am going to rip apart five servos for their controllers (will use the rest of the servo as a servo winch), or just get five HW1060s. Given that this thing runs off of 30awg wire, I am leaning towards the servo controllers.
First, I ripped apart an old servo and turned it into an ESC. It works great, the next step is figuring out the resistance balace between the two directions so I can replace the pot with resistors. I think it is 2.5kohm on each side, but I need to play with it to find out.
Untitled by Scott O, on FlickrNext, I used the ESC to figure out what channels are what on this thing, thankfully, after the multi-ESC circuit, the wiring is straight forward. I was a bit surprised, the wiring going into a slip-ring, so I do not have to limit rotation at all.
If you are interest, here are the colors:
• Blue/Yellow: Winch
• Purple/Green: Boom in/out
• Black/Red: Back lift (single)
• White/Orange: Front Lift (dual)
Untitled by Scott O, on FlickrThe little board on the base is a 5 ch ESC, that gets power and signal through what looks like a standard 3-conductor servo connector. Given that I have no plans of buying the radio needed to run this guy, it will find its way into a landfill via my trashcan; after removing the servo lead, of course.
At a tipping point between deciding if I am going to rip apart five servos for their controllers (will use the rest of the servo as a servo winch), or just get five HW1060s. Given that this thing runs off of 30awg wire, I am leaning towards the servo controllers.
Last edited:
Topher Builds
I wanna be Dave
Oh wow this is going to be sweet!
This’ll be awesome! [emoji106] can’t wait to see the progress. I like that you are actually making the boom work, and not just a prop.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I am making slow, but steady progress on this.
I have four of the five ESCs wired and installed, #5 should come in sometime around the end of the week. These are all getting wired up to a DX6e six channel RX, and will be powered off of a CC 2.0 BEC fed off the main battery.
I designed and printed the ESC tree and stand, a cover that looks like a GENSET will go over the top of it. The GENSET has working doors that line up with the pots for easy access for adjustment!
Untitled by Scott O, on Flickr
Untitled by Scott O, on Flickr
Untitled by Scott O, on Flickr
In case you are wondering...
P = Pedestal (the base at the bottom)
W = Winch
B = Boom (extend/retract)
RS = Raise Single
RD = Raise Double
I have four of the five ESCs wired and installed, #5 should come in sometime around the end of the week. These are all getting wired up to a DX6e six channel RX, and will be powered off of a CC 2.0 BEC fed off the main battery.
I designed and printed the ESC tree and stand, a cover that looks like a GENSET will go over the top of it. The GENSET has working doors that line up with the pots for easy access for adjustment!
Untitled by Scott O, on FlickrUntitled by Scott O, on FlickrUntitled by Scott O, on FlickrIn case you are wondering...
P = Pedestal (the base at the bottom)
W = Winch
B = Boom (extend/retract)
RS = Raise Single
RD = Raise Double
Wow! 5 ESCs! Props for the wire organization [emoji106]
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
vito_96
Newbie
this is awesome any update
Yup, I, sadly, am not an electrical engineer....
These servo controllers are VERY difficult to center, and will drift wildly in a matter of seconds. This made for some very comical tests of the crane when trying to control the whole mess through my DX6e. Even when replacing the pots with resistors, they still would not center properly. But, failure only happens when you give up. I have found small cheap ESCs on Amazon that should work for this project; I have test one with success, now I just have to wait for the rest to get in.
These servo controllers are VERY difficult to center, and will drift wildly in a matter of seconds. This made for some very comical tests of the crane when trying to control the whole mess through my DX6e. Even when replacing the pots with resistors, they still would not center properly. But, failure only happens when you give up. I have found small cheap ESCs on Amazon that should work for this project; I have test one with success, now I just have to wait for the rest to get in.
You ever get done wiring something up, and say, "My God, what have I done?"
Untitled by Scott O, on Flickr
Its actually not as bad as I thought it would be, I still have the signal wires to connect to the RX. After testing I might get rid of the switches, but for right now they allow me to turn on only what I want for testing without having to break connections.
Once everything gets tested, no one will know this mess is there...
Untitled by Scott O, on Flickr
Oh, and incase you are wondering, the servo controllers didn't work out well. No matter what I did the controllers would go out of balance and start driving. It actually made for some hillarious testing, I wish I would have gotten on camera. But, it became obvious very quickly that I would have to find another solution. I found some low power ESCs with instant reverse that seem to be perfect for this project.
Untitled by Scott O, on FlickrIts actually not as bad as I thought it would be, I still have the signal wires to connect to the RX. After testing I might get rid of the switches, but for right now they allow me to turn on only what I want for testing without having to break connections.
Once everything gets tested, no one will know this mess is there...
Untitled by Scott O, on FlickrOh, and incase you are wondering, the servo controllers didn't work out well. No matter what I did the controllers would go out of balance and start driving. It actually made for some hillarious testing, I wish I would have gotten on camera. But, it became obvious very quickly that I would have to find another solution. I found some low power ESCs with instant reverse that seem to be perfect for this project.
Yeah, have to agree. If there was ever an example of why Traxxas should package the X6 as a slider/roller kit, this is it.
I am in for the ride, this is cool stuff.
I am in for the ride, this is cool stuff.
It will go on a TRX6 chassis. My orginal intent was to modify the TRX6 to an 8x8, but I am thinking for now, sticking with 6x6.
Everything is wired up and works. I have a couple of things I want to do before I button it up.
One of the things I am trying to decide if they are worth my time to try to fix is the boom extension, it is painfully slow. Between the more powerful ESC and extending the channel limits out as far as I can, it is faster, but still painfully slow.
