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DIY Arduino RC Receiver para modelos

RC e projetos Arduino
por Dejan
•
30 comentários
Neste tutorial vamos aprender como fazer um receptor RC
baseado em Arduino. Desde que construí meu transmissor DIY
Arduino RC em um dos meus vídeos anteriores, recebi muitos
pedidos de vocês, para fazer um receptor dedicado para ele,
então aqui está.

Você pode assistir ao vídeo a seguir ou ler o tutorial escrito

abaixo.
Agora, esses dois dispositivos podem se comunicar facilmente e
podemos usá-los para controlar muitas coisas sem fio. Vou
explicar como tudo funciona através de alguns exemplos. No
primeiro exemplo usaremos este receptor Arduino RC para
controlar um carro simples composto por dois motores DC. No
segundo exemplo, mostrarei como controlar motores e servos
sem escovas, que são componentes comuns encontrados em
muitos aviões RC comerciais, barcos, carros e assim por
diante. Se soubermos como controlá-los, podemos modificar e
controlar facilmente muitos modelos de RC com nosso próprio
transmissor Arduino personalizado.

Como terceiro exemplo, mostrarei como modifiquei e usei este

sistema RC baseado em Arduino para controlar um carro RC
comercial.

Diagrama de Circuito do Receptor Arduino

RC
Para começar, vamos dar uma olhada no diagrama de circuito
deste sistema. A comunicação via rádio é baseada nos módulos
transceptores NRF24L01.

O transmissor envia constantemente dados de seus

controladores, joysticks, botões, potenciômetros e interruptores,
e nós recebemos esses dados com o receptor. Para mais
detalhes sobre como este transmissor Arduino funciona, você
pode conferir meu outro tutorial detalhado para ele.

Também podemos notar aqui que este receptor RC não

funciona necessariamente apenas com este Transmissor
específico que eu construí. Ele pode funcionar com qualquer
outra configuração semelhante composta por uma placa
Arduino e um módulo NRF24L01.
No entanto, o cérebro deste receptor RC é uma placa Arduino
Pro Mini. Para alimentação, podemos usar o pino VCC ao qual
podemos conectar 5V ou o pino RAW ao qual podemos
conectar de 6 a 12V. Observe que existem duas versões do
Arduino Pro Mini, como a que uso aqui que opera em 5V e a
outra opera em 3,3V. Por outro lado, o módulo NRF24L01 opera
em 3,3V, portanto, precisamos de um regulador de
tensão. Desta vez estou usando o regulador de tensão
AMS1117, que emite 3,3V de entradas que podem variar de 5V
a 12V.

Você pode obter os componentes necessários para este

Arduino RC Receiver nos links abaixo:

 Módulo Transceptor NRF24L01…….

……… Amazon  /  Banggood / AliExpress
 NRF24L01 + PA + LNA …………………..
……. Amazon / Banggood / AliExpress
 AMS1117 3.3V Voltage regulator
……….. Amazon / Banggood / AliExpress
  Pin Headers Male + Female
……………….. Amazon / Banggood / AliExpress
 Arduino Pro Mini………………..……..
……….. Amazon / Banggood / AliExpress
 Arduino Pro Mini like the one I used…… Ebay
Disclosure: These are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I
earn from qualifying purchases.

For communication with the Arduino, the NRF24L01 module

uses the SPI protocol, plus two additional digital pins. That
means we are left with 9 digital pins which can be used as
output channels, two of which are the RX and the TX pins. It’s
worth noting, that these pins must be disconnected from
anything while we are uploading a sketch to the Arduino board,
so therefore I made it possible to be connected or disconnected
through separate pin headers. Actually, we can also use the
analog inputs as digital outputs, so although this Arduino board
is quite small, we got plenty of outputs or channels available.

PCB Design
Nevertheless, in order to keep this circuit compact, I made a
custom PCB using the EasyEDA free online circuit design
software. Here, I arranged the 8 channels right next to a 5V and
a Ground rail, and so we can directly connect servos and ECSs to
them. The channel number 9 is located at a separate position,
near the VCC pin of the Arduino, so we can use for example, an
ESC for powering the Arduino with its Battery Eliminator Circuit
feature which provides 5V. Of course, we could use any other
channels for that purpose, as the VCC pin is connected to those
5V rail as well.
As for the channels number 7 and 8, we can see here how there
are interrupted with these pin headers. If we want to use them,
we just have to connect the two pins together. The
programming header is located at the top right corner and the
100uF capacitor serves for both the voltage regulator and the
NRF24L01 module. On the bottom left corner of the PCB, I
placed the analog pins.

Here we can note one more thing, and that’s that some Arduino
Pro Mini boards might have different pins arrangement, so
therefore I included one more version of the PCB so you can
choose the one that match with your Arduino Pro Mini board.
Here’s a link to the project files of this PCB. So once I finished
the design, I generated the Gerber file needed for
manufacturing the PCB.

Gerber files:

DIY Arduino RC Receiver PCB v1 - Gerber file

 1 file(s)  86.02 KB
DOWNLOAD

DIY Arduino RC Receiver PCB v2 - Gerber file

 1 file(s)  86.55 KB
DOWNLOAD
Then I ordered the PCB from JLCPCB which are also the sponsor
of this video.

Here we can simply drag and drop the Gerber file and once
uploaded, we can review our PCB in the Gerber viewer. If
everything is all right then we can go on and select the
properties that we want for our PCB. And that’s it, now we can
simply order our PCB at a reasonable price. Note that if it’s your
first order from JLCPCB, you can get up to 5 PCBs for only $2.
PCB Assembly
After several days the PCBs have arrived. The quality of the PCBs
is great and everything is exactly the same as in the design.
Now we can move on and assemble the PCB. First, we need to
solder the pin headers of the Arduino board. A convenient way
to do that is to use a breadboard to stick the pin headers in it
and so the board will stay firmly in place while soldering. As I
said earlier, depending on your board, the pins might vary a bit,
so keep that in mind when soldering them.
Also, there are some Ground pins that we need to leave free as
there are some traces running on the PCB under them. Once I
soldered the Arduino board, I cut the excess length off the pins.

Next, I placed all other pin headers in place. We need both male
and female pin headers, or it’s actually up to you what pin
headers you will choose to use. However, it’s good idea to use
male pin headers for the digital channels as the servo motors
and the ESC connections are female, so we can easily connect
them.
The voltage regulator is a surface mount component so I used
some Blue-Tack adhesive to hold it in place while soldering.
Lastly, once we solder the two capacitors in place, we can attach
the NRF24L01 module to the appropriate pin headers.
Depending on the application, or the range that we need, we
can use either the normal module with the on-board antenna,
or the one to which we can attach a bigger antenna and can
achieve wireless communication of up to 700 meters in open
space. So that’s it, our Arduino RC Receiver is now ready and we
can use it for anything we want.

For programming the receiver, or connecting the Arduino Pro

Mini to the computer, we can use an USB to serial UART
interface which can be connected to the programing header.

In the Arduino IDE tools menu we need to select the Arduino

Pro or Pro Mini board, select the proper version of the
processor, select the port and select the programming method
to “USBasp”.
And so now we are able to upload codes to the Arduino.

Example 1 – Arduino RC Car

Ok, now we can move on and take a look at the first example.

It’s a simple car consisting of two 12V DC motors and in some

of my previous videos I have already showed you how it works
and how to build it.

See also: L298N Motor Driver – Arduino Interface, How It

Works, Codes, Schematics

This time we will use our new Arduino RC receiver for

controlling it. For driving the DC motors, we are using the
L298N motor driver and for powering, we are using 3 Li-ion
batteries which provide around 12V.
You can get the components needed for this example from the
links below:

 L298N Driver
……………………………….. Amazon / Banggood / AliExp
ress
 12V High Torque DC Motor
………….. Amazon / Banggood / AliExpress
 DC Motor w/ Plastic Tire Wheel
……. Amazon / Banggood / AliExpress
 Breadboard and Jump Wires
………… Amazon / Banggood / AliExpress
Disclosure: These are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I
earn from qualifying purchases.

So, the connections are really simple, the 12V coming from the
batteries go the 12V pin on our receiver, and the six control pins
of the driver go to the 6 channels. We need to note here that in
order to be able to control the speed of the motors we need to
provide PWM signal to the Enable A and Enable B pins of the
driver. In our receiver the channels number 2, 3, 6 and 9 can
output PWM signals, so there I connected the Enable pins of the
driver to the channels number 2 and 6 in this case.

Let’s take a look at the Arduino code now.

/*

Arduino RC Receiver - Car Example

by Dejan, www.HowToMechatronics.com

Library: TMRh20/RF24, https://github.com/tmrh20/RF24/

*/

#include <SPI.h>

#include <nRF24L01.h>

#include <RF24.h>

#define enA 9 // Arduino pin D9 - CH6 on PCB board - PWM output

#define in1 8 // D8 - CH5

#define in2 7 // D7 - CH4

#define in3 6 // D6 - CH3

#define in4 4 // D4 - CH1

#define enB 5 // D5 - CH2 - PWM output

RF24 radio(3, 2); // nRF24L01 (CE, CSN)

const byte address[6] = "00001";

unsigned long lastReceiveTime = 0;

unsigned long currentTime = 0;

// Max size of this struct is 32 bytes

struct Data_Package {

byte j1PotX;

byte j1PotY;

byte j1Button;

byte j2PotX;

byte j2PotY;

byte j2Button;

byte pot1;

byte pot2;

byte tSwitch1;

byte tSwitch2;

byte button1;

byte button2;

byte button3;

byte button4;

};
Data_Package data; //Create a variable with the above structure

int steering, throttle;

int motorSpeedA = 0;

int motorSpeedB = 0;

void setup() {

pinMode(enA, OUTPUT);

pinMode(enB, OUTPUT);

pinMode(in1, OUTPUT);

pinMode(in2, OUTPUT);

pinMode(in3, OUTPUT);

pinMode(in4, OUTPUT);

//Serial.begin(9600);

radio.begin();

radio.openReadingPipe(0, address);

radio.setAutoAck(false);

radio.setDataRate(RF24_250KBPS);

radio.setPALevel(RF24_PA_LOW);

radio.startListening(); // Set the module as receiver

resetData();

}
void loop() {

// Check whether we keep receving data, or we have a connection between the two
modules

currentTime = millis();

if ( currentTime - lastReceiveTime > 1000 ) { // If current time is more then 1 second

since we have recived the last data, that means we have lost connection

resetData(); // If connection is lost, reset the data. It prevents unwanted behavior, for
example if a drone jas a throttle up, if we lose connection it can keep flying away if we dont
reset the function

// Check whether there is data to be received

if (radio.available()) {

radio.read(&data, sizeof(Data_Package)); // Read the whole data and store it into the
'data' structure

lastReceiveTime = millis(); // At this moment we have received the data

// Parse the data from the Joystic 1 to the throttle and steering variables

throttle = data.j1PotY;

steering = data.j1PotX;

// Throttle used for forward and backward control

// Joystick values: 0 to 255; down = 0; middle = 127; up = 255

if (throttle < 110) {

// Set Motor A backward

 digitalWrite(in1, HIGH);

digitalWrite(in2, LOW);

// Set Motor B backward

digitalWrite(in3, HIGH);

digitalWrite(in4, LOW);

// Convert the declining throttle readings for going backward from 110 to 0 into 0 to 255
value for the PWM signal for increasing the motor speed

motorSpeedA = map(throttle, 110, 0, 0, 255);

motorSpeedB = map(throttle, 110, 0, 0, 255);

else if (throttle > 140) {

// Set Motor A forward

digitalWrite(in1, LOW);

digitalWrite(in2, HIGH);

// Set Motor B forward

digitalWrite(in3, LOW);

digitalWrite(in4, HIGH);

// Convert the increasing throttle readings for going forward from 140 to 255 into 0 to
255 value for the PWM signal for increasing the motor speed

motorSpeedA = map(throttle, 140, 255, 0, 255);

motorSpeedB = map(throttle, 140, 255, 0, 255);

// If joystick stays in middle the motors are not moving

else {
 motorSpeedA = 0;

motorSpeedB = 0;

// Steering used for left and right control

if (steering < 110) {

// Convert the declining steering readings from 140 to 255 into increasing 0 to 255 value

int xMapped = map(steering, 110, 0, 0, 255);

// Move to left - decrease left motor speed, increase right motor speed

motorSpeedA = motorSpeedA - xMapped;

motorSpeedB = motorSpeedB + xMapped;

// Confine the range from 0 to 255

if (motorSpeedA < 0) {

motorSpeedA = 0;

if (motorSpeedB > 255) {

motorSpeedB = 255;

if (steering > 140) {

// Convert the increasing steering readings from 110 to 0 into 0 to 255 value

int xMapped = map(steering, 140, 255, 0, 255);

// Move right - decrease right motor speed, increase left motor speed
 motorSpeedA = motorSpeedA + xMapped;

motorSpeedB = motorSpeedB - xMapped;

// Confine the range from 0 to 255

if (motorSpeedA > 255) {

motorSpeedA = 255;

if (motorSpeedB < 0) {

motorSpeedB = 0;

// Prevent buzzing at low speeds (Adjust according to your motors. My motors couldn't
start moving if PWM value was below value of 70)

if (motorSpeedA < 70) {

motorSpeedA = 0;

if (motorSpeedB < 70) {

motorSpeedB = 0;

analogWrite(enA, motorSpeedA); // Send PWM signal to motor A

analogWrite(enB, motorSpeedB); // Send PWM signal to motor B

void resetData() {

// Reset the values when there is no radio connection - Set initial default values
 data.j1PotX = 127;

data.j1PotY = 127;

data.j2PotX = 127;

data.j2PotY = 127;

data.j1Button = 1;

data.j2Button = 1;

data.pot1 = 1;

data.pot2 = 1;

data.tSwitch1 = 1;

data.tSwitch2 = 1;

data.button1 = 1;

data.button2 = 1;

data.button3 = 1;

data.button4 = 1;

Code language: Arduino (arduino)

Description: So first we need to include the SPI and the RF24
library, define some pins, the radio object, and the data
structure where we will store the incoming data from the
transmitter. In the setup section we need to define the pin
outputs and begin the radio communication. For more details
how this works and what each these lines do, you can check
my detailed NRF24L01 tutorial.

In the loop section, we constantly check whether we are

receiving data and if we do, we read that incoming data. If we
take a quick look at the transmitter code, we can see what kind
of data it sends to the receiver. It reads the data from all its
controllers, the joysticks, the potentiometers and the buttons,
and it sends that data as a single package to the receiver.

So, once we read that data, we can do whatever we want with it.
In this case, we will use the Joystick 1 Y-axis value for controlling
the throttle and the X-axis value for controlling the steering. I
put this data into separate throttle and steering variables. The
values we are getting from the joysticks are from 0 to 255. So, if
we move the joystick down, we will set the driver control pins
appropriately so the car moves backwards, and use the throttle
value for controlling the speed of movement. The same
principle applies for driving forward, left and right. Again, I
already have a detailed tutorial on how this car works so you
can check that out for better understanding. At the bottom of
the code we can note the resetData() custom function, which
reset all values to their initial default values so in case the radio
communication is lost, the car will spot moving.

Example 2 – Arduino RC Receiver Servos

and Brushless Motors Control
All right, now we can move on with the second example,
controlling servos and brushless motors using this Arduino RC
receiver.
For controlling brushless motors, we need an ESC, or Electronic
Speed Controller. The Arduino communicates to the ESC with
just a single pin. For controlling the ESC, the Arduino sends a
specific PWM signal to the ESC and with it the ESC controls the
motor speed. The ESC with that same connection provides 5V
through its Battery Eliminator Circuit feature, so we can power
our receiver with it as well.

See also: Arduino Brushless Motor Control Tutorial | ESC | BLDC

As for the servo motors, they have the same type of

connections as the ESC and we can simply attach them to any of
the channels that are available.
You can get the components needed for this example from the
links below:

 Brushless Motor
……………………….. Amazon / Banggood / AliExpress
 ESC 30A
……………………………………… Amazon / Banggood / Ali
Express
 Li-Po battery ……………………..

…… Amazon / Banggood / AliExpress
 MG996R Servo Motor

……………… Amazon / Banggood / AliExpress
Disclosure: These are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I
earn from qualifying purchases.
The input signals for controlling both servos and brushless
motors using ESCs are almost the same. They use specific 50Hz
PWM signal which can be easily generated using the Arduino
Servo library.

Note:  When using MG996R servos with this setup, they might
cause a problem in the circuit and burn the Arduino Pro Mini.
The might draw a higher current and which could cause voltage
spikes at the 5V rail. The Arduino Pro Mini should handle up to
5.5v at the 5V pin, but when those spikes occur that might burn
the Arduino. I had this problem when testing the circuit, and
someone in the comments section also reported the same. A
solution to this might be place a bigger decoupling capacitors
at the servos but I’m not quite sure and I haven’t tested it. So
please be aware of this problem.

On the other hand, in the example I used two other MG996R

servos which didn’t burn the Arduino, I guess because they
weren’t causing such high spikes. Also I used this example with
4 smaller S90 servos and it didn’t have any problem.

See also: How Servo Motor Works &#038; How To Control

Servos using Arduino

/*

DIY RC Receiver - Servos and Brushless motors control

by Dejan, www.HowToMechatronics.com

Library: TMRh20/RF24, https://github.com/tmrh20/RF24/

*/

#include <SPI.h>

#include <nRF24L01.h>
#include <RF24.h>

#include <Servo.h>

RF24 radio(3, 2); // nRF24L01 (CE, CSN)

const byte address[6] = "00001";

unsigned long lastReceiveTime = 0;

unsigned long currentTime = 0;

Servo esc; // create servo object to control the ESC

Servo servo1;

Servo servo2;

int escValue, servo1Value, servo2Value;

// Max size of this struct is 32 bytes - NRF24L01 buffer limit

struct Data_Package {

byte j1PotX;

byte j1PotY;

byte j1Button;

byte j2PotX;

byte j2PotY;

byte j2Button;

byte pot1;

byte pot2;

byte tSwitch1;
 byte tSwitch2;

byte button1;

byte button2;

byte button3;

byte button4;

};

Data_Package data; //Create a variable with the above structure

void setup() {

Serial.begin(9600);

radio.begin();

radio.openReadingPipe(0, address);

radio.setAutoAck(false);

radio.setDataRate(RF24_250KBPS);

radio.setPALevel(RF24_PA_LOW);

radio.startListening(); // Set the module as receiver

resetData();

esc.attach(10); // Arduino digital pin D10 - CH9 on PCB board

servo1.attach(4); // D4 - CH1

servo2.attach(5); // D5 - CH2

void loop() {
 // Check whether we keep receving data, or we have a connection between the two
modules

currentTime = millis();

if ( currentTime - lastReceiveTime > 1000 ) { // If current time is more then 1 second

since we have recived the last data, that means we have lost connection

resetData(); // If connection is lost, reset the data. It prevents unwanted behavior, for
example if a drone jas a throttle up, if we lose connection it can keep flying away if we dont
reset the function

// Check whether there is data to be received

if (radio.available()) {

radio.read(&data, sizeof(Data_Package)); // Read the whole data and store it into the
'data' structure

lastReceiveTime = millis(); // At this moment we have received the data

// Controlling servos

servo1Value = map(data.j2PotX, 0, 255, 0, 180); // Map the receiving value form 0 to 255
to 0 to 180(degrees), values used for controlling servos

servo2Value = map(data.j2PotY, 0, 255, 0, 180);

servo1.write(servo1Value);

servo2.write(servo2Value);

// Controlling brushless motor with ESC

escValue = map(data.j1PotY, 127, 255, 1000, 2000); // Map the receiving value form 127
to 255 to 1000 to 2000, values used for controlling ESCs
 esc.writeMicroseconds(escValue); // Send the PWM control singal to the ESC

void resetData() {

// Reset the values when there is no radio connection - Set initial default values

data.j1PotX = 127;

data.j1PotY = 127;

data.j2PotX = 127;

data.j2PotY = 127;

data.j1Button = 1;

data.j2Button = 1;

data.pot1 = 1;

data.pot2 = 1;

data.tSwitch1 = 1;

data.tSwitch2 = 1;

data.button1 = 1;

data.button2 = 1;

data.button3 = 1;

data.button4 = 1;

Code language: Arduino (arduino)

So, after receiving the data from the transmitter, we convert the
values from 0 to 255 to values from 0 to 180 for controlling the
servos using the write() function. In similar way, we convert the
data for controlling the ESC to values from 1000 to 2000. In this
example we control this ESC from the middle point of the
Joystick number 1, to the up position, so therefore we convert
the values from the middle, 127 to 255 into values from 1000 to
2000. Using the Servo Library writeMicroseconds() function we
send the PWM signal to the ESC and so we can control the
speed of the brushless motor from minimum to maximum.

See also: Arduino RC Airplane | 100% DIY

So, this is how we can control RC airplanes, cars, boats and so

on, as they are usually using this type of motors, servos and
brushless motors.

Example 3 – RC Car Model Control

The RC car came with its own controller which can control the
front wheels to move left and right, as well as move the car
forward and backward.
However, as it’s a cheap RC car, the controls are digital, or either
on or off, to maximum position left and right and maximum
speed. Regardless of that, I disassembled the car to see what’s
inside and how I can implement the Arduino RC receiver for
controlling it.

Once I uncovered the electronic components, I noticed that the

two motors are actually simple DC motors that operate at 5V. 
Even the front motor which controls the limited movements for
the steering is a simple continuous rotation DC motor.

So, apparently, we already know how to control DC motors, so

replacing this circuit board with our DIY Arduino receiver will be
quite easy. In addition to our receiver we just need a motor
driver capable of driving two motors at the same time. There are
plenty of options for that purpose, even the one we used in the
first example, the L298N driver.
However, that one is too big for this application, so I chose the
MX1508 motor driver. This is a simple dual DC motor driver
which features H-bridge and PWM control. It has 4 control
inputs pins, 4 pins for the motors, and 2 pins for powering.
I desoldered the motors connections from the RC car circuit
board and soldered them to the driver. On the back side I
soldered the power pins and what’s left now is to connect this
driver with the receiver. The power for this RC car comes from
4.8V Ni-Cd battery located at the bottom of the car.

So, using jump wires I connected these pins to the VCC pin of
the Arduino, and also connected the 4 control input pins of the
driver to 4 digital channels. As I said, this driver supports PWM
control, so for the motor B, or the rear motor, I used the PWM
channels number 2 and 3.
You can get the components needed for this example from the
links below:

 MGRC RC Car
………………………………… Amazon / Banggood / AliExp
ress
 MX1508 DC Motor Driver

……………… Amazon / Banggood / AliExpress
 Breadboard and Jump Wires

………… Amazon / Banggood / AliExpress
Disclosure: These are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I
earn from qualifying purchases.

The code for this RC car is very similar to the first example.

/*
 Arduino RC Receiver - RC Model control

by Dejan , www.HowToMechatronics.com

Library: TMRh20/RF24, https://github.com/tmrh20/RF24/

*/

#include <SPI.h>

#include <nRF24L01.h>

#include <RF24.h>

#define in3 5 // D5 - CH2 - PWM output

#define in4 6 // D6 - CH3 - PWM output

#define in1 7 // D7 - CH4

#define in2 8 // D8 - CH5

RF24 radio(3, 2); // nRF24L01 (CE, CSN)

const byte address[6] = "00001";

unsigned long lastReceiveTime = 0;

unsigned long currentTime = 0;

// Max size of this struct is 32 bytes

struct Data_Package {

byte j1PotX;
 byte j1PotY;

byte j1Button;

byte j2PotX;

byte j2PotY;

byte j2Button;

byte pot1;

byte pot2;

byte tSwitch1;

byte tSwitch2;

byte button1;

byte button2;

byte button3;

byte button4;

};

Data_Package data; //Create a variable with the above structure

int steering, throttle;

int motorSpeedA = 0;

int motorSpeedB = 0;

void setup() {
 pinMode(in1, OUTPUT);

pinMode(in2, OUTPUT);

pinMode(in3, OUTPUT);

pinMode(in4, OUTPUT);

Serial.begin(9600);

radio.begin();

radio.openReadingPipe(0, address);

radio.setAutoAck(false);

radio.setDataRate(RF24_250KBPS);

radio.setPALevel(RF24_PA_LOW);

radio.startListening(); // Set the module as receiver

resetData();

void loop() {

// Check whether we keep receving data, or we have a connection between the two
modules

currentTime = millis();

if ( currentTime - lastReceiveTime > 1000 ) { // If current time is more then 1 second

since we have recived the last data, that means we have lost connection

resetData(); // If connection is lost, reset the data. It prevents unwanted behavior, for
example if a drone jas a throttle up, if we lose connection it can keep flying away if we dont
reset the function

// Check whether there is data to be received

if (radio.available()) {
 radio.read(&data, sizeof(Data_Package)); // Read the whole data and store it into the
'data' structure

lastReceiveTime = millis(); // At this moment we have received the data

// Parse the data from the Joystic 1 to the steering and throttle variables

steering = data.j2PotX;

throttle = data.j1PotY;

// Throttle used for forward and backward control

if (throttle < 110) {

// Convert the declining throttle readings for going backward from 110 to 0 into 0 to 255
value for the PWM signal for increasing the motor speed

motorSpeedB = map(throttle, 110, 0, 0, 255);

// Set Motor B backward

analogWrite(in3, motorSpeedB);

digitalWrite(in4, LOW);

else if (throttle > 140) {

// Convert the increasing throttle readings for going forward from 140 to 255 into 0 to
255 value for the PWM signal for increasing the motor speed

motorSpeedB = map(throttle, 140, 255, 0, 255);

// Set Motor B forward

digitalWrite(in3, LOW);
 analogWrite(in4, motorSpeedB);

// If joystick stays in middle the motors are not moving

else {

digitalWrite(in3, HIGH);

digitalWrite(in4, HIGH);

// steering used for left and right control

if (steering < 110) {

digitalWrite(in1, HIGH);

digitalWrite(in2, LOW);

if (steering > 140) {

digitalWrite(in1, LOW);

digitalWrite(in2, HIGH);

// If joystick stays in middle the motors are not moving

else {

digitalWrite(in1, HIGH);

digitalWrite(in2, HIGH);

}
}

void resetData() {

// Reset the values when there is no radio connection - Set initial default values

data.j1PotX = 127;

data.j1PotY = 127;

data.j2PotX = 127;

data.j2PotY = 127;

data.j1Button = 1;

data.j2Button = 1;

data.pot1 = 1;

data.pot2 = 1;

data.tSwitch1 = 1;

data.tSwitch2 = 1;

data.button1 = 1;

data.button2 = 1;

data.button3 = 1;

data.button4 = 1;

Code language: Arduino (arduino)

We use the data coming from the joysticks to control the
throttle and the steering of the RC car. For moving backward we
use the analogWrite() function to send PWM signal to the driver
at the Input3 pin, while we hold the input4 pin LOW. For
moving forward, we do that the opposite way. If the joystick
stays in the middle, we give command to the driver to brake or
stop the motors. The same principle is used for the steering
motor, though here we don’t have to use the analogWrite()
function as we don’t need to control the speed of this motor.

After uploading this sketch to the Arduino, I had to reassemble

the RC car. I placed the small driver in the inside housing and
secured the rest of the parts with the screws. I reconnected the
receiver with the driver, and placed it under the outer housing
of the car which had enough place to fit in the receiver.

So, not only we modified this RC car to be controlled with our

DIY RC transmitter, but also improved it by adding PWM control
so now we can also control the speed of car. In case the RC
model you want to modify has servos and brushless motors
instead of DC motors, you can follow the method explained in
the second example.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and learned something new .

Feel free to ask any question in the comments section below
and don’t forget to check my collection of Arduino Projects.
CategoriesProjects
How to Setup GRBL & Control CNC Machine with Arduino
Arduino RC Airplane | 100% DIY
30 thoughts on “DIY Arduino RC Receiver for RC
Models and Arduino Projects”

1.
Biszku Gábor
January 10, 2021 at 11:05 pm
Hi Dejna

I really like your website and your work. I would have a

question: Can this servo be used to operate 2 servos and 6
dc motors (at the same speed) with this rc receiver?
Thank you, Gábor.

Reply


Dejan
January 13, 2021 at 5:23 pm
Hey, thanks! Well it has 9 channels so yes, it can
control 2 servos and 6 DC motors at the same time.

Reply

2.
Jette
June 23, 2020 at 8:48 am
Hi, Dejan. Thank you very much for the great project. I
found the Arduino Pro mini can’t provide enough power
for MG996R. Is it possible to add a mini dc converter to
the pcb? MP1584EN or mini360 is a great one for instance.
Thank you again.

Reply


Dejan
July 11, 2020 at 4:11 pm
That’s true, the Arduino Pro mini can’t provide
enough power for a MG996R servo, so adding a DC
converter to the PCB is good idea.

Reply


Mahargha Debnath
November 24, 2020 at 4:46 am
using the 2nd example’s codes can we control
brushed escs to drive the maximum no. of motors

Reply


Lothar Löwer
January 3, 2021 at 9:10 pm
First of all: Dejan, thank you very much for the
great project. I also build up a transmitter an s
receiver and it works quite good (I still have
problems with the MPU6050).

Hi Mahargha,
of course you can control brushed escs. The
receiver simply generates the signals to control
the speed of an esc or servo. But – in case you
use more than one esc with a BEC circuit –
 please disconnect the +5V wires of the other
escs to ensure to use a single 5V voltage
supply.

I wrote a version using all six potentiometers

generating six PWM-signals. Nevertheless, I
added a delay of 20ms in the code of the
transmitter to get a good result – like an old rc
control device sending the data every e.g.
20ms. Without this delay, it doesn’t work. I
guess, the servo library has some problems to
handle a huge amount of set-points.

I also combined the digital channels (8

switches) using a single “byte” instead of 8
bytes to reduce the size of data to be
transmitted and received .

Best regards from Kassel/Germany,

Lothar

Reply

3.
Sonu prajapati
June 11, 2020 at 8:46 am
Sir can we use in this project l298 as a motor controller

Reply


Dejan
June 22, 2020 at 7:27 am
Yes, you could use the L298 motor controller in
combination with this RC receiver.
 Reply

4.
AJ
May 16, 2020 at 2:35 pm
Hey Dejan, is it compulsory to use 0.1 uf capacitor or any
other value is fine .

Reply


Dejan
May 18, 2020 at 9:46 pm
You can use anything similar or close to it.

Reply

5.
Wolfgang Rupp
May 4, 2020 at 10:52 am
Hi,i have a
question, also connect other servos to the reciver or only
the SG90?
If I use other servos the Arduino pro mini has problems ….
because of the load/ amp ?……
when i that servo MG995 with the reciver connect has the
arduino mini pro malfunction
he function then not more…..
Can you help me?
greetings
Wolfgang Rupp

Reply


Dejan
May 5, 2020 at 6:34 am
Hey, I’m sorry to hear that. But the same happened
to me. I though it was a problem with my particular
MG996R motors that I used. They malfunction my
Arduino too.
I tried other two MG996R servos and it worked. In
the example with the plane I also tried 4 SG90 and it
works.
Nevertheless I guess the problem is with the current
the MG996R draw and they somehow cause a
voltage spike higher that 5.5V, and that burns the
Arduino Pro Mini.
Not quite sure, but maybe if you place bigger
decoupling capacitors at the servos could help with
this problem.
Or you can use separate 5V power supply, instead of
the 5V from PCB board.
Sorry about the inconvenience. I will add this note in
the article as well so people will be aware of it.

Reply


Wolfgang Rupp
May 5, 2020 at 8:26 am
Hi,
is all good, your projects are verry good, the
arduino pro mini 5v can only 40mA per exit, i
have then the servos separately with electricity
provided, and works perfect, also without
interference, the MG 995 Servos have, too with
me Interference caused.
As soon as I the MG 995 Servo with the Arduino
pro mini connect,bother something
 if my project is
finished i will send a video,

I’m happy on your next one new projects, and

say thank for your Help
Greeting
Wolfgang Rupp

Reply

6.
Andrzej
May 3, 2020 at 2:18 pm
Hi. Great project! I have a question: if we use two identical
sets of transmiter-receiver, can we control two models
independently at the same time, at the same frequency?

Reply


Dejan
May 4, 2020 at 6:44 am
Hey, thanks! Yes, you can change the channel or the
name of the “address” variable in the code.

Reply

7.
james
April 21, 2020 at 12:37 pm
It would be a great event to be able to control your
motorized slider camera with pan and tilt with your
arduino rc transmitters and arduino rc receiver. Will you be
able to do this; it would be your masterpiece. Hello and
many compliments for your pages.
 Reply


Dejan
April 22, 2020 at 3:02 pm
Hey, thanks for the comment. It’s true, controlling
the motorized camera slider project with the DIY RC
transmitter would be really awesome. But I’m afraid,
currently I don’t have the time to modify that project.
In such a case, the PCB will have to be modified and
also the code. It’s not that it’s too hard or it has too
much work on it, it’s simple and old project to which
I don’t think of going back to it for now. Anyway, if
you understand well how the transmitter and the
receiver work, you should be able to implement it on
your own.

Reply

8.
umar abdullah mohd pauzi
April 18, 2020 at 11:05 am
hi dejan.just one quick question.are the PCB single layer or
double layer?because i do not know how many layer to
choose when ordering from JLPCB.really appreciate your
help.

Reply


Dejan
April 18, 2020 at 12:29 pm
Hey, it’s a 2 layer PCB.

Reply
9.
Wolfgang Rupp
April 11, 2020 at 10:35 pm
Hi Dejan,
I hope you are fine,………
the transmitter is finished and works perfectly, once took
the sketch from the hovercraft, works very well ………..
only for the Arduino pro Mini the new version I had to lay
two wires for the pin 4 and 5 on the transmitter board …….
I’m eagerly waiting for your new receiver projects …
Wish you a happy Easter and health
greeting
Wolfgang Rupp from Germany

Reply

10.
Wolfgang Rupp
April 2, 2020 at 12:20 pm
Hello Dejan,
everything was regulated with the order of the boards
from JLCPCB, I had ordered 5 boards, but the ordering
process turned into 5 orders, no idea how this could have
happened, but now everything is okay, boards are
ordered, now it says waiting….

I have a question about the new project, you control the

rudder on the RC plane with the potentiometer to fine-
tune it, what should the sketch look like?
Many thanks for the help,
Greetings Wolfgang Rupp (Germany)

Reply
 
Dejan
April 2, 2020 at 1:02 pm
Hey, that’s great!
Yes, we can fine-tine the RC plane rudder with the
potentiometer. I will also include sensitivity control
with the second potentiometer. I mean, we can add
many features, it’s all about how we can program the
receiver.
Stay tuned, the project is coming in a week or
two. 

Reply

11.
Paul
April 2, 2020 at 1:34 am
Hello Dejan,
Would it be possible for you to export the gerber files of
your Transmitter and Receiver PCBs as a stp.file?
I would greatly appreciate this, so i can print custom cases
for both!
Sadly i can not work with just the gerber files and fusion, a
trial and error approach using the pictures would be
possible, but will waste filament, which right now is better
used for face shields!
Again, i would appreciate it very much if you could help
with that.

Greetings from Germany

Reply


 Dejan
April 2, 2020 at 10:19 am
Hey, I don’t have a .stp file from the PCBs and I’m not
sure how I can make one. The gerber files is all I
have, plus I guess you have already checked the
EasyEDA project files, I’m not sure if that would be of
any help, but maybe it will. You could use the
measuring tool there to get the precise dimensions,
but that would be the same as measuring the
physical PCB by hand. Let me know if you think of
any other idea how to make .stp files for 3D printing.

Reply


Paul
April 2, 2020 at 7:03 pm
Hi Dejan,
you guessed wrong and that helped!
I totally missed that EasyEDA project link and its
useability for my build, I was able to export it as
.dxf-File, which will be usable in Fusion360!
Thanks for the reminder, now i can design a
proper Case
Thank you.

Reply

12.
Wolfgang Rupp
April 1, 2020 at 11:47 am
Hi,
thanks for the quick help,
I got in touch with JLCPCB this morning and sent the zip
file again. I’m still waiting for an answer ……
 This is my third order from JLCPCB, the Gerber files from
your project RC Sender and the Range Measurer and
Digital Spirit Level were also flawless ……..
I will write to you as soon as I hear something

greeting
Wolfgang Rupp

Reply

13.
Wolfgang Rupp
March 31, 2020 at 5:31 pm
Hi Dejan,
I hope all of you are healthy,
I am overwhelmed by the new project, that is exactly what
I was looking for, I almost finished the transmitter, I just
had to put the two pins A4 and A5 with short cables to the
pins on the board, since I used the Arduino pro mini in the
(old version) nowhere to be found.
Your new project
is exactly the right thing, as we should stay at home here
in Germany.
This is my second project of yours, the first was Range
Measurer and Digital Spirit Level, which I copied, it works
great.
Thank you for the new project, stay healthy.
Warm greetings from Germany
Wolfgang Rupp

Reply


Dejan
April 1, 2020 at 6:50 am
Hey, thank you, I’m glad to hear it! Have fun
building!

Reply


Wolfgang Rupp
April 1, 2020 at 9:24 am
Hy,
I ordered the boards yesterday evening with
the Gerber file: DIY Arduino RC Receiver PCB v2
– Gerber file
and JLCPCB support,
support wrote me this answer this morning.

Hi sir
Well got your order with many thanks ~

Sorry to bother you, but there is an issue that

we want to confirm with you before
proceeding.

As shown below, there are only one design but

you ordered 5 different designs, could you
please kindly confirm that if you uploaded
wrong gerber file?

Can you help me there?

gr
Wolfgang Rupp

Reply


 Dejan
April 1, 2020 at 10:59 am
Hey, I’ve just checked the PCB and the
gerber file, they look fine. I’m not sure
what happened. Maybe try to cancel that
order and make a new one. And please let
me know whether you managed to order
the PCB.

Reply
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Hey I'm Dejan, a maker, a techie and a mechatronics engineer. I love

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Table of Contents
1. Arduino RC Receiver Circuit Diagram
2. PCB Design
2.1. DIY Arduino RC Receiver PCB v1 - Gerber file
2.2. DIY Arduino RC Receiver PCB v2 - Gerber file
3. PCB Assembly
4. Exemplo 1 – Carro RC Arduino
5. Exemplo 2 – Servos do Receptor RC Arduino e Controle de Motores
Brushless
6. Exemplo 3 - Controle de Modelo de Carro RC
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