6hp Gas Engine Winch with Electric RC

[rcwood17000]

Hey everybody,

This is my first RC project and I don't know much about RC. I'm using a push lawnmower with a 6hp Briggs and Stratton engine to build a winch. I talked about this idea in my intro and got some good ideas. The whole plan is a little more refined now, but I still have questions about this RC stuff.

I drew the wheels facing the wrong way, but that's the basic plan. The winch will be pulling in line about 90 degrees from the lawnmower wheels. There are a few things I didn't draw in, I'll get to that when I get to the final dimensions. There's a rope sheave being turned by a worm gear that's doing all the pulling, and then there's a spool/reel with a slip clutch to pull the tail. The worm gear has a forward/n/reverse gearbox for a go-kart. It's all run off a centrifugal clutch, so every time I hit the gas the reel pulls the tail with whatever torque I set it to slip at while the worm gear turns the sheave whichever direction I tell it to.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DPK9Q9X?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
This is the Radiolink T8FB 8 channel remote and receiver I chose.

Once I figure out the whole RC setup and build the machine, I might want to rebuild the controller so it's more machine like. How hard would it be to change out the potentiometers for switches and buttons?

Here's the thing I'm having trouble understanding. If I have an 18v 12ah battery, like the Milwaukee M18 battery in the picture that's at every job site I've been to in the last few years and that I already own a few of, can I run the 6v servos off them?
I'm not an electromagician but I can solder wires.

Here's a list of things I want to control with electronics:
Throttle - servo - throttle lever/stick
Forward/Neutral/Reverse - servo - 3 position switch
Ignition/ Kill Switch - servo - 2 position switch
Electric start - I have an old drill that I think I can work into the recoil - momentary switch
Horn - maybe a motorcycle electromagnetic horn, just needs 12v on and off - momentary switch

Do I need to get some kind of arduino or something like that to make all that stuff work on the receiving end, or does that all just plug into the receiver and work off the signal from the remote?
What kind of stuff do I need to do to protect the circuitry on the winch? Does it need a fuse box? Diodes? Are cordless tool batteries even a good choice, or do I need to look into something else? it would be super convenient to run it off the M18 batteries.
I think I kind of get how this RC stuff is set up but I don't fully understand where it all plugs in and how it all works together. Can someone please explain it to me or else show me the resources so I can understand it?

I'll continue to update this thread as I build the winch for anyone interested.

 

[Jerold]

Ok that's a new one.

How hard would it be to change out the potentiometers for switches and buttons?

Anything is possible.

The Potentiometer is just a variable resistor. So in theory you could use a multi-position switch which with different resistors for different settings. However, with all the digital electronics in there, it's possible there is some sort of encoder. The aren't as smooth, but the last forever and are very inexpensive. Something look for.

You don't really need the transmitter/receiver if you want to manually control it. It's pulse width modulated (PWM) and the amount of movement is proportional to the pulse. You would need some sort of timer (555 chip at least) or micro (Arduino will work) to create the pulses.

Here's the thing I'm having trouble understanding. If I have an 18v 12ah battery, like the Milwaukee M18 battery in the picture that's at every job site I've been to in the last few years and that I already own a few of, can I run the 6v servos off them?
I'm not an electromagician but I can solder wires.

Yes, with if you use a Battery Eliminator Circuit (BEC). There are plenty out there and they are fairly inexpensive. Just figure out how much current you need and match the voltages.

The are basically DC-DC buck converters already working and packaged up for you. You could just get an Amazon DC-DC converter, but they are crap; low current, very inefficient (hot), will probably break quickly. The BECs are design for the harshness of RC cars. But if you want to save a few $$ and don't care about replacing them from time to time you can certainly go with a cheap DC-DC from Amazon.

Here's a list of things I want to control with electronics:
Throttle - servo - throttle lever/stick
Forward/Neutral/Reverse - servo - 3 position switch
Ignition/ Kill Switch - servo - 2 position switch
Electric start - I have an old drill that I think I can work into the recoil - momentary switch
Horn - maybe a motorcycle electromagnetic horn, just needs 12v on and off - momentary switch

Do I need to get some kind of arduino or something like that to make all that stuff work on the receiving end, or does that all just plug into the receiver and work off the signal from the remote?

This is starting so sound a bit more like robotic controls. I did a quick search on robotic servo control joystick and found this.
https://maker.pro/arduino/tutorial/how-to-control-servo-motors-with-an-arduino-and-joystick

Of course there are push button and switch options too. This guy has an example.

What kind of stuff do I need to do to protect the circuitry on the winch? Does it need a fuse box? Diodes? Are cordless tool batteries even a good choice, or do I need to look into something else? it would be super convenient to run it off the M18 batteries.

That's a complex question. I don't know that you will damage your B&S motor? But you could certainly damage some servos or other stuff. Some of the things that can go wrong are over/under voltage. over/under current and over temperature. But the electronics are pretty basic and the BEC should take care of most, if not all of that. It will probably just shut down if anything goes wrong.

The tool battery will probably work fine if you're just driving servos. We use LiPo Batteries for high loads and that's a bit more of a thing.

One thing that is 100% in your control and needs to be addressed is the servo end point adjustment (EPA). Basically it limits how far the servo and swing in each direction and EPA limits the input signal to there servo to make sure it's not over binding. That's adjustments in the video above.

I think I kind of get how this RC stuff is set up but I don't fully understand where it all plugs in and how it all works together. Can someone please explain it to me or else show me the resources so I can understand it?

The servo wiring is pretty simple. Power is always red and with rare exception (some older Airtronics servos) in the middle. The signal (PWM) and the ground on are always on the outside.

Just remember the darker wire is ground and the lighter one is signal. If you swap them no big deal it "shouldn't" hurt anything, but it won't work either because the servo will be looking for pulses and GND has none.

 

[rcwood17000]

Thanks for the info, that helped. I rigged up an electric start and throttle control. Everything runs on the Milwaukee M18 batteries with no problem. I haven't actually started it with the RC features yet because the engine is dry while I'm building the transmission, but it turns over and the throttle lever works. I'm just waiting on a couple more sprockets, and then I'll have all the parts I need to get started. Keep an eye out, I think this thing might be up and running soon.