Introduction
Build a remote control with two thumbsticks to control your Tank. The left thumbstick controls the left treads (forward & backward) and the right thumbstick controls the right treads. You can drive forward, reverse, or spin in either direction.
You can also manipulate the Gripper using the built-in buttons on each thumbstick to open and close the fingers. We've also made it easy to change the speed of the Tank using the A and B buttons on the micro:bit
If you want a more bare-bones remote check out our Rover Simple Remote or Rover Bluetooth Control
Tools
Video Overview
Featured Document
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If you've built the Rover Tank Body and you want a full-featured remote control this guide will show you how to build one.
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We'll load new code onto the Tank's micro:bit so it can act as a receiver, and we'll load code onto the second micro:bit so it can work as a transmitter.
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Our remote will control the left and right treads independently, which will allow the tank to move forward, backwards, and turn left and right. (And spin around in circles!)
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Since the thumbsticks have built-in buttons (that are activated when you press down) we'll use those to control the Rover Gripper if you have it attached.
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We've added one more feature. You can change the speed of the Tank by using the remote. By default it will start at 50% speed but you can decrease or increase this.
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Just press the A button on the Remote Control micro:bit to slow it down. (One press lowers 10% each time.)
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Pressing the B button will inversely increase the speed by 10% each time.
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Connect the two thumbsticks as shown.
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For the Left Thumbstick connect VRX to Pin 0, SW to Pin 13, and then +5V to any pin in the + (positive) column and GND to any pin in the - (negative) column.
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For the Right Thumbstick connect VRX to Pin 1, SW to Pin 14, and then +5V to any pin in the + (positive) column and GND to any pin in the - (negative) column.
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We're going to load the following code for our Tank Thumb Remote RX program: https://makecode.microbit.org/_3AD53U6m0...
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Once you load the code it won't do anything. Since the code turns the micro:bit into a receiver it will wait until a transmitter sends data before it does something.
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If you look at the code you'll notice the numbers 1 through 3, and 4 through 6, which we referenced in Step 1. Those are the numbers the transmitter will send to the receiver.
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You may also notice the numbers 7 and 8, which are used to control the Gripper if you have it attached to your Tank.
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Finally numbers 9 and 10 are used to change the speed of the Tank.
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Let's load the code onto the second micro:bit so it can function as a transmitter and send control signals to the micro:bit on the Tank.
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Load the following code: Tank Thumb Remote TX program: https://makecode.microbit.org/_bUaV7LU1D...
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Once you've got code loaded on both micro:bits you can test using the remote control with your Tank.
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The left thumbstick should make the left treads move, and the right joystick should make the right treads move.
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Note that we consider the "left" treads to be the ones on your left side if you were standing behind the Tank, not facing the Tank.
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The thumbsticks are also buttons that can be pressed. Pressing each should open and close the fingers of the Gripper.
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If you want the Tank to move slower or faster press the A or B button on the micro:bit located on the Remote Control.
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