Published September 29, 2022 © MIT

Arduino RC Car with Flysky FS-I6X Controller and Receiver

A Beginner Project where you learn how to receive and interpret Signals from a FLYSKY RC Controller using Arduino

BeginnerFull instructions provided3,830

Arduino RC Car with Flysky FS-I6X Controller and Receiver

Things used in this project

Hardware components

DIY Robot Smart Car Chassis Kit

AA Batteries

9V battery (generic)

9V to Barrel Jack Connector

Jumper wires (generic)

Arduino Mega 2560

Adafruit Motor Shield v2.3

Flysky FS-I6X Controller and Receiver

USB-A to B Cable

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Multitool, Screwdriver

Soldering iron (generic)

Tape, Double Sided

Story

The Story

Fastest Car in the World

Most Arduino remote controlled car building tutorials on the internet use Bluetooth and an Android app. However, Bluetooth is not very efficient at real-time remote control:

1. It has a noticeable delay

2. The range is 6 meters at best

3. You need an Android Phone to connect to the HC-05 Module (connecting from an Apple Phone is not possible).

Now, for an easy toy project like a car with 4 DC motors instead of a proper steering servo, this is not an issue. Slapping an expensive RC controller and receiver on this cheap bluetooth car kit from Amazon would be a complete overkill and the fun would subside after a mere 2 minutes of driving just because of the cheap hardware of the actual car.

Unfortunately, I didn't realize until I finished building it. So in the hopes that I have not completely wasted my time on this, I am sharing it on here as an example of what not to do. Hope you enjoy!

1 / 2 • Layout

How it Works

The FLYSKY FS-I6X Controller and Receiver are really expensive and not worth it for this cheap car at all. It's only really worth your money for airplanes, for which it was originally designed. Nevertheless we are using it in this project.

For the actual backbone and motors of the car, I have used this robot car kit from amazon. The battery holder and cables are included. I followed this tutorial to build it, but the instructions for the electronics seem to be wrong so just follow the soldering and building of the motors into the two platforms and refer to my circuit instead. You can use the holes in the platforms for clever cable management, so get creative!

I have used an Arduino Mega (Rev 3) in this, but I don't think there should be any reason why you couldn't just use an UNO on this because you could access the Pin 0 (RX) and 5V and ground through the Motor Shield pins. Then again, please don't just take my word for it.

The Arduino is powered by a 9V battery through the DC barrel jack with an adapter, which is about the most inefficient method available. In my opinion you should always use the 5V USB input with a power bank as it requires less voltage. However, some intelligent power banks require a minimum current pull higher than that of Arduino, so I prefer a regular dumb one.

The motors are driven by the Adafruit Motor Shield v2, a great shield which combined with the code library makes driving motors a lot easier. You can use a regular motor driver but you have to tinker with the code (check out the last section of this video if you plan on doing that). 4 AA batteries are used for power.

I mounted all the parts onto the platform using double sided duct tape. I keep the two antennas of the Receiver flat with zip-ties so that they are parallel to the Controller antenna and the physics work out for optimal range.

Controlling the Car

The Code was by far the hardest part. Don't just copy/paste it, try to understand every step of the algorithm and how the data is processed and changed from the moment it arrives through the receiver to the voltage that the motors receive.

Bonus challenge: Try to understand how the car can turn without a steering servo through offset.

How to control the car

Use the left Joystick to control the speed of the car. Turn it up all the way and the car will drive at maximum speed. However, this will cause turns to be very slow. If you want to make fast turns on the spot quickly turn the motor speed down and the right Joystick into one of the four corners. You can accelerate again once the turn is completed.

Push the right Joystick up and down to control forward / backward movement. The further you turn it up / down, the faster the car will be.. Tilting the Joystick to the left / right will turn the car. The turns will be most effective if you push the Joystick all the way to one of the four corners depending on how you want to turn.

You might be thinking to yourself: "why are the controls so complicated for a simple car?". The truth is I don't know either. But it feels pretty intuitive once you get the hang of it!

The car in all of it's glory

Code

The Code for the Arduino RC Car

/* RC CAR, Translated from Bluetooth Amazon Car to work with Arduino Mega, Flysky FS-I6X Controller and Receiver and Adafruit Motor Shield v2.3

Special thanks to Youtube Channel "DroneBot Workshop" for providing a Template for the Code - https://dronebotworkshop.com/radio-control-arduino-car/
Channel functions by Ricardo Paiva - https://gist.github.com/werneckpaiva/

Written by Enrique Lopez - reference "https://enriquelopezcode.github.io/projects/rc_car" and click on the Arduino Projects Hub link for required parts and wiring  */

//Include Libraries
#include <Wire.h>
#include <Adafruit_MotorShield.h>
#include "utility/Adafruit_MS_PWMServoDriver.h"
#include <IBusBM.h>

//Initialize Motors
Adafruit_MotorShield AFMS = Adafruit_MotorShield();
Adafruit_DCMotor *motor1 = AFMS.getMotor(1);
Adafruit_DCMotor *motor2 = AFMS.getMotor(2);
Adafruit_DCMotor *motor3 = AFMS.getMotor(3);
Adafruit_DCMotor *motor4 = AFMS.getMotor(4);


// Create iBus Object and Channel Values
IBusBM ibus;

int rcCH1 = 0;  // Acceleration
int rcCH2 = 0;  // Left - Right
int rcCH3 = 0;  // Forward - Backward

//Motor Speed Variables
int motor1speed = 0;
int motor2speed = 0;
int motor3speed = 0;
int motor4speed = 0;

//Motor Direction variables
int motor1dir = 0;
int motor2dir = 0;
int motor3dir = 0;
int motor4dir = 0;

// Read the number of a given channel and convert to the range provided.
// If the channel is off, return the default value (by Ricardo Paiva)
int readChannel(byte channelInput, int minLimit, int maxLimit, int defaultValue) {
  uint16_t ch = ibus.readChannel(channelInput);
  if (ch < 100) return defaultValue;
  return map(ch, 1000, 2000, minLimit, maxLimit);
}


// Control Motor
void mControl1(int mspeed, int mdir) {
  motor1->setSpeed(mspeed);
  if (mdir == 1) {
    motor1->run(FORWARD);
  } else {
    motor1->run(BACKWARD);
  }
}

void mControl2(int mspeed, int mdir) {
  motor2->setSpeed(mspeed);
  if (mdir == 1) {
    motor2->run(FORWARD);
  } else {
    motor2->run(BACKWARD);
  }
}

void mControl3(int mspeed, int mdir) {
  motor3->setSpeed(mspeed);
  if (mdir == 1) {
    motor3->run(FORWARD);
  } else {
    motor3->run(BACKWARD);
  }
}

void mControl4(int mspeed, int mdir) {
  motor4->setSpeed(mspeed);
  if (mdir == 1) {
    motor4->run(FORWARD);
  } else {
    motor4->run(BACKWARD);
  }
}







void setup() {
  //Call begin on Motorshield Object and Delay for Connection
  AFMS.begin();
  ibus.begin(Serial1);
  delay(2000);
  
  
}

void loop() {
  //Get Channel Values
  rcCH1 = readChannel(0, -100, 100, 0);
  rcCH2 = readChannel(1, -100, 100, 0);
  rcCH3 = readChannel(2, 0, 155, 0);

  //Motor Speeds Channel 3
  motor1speed = rcCH3;
  motor2speed = rcCH3;
  motor3speed = rcCH3;
  motor4speed = rcCH3;

  //Forward and Backward with Channel 2 Value
  if (rcCH2 >= 0) {
    //Forward
    motor1dir = 1;
    motor2dir = 1;
    motor3dir = 1;
    motor4dir = 1;
  } else {
    //Backward
    motor1dir = -1;
    motor2dir = -1;
    motor3dir = -1;
    motor4dir = -1;
  }

  //Add Channel 2 Speed
  motor1speed = motor1speed + abs(rcCH2);
  motor2speed = motor2speed + abs(rcCH2);
  motor3speed = motor3speed + abs(rcCH2);
  motor4speed = motor4speed + abs(rcCH2);

  // Set left/right offset with channel 1 value
  motor1speed = motor1speed + rcCH1;
  motor2speed = motor2speed + rcCH1;
  motor3speed = motor3speed - rcCH1;
  motor4speed = motor4speed - rcCH1;

  // Ensure that speeds are between 0 and 255
  motor1speed = constrain(motor1speed, 0, 255);
  motor2speed = constrain(motor2speed, 0, 255);
  motor3speed = constrain(motor3speed, 0, 255);
  motor4speed = constrain(motor4speed, 0, 255);

  //Drive Motors

  mControl1(motor1speed, motor1dir);
  mControl2(motor2speed, motor2dir);
  mControl3(motor3speed, motor3dir);
  mControl4(motor4speed, motor4dir);

  //small delay
  delay(50);
}

Credits

enriquelopezprojects

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Arduino RC Car with Flysky FS-I6X Controller and Receiver

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

The Story

How it Works

Controlling the Car

Schematics

Car Circuit

Code

The Code for the Arduino RC Car

Credits

enriquelopezprojects

Comments

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Arduino RC Car with Flysky FS-I6X Controller and Receiver

Arduino RC Car with Flysky FS-I6X Controller and Receiver

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

The Story

How it Works

Controlling the Car

Schematics

Car Circuit

Code

The Code for the Arduino RC Car

Credits

enriquelopezprojects

Comments

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