This Eye-Catching 3D-Printed Two-Part Trolling Motor Control System Offers Three Operating Modes
Looking like an easy competitor for anything you'd buy off-the-shelf, this custom motor controller is an impressive build.
Pseudonymous maker "muttstang77" has put together a professional-looking remote control system for a trolling motor, including a portable "pendant" and a base station — all running from a pair of Espressif ESP32-S2 microcontrollers.
"I'm running a[n Adafruit] Feather ESP32-S2 board with a custom PCB in the pendant," muttstang77 explains of the build, "with some tactile switches for the button press input, a 128×128 OLED, and a single 18650 battery. There's a pogo plug on the base that interfaces with the base station for recharging. The base station has a Metro ESP32-S2 board with an Ultimate GPS shield and a custom board that has some relays, a digital potentiometer, trim pots, and some I/O [Input/Output] breakouts for buttons."
The idea behind the two devices is a low-cost multi-function control system for a fishing trolling motor. Between the display on the pendant and the one in the base station the user is given a precise location, heading, and speed, along with three operation modes: Manual, which uses pulse-width modulation (PWM) to control the motor and maintain a desired speed but with manual steering for the heading; Path Tracking, that handles both speed and heading; and Spot Lock, which acts like a "digital anchor" to hold the boat in place.
"They make trolling motors that do all of this," muttstang77 admits, "but they are spendy and I like to tinker."
The base station is connected to the motor itself through a modified foot pedal. "The foot controller is just three switches and a potentiometer so I replace that with an Arduino controlled set of relays and digital potentiometer," muttstang77 explains. "I tested it with an UNO, digital pot, and a protoboard to make sure I could control it this way. The actual trolling motor has a board in it that interprets this and provides the actual power and control for the motor."
While the project may be designed to come in at a lower cost than commercial offerings, its creator certainly hasn't skimped on the style: The pendant is 3D-printed in bright safety orange, with dual-color control buttons and a loop for a lanyard to make sure it doesn't go overboard. The base station, meanwhile, is printed in yellow with chunky buttons for ease of control.
More details on the project are available in muttstang77's Reddit thread, though design files have not yet been published.
