Remote Control Lawnmower

Help & Support Robot Parts
1

I’m working on turning my riding lawnmower into a remote control lawnmower.

I have the transmitter and 6 channel receiver. I want to use the receiver and the 12V battery on the lawnmower to activate (and power, respectively) a linear actuator (for acceleration and braking) and an electric car window motor (for turning).

I need the receiver to connect to some kind of relay, the 12V power supply to connect to the relay, and the relay to connect to the actuator and motor.

It’s the “some kind of relay” part that I’m trying to figure out. Could someone point me to the part on here that would serve this purpose? :slight_smile:

Here’s a video showing something similar to what I’m trying to do

youtube.com/watch?v=mrM3QDo71-8
Thanks!
Rick

2

You might just consider using a linear actuator and RC control:
robotshop.com/en/actuators.html
The LAC is ideal, but you need a linear actuator with potentiometer:
robotshop.com/en/firgelli-te … RB-Fir-121
Ex: robotshop.com/en/4-stroke-fi … =RB-Fra-78
As for steering, consider a normal (though larger) servo motor:
robotshop.com/en/invenscienc … =RB-Ins-01

3

Thank you for the links! I ended up with the LAC and this actuator

robotshop.com/en/8-stroke-15 … meter.html

I downloaded the datasheet for the LAC and it looks very easy to hook up… almost TOO easy… so before I hook it up to try it out, I wanted to make sure. I’m hooking this up to a lawn mower with a 12V battery… if I plug the battery directly into the board, it’s not going to be too many amps for it, is it? I’m really trying to avoid putting out another $40 for another LAC because it does exactly what I need :slight_smile:

Thanks!
Rick

4

The current consumed really depends on what the actuator “demands”. Be sure to choose a 12V actuator which does not consume more than ~3A (which is the limit of what the LAC can handle).