Hello all, brand newbie here. I am looking into making my zero turn mower into RC control. I need two servos/actuators to operate the right and left forward/reverse levers. Moving them takes about 10 lbs of force, and there is about six inches of total travel. They would also need to be relatively high-speed units. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
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Hello @fabricator and welcome to our forum.
6 inches would be around 150mm, and 10 lbs of force is around 44N, and if we assume that you are suing 12V power, these two linear actuators with feedback should be good choice:
You can look at this datasheet to see if the speed is good for you also:
Looking forward to your reply.
Thanks so much for the reply, my main concern with a linear actuator is speed but I’ve only had experience with the trailer jack type units that are slow. 46mm/second does seem pretty fast. At $90 bux I could easily afford to get one and check it out.
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Just my luck 
out of stock, restocking soon.
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They are available directly from acutronics no problem, for someone not in the loop on this stuff what does feedback do for this kind of application?
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@fabricator usually, simple linear actuators have built-in limit switches. This means that they can extend or retract until the end point when you apply the power and/or reverse polarity. But you cannot precisely control these and you don’t know in which position actuator is currently.
That is why there are linear actuators with feedback which can give you information about the position of the actuator and you can nicely control these. I guessed that you want these since you probably want to have ability to fine tune position of your levers.
Usually, these actuators are used with LAC board:
Feel free to ask anything else.
Ahhh, ok, yes I do. I already ordered the 46mm/sec one with feedback to check out. thank you this is an immense help to me.
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I’m still not sure how the RC transmitter uses the feedback but I’ll learn that I guess.
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Ahh, ok just read the specs on that control board, I’m guessing the PWM signal would be for the RC transmitter.
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Yes, something like this:
I converted my Craftsman riding mower to RC, and this is what I used. Just another option.
Video: IMG_0768.MOV - Google Drive
Motor controller, 30Amp 7V-35V SmartDrive DC Motor Driver (2 Channels)
That is really cool.
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LOL, I was just going to ask what a setup might look like. I did some looking at the differential steering linkages. It turns out there is a gas piston on each side. I disconnected that, and the amount of force required to move the controls went to less than one pound. At the point the gas piston is connected, there is only three inches of total throw from full forward to full reverse. This is looking like it could actually work.
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I ordered two of the P16 feedback actuators and a control board for each. Also have a frsky 10 channel radio coming. Starting to get real here.
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Anything is possible
This might be of help. Its for an electric zero turn, but should be the same principle.
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That is the radio I ordered. It needs an FPV camera, though.
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FPV camera will be useful so you know where its going and to cut straight. Or may be even use a wifi camera and connect your smart phone to it. I didn’t buy a FPV, I don’t have any cameras. Since that was my first RC project, I was experimenting. I just walk behind it when I cut my grass, and for safety and free exercise
My next version I’m going to put a camera and use microcontroller to make it autonomous.
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I also suggest Facebook marketplace to find cheaper parts. I got the linear actuator and the windshield wiper I’m using as the 2 servos from FB marketplace for real cheap.
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Yep that is the plan, on of the newer digital FPV systems. I want to be able to mow from my air conditioned shop watching the big screen.: )
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I’m sure you already thought about this, but make sure you have failsafe incase you loose connection between rc transmitter and receiver.
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