Chris. Go for Nimh batteries, unless you HAVE an SLA ready to go. I only use Lipos when weight or size is an issue, ever had one blow up….with a bit of care they should not go that wrong. In addition they do not last as well as Nimhs. I might get two 6V batts and a series lead, If one pack goes, you can effectively replace just "half" of the 12v pack. It also gives you some 6v packs for other projects.

You will not be going fast with a battleship so the battery will likely last for hours. 4500mAhr size, oads of endurance.

The receiver is a handy source of 5v depend on the current drain. I have a few boats on which a spare rx channel powers led lights et.

Ashley

Quite an ambitious project Chris.

I should look out for RC Swordfish torpedo attacks and rudders jamming !

Computer-controlled gunnery ? (There's a fascinating technical description of this on the internet. Sorry, couldn't find a suitable link for you just now).

I'm planning to use an "Arduino" for the turret on my RAF launch. In the 'C' program code you can select a random number generator and then get the chip's output pins to drive a stepper motor – fun to play with…

Good luck with the project,

Dave C

i was going to use some arduino mega pro or nano v3, i was going to couple a potentiometer to the rudders control, so when i deemed that i was going hard to port or starboard, i would reverse the appropriate motor so i could turn quicker, i also thought of choreographing the gun controls as the data flow using lora between the boat and me would be incredible but i am still interested in trying that out.

Differential steering. Look for "Mixer". Either hardware in the boat between radio and ESC or done by the transmitter. Many transmitters do mixing. No point re-inventing something that is already on the market unless it is either going to work much better or cost a lot less, or both. Or do something extra that well established hardware cannot.

hence my question about needing a higher voltage and regulating it so the stepper controllers have 12v

5 volts will be needed, probably at very low current, for the control circuits. The control circuits will, if properly designed, be quite happy controlling any voltage. If a stepper motor control circuit requires the full motor voltage to provide the control signals, it comes down to a question of designing the right interface between the stepper control input and the arduino output.

Quick check of my car battery height – 175mm.  I didn't check the weight.

Edited By Malcolm Frary on 14/03/2021 09:40:05

Hi there

When I built HMS Exeter, at 1:96 scale, I used the ACTion P94 speed controllers to control the 4 motors running on 6 volt. I was considering the Arduino system and also went so far as to how to programme and following instructions from the web about gun movements.

However, to me (and this is only my opinion mind) it was far too complicated and a waste of time as I could do exactly the same thing and have movements of the gun using a Futaba 8 channel control system running on 2.4. All I did was invest in 3 x 180 degree servos which are mounted under each gun turret and 3 mini servos which I mounted inside the gun turrets which in turn elevate and depress the barrels. The speed of which was governed by a unit by a Company called Forge. Basically Forge supplied the units which increase the movement of the 180 degrees turrets to roughly about 220 degrees. Also a unit to control the speed & slowed the servos down.

All I have done extra is made a Y lead up, so I connect 2 battery packs at 4.8 volt each up in series; which give me an extra bit of umph for the power supply for the servos and the rest of the electronics e.g. speed controllers & soforth. Just the way I did it, and, to me less complicated – because – I felt as though I was restricted by set movements of the Arduino system.

John

Edited By John W E on 14/03/2021 18:21:17

Edited By John W E on 14/03/2021 18:23:32

Hi Chris

Just a few extra points on the Arduino front which may be useful :-

1. If the power supply side is getting messy, you can just use a PP9 battery as the 'chip' has it's own on-board voltage regulator.

2. You may find it easier to do a lot of the more complex control movements in the software. If you, or a friend, have any knowledge of the C++ language, it's mainly a question of calling the appropriate library and doing some tailoring.

3. I use the "Elegoo" R3 Uno starter kit for experimentation. It comes with a servo, stepper motor, jumper wires, breadboard etc etc. and is great for proving out theories before committing to the final solution.

4. If you need more inputs and outputs than the Arduino range can provide you can use the "Teensy" board instead. It will run the Arduino software ('Teensyduino&#39 so no need to re-program.

Have fun,

Dave C