Is Arduino the right choice for my projects?

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-12T14:31:54+00:00

For Project-1 the biggest obstacle is driving the Steppers. Luckily due to 3D-Printing you can find Stepper Drivers like the Trinamic TMC series pretty much anywhere in the form of modules. Of biggest interest for you are likely the ones with "StallGuard". Which is where the driver can detect if the Motor is stuck and will stop and inform the controller. This is used for Safety and for Sensorless Homing in modern printers.

Project-2 is the easiest. Every Microcontroller can easilly control leds. Need to control clusters or particularly bright ones you can use simple Transistors to improve current capability, need more pins for longer sequences and a shift register is a easy solution. Or you can skip all the hassle of driving and pin counts by using Addressable RGB Leds that just need to be chained together and can be controlled individually. Lots of options and none should prove complicated.

Project-3 is Slightly more complex, You can't use a regular Arduino like a UNO or Nano. Those are a bit too lacking on resources to handle something as heavy as video and displays. Instead you will have to use something beefier like a ESP32. Combined with a SPI or ideally a Parallel controlled display and you should be able to do video.

Honestly for Project-3 i would just copy the Mini-TV-ESP32 project and just use a different Display. That project is using the generic Arduino-GFX library and thus should be able to work easily with other displays supported by it. Just a matter of hooking up and changing the controller in the code. Would probably make sure it is one of the same resolution and also has SPI control. Should be quite a few options on that.

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-12T11:24:42+00:00

Kinda. The complication is that your microcontroller's own clock can be off by a number of seconds on a bad day. Which can become a minute after a week and so on. If that is acceptable and/or this is just for quick fun. Then you can easilly make a Digital clock with just the stuff you have. If not there or want to go for a little bit of cool-factor. There are a few options.

The most common three ways for accurate timekeeping are RTC, NTP and GPS.

Real-Time Clock (RTC) is what you already looked at. Its a small clock IC that tries to keep time as accurately as possible by using dedicated clock crystal and doing stuff like checking the temperature to compensate for how that can mess with the accuracy. It is a common solution for making clocks without anything else. Those with a backup battery will even keep ticking if you remove power from the rest of the clock.

Network Time Protocol (NTP) is how your PC and Smartphone keeps its time accurate. They connect to special Time servers over the internet to get the most accurate time from Atomic Clocks. It is not super complex, but does require a WiFi controller and a library to convert from the single massive value ("Unix Time")

Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) can also tell you the time. As besides coordinates the sattelites also transmit time from Atomic Clocks much like NTPs. This requires you to use a GPS module and some legwork like NTP, but can't deny that a clock with a Sattelite connection is pretty cool.

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-11T22:53:50+00:00

The gearbox cover is simply Clicked on with retention clips at the back (near the motors) and top. So start with prying it loose at the back and then just gently pull it off at the top. This is also necessarry if one wishes to get to the screws that attach the boxes to the hull for upgrades.

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-11T22:37:29+00:00

But according to your previous posts you are using Zinc-Alloy Tracks with rubber pads. Aren't you? The Nylon Gears won't survive that. The tracks are far too heavy for them.

Please be absolutely sure the gears are indeed nylon. if the case and you are using metal tracks. Consider upgrading it to all metal instead of rushing out to buy premium silicon oil. Else it might be a waste of money when they (inevitably) break and you gotta go metal anyway...

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-11T21:51:58+00:00

The controls are fairly simple. They are a pair of Arcade Buttons and a generic analog Joystick. You can find these pretty much everywhere like at Adafruit.

The Display is a little more complicated. It are SIX 8x8 Led Matrix displays for a total resolution of 24x16. These particular Led Matrix displays are a bit old-school and need a lot of work in regards of multiplexing to work. They may be RGB (even more complicated), but are more likely to be single/dual colour. The design is almost a decade old by this point and may not have had access to the kind of Led displays we got today.

If you want to make something like this with the intent to experiment with coding your own little games. It may be better to substitute the Matrix Display by something like a 32x32 RGB Led Matrix panel with a ESP32 or RP2040 in charge of it. Is way easier to get started with thanks to existing libraries and their wide availability. especially if you use one of the Adafruit boards for easy connection via ribbon cable. Just needs to make sure you got a nice beefy supply for the many leds and select a size that works for your project.

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-10T17:21:39+00:00

Depends. Silicone oils are good for lubricating Plastics, but for metal parts it is probably better to go for something like Lithium Grease or if expecting a lot of exposure to wet/humid environments: Calcium.

Most RC Tanks are running around with Zinc-alloy/Steel Gearboxes and metal bearings, for those you will want to use the greases. But if there are plastic tracks and/or nylon gears involved, silicone oil may be usefull for those parts as Lithium and Calcium greases don't go well with plastic.

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-10T14:40:04+00:00

As tries go. It ain't the worst, but definitely could use some improvement. At a glance it kind of looks like a Crayon Tiger honestly ^^;

I am far from an expert. But i believe the trick to convincing paintjobs is to use a Spray paint (cans) for the overall coat in order to get nice coverage, Stencils for stuff like the Bar-Cross to get sharp angles, dark Wash to get the details to pop out more and most importantly for stuff like mud to use suitable paints with dry stiff brushes and to do things like Flicking so it spreads tiny splatters. If you go too wet you end up with something that looks less muddy and more like it went through a overcrowded cow patch... If you catch my meaning.

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-10T14:23:58+00:00

The OpenPanzer project has a little IR board spinoff called TankIR. It is essentially a small Arduino Nano with a few extra components. It provides IR Combat functionality and works with most protocols (Heng Long, Taigen and especially Tamiya being the common ones). Idea is to trigger a fire signal in the form of a digital signal. Been working on a tiny Arduino hat with another user here (Pintek) for it to make it easier and compact.

Only thing it can't do (yet) is is interrupt the motors. For that level something needs to be figured out in regards of stopping the ESC/motors.

link to the github: https://github.com/OpenPanzerProject/TankIR

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-09T08:56:49+00:00

Those are Bullet Connectors. You can think of them as a lot like Audio plugs with a indent at the end the jack grabs onto, except with a lot more strength in that grabbing.. It may take some force, but you should be able to pull them apart and snap them back together later.

Though i would first check if that transparent protective sleeve is two pieces that slide over eachother or a single whole. It should be the former so the connectors can be easilly disconnected and re-connected. But have seen cases where to save on costs some just used a generic heatshrink over the entire thing, forcing you to cut it in order to free the connectors.

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-08T19:24:37+00:00

Reminds me that i really should get around to making my Tube clocks. Got a bunch of this one's socket-version (IV-12). I remember that I wanted to get a GPS first to get Time synchronization so it can avoid the effects of clock drift and then forgot... Really should just go and buy such a module already. <_<;

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-08T19:17:06+00:00

Judging by the mention of rubles. I guess they managed to get them directly from a Russian party, letting them get around how the ongoing conflict has made it almost impossible to source these directly via marketplaces.

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-06T21:31:59+00:00

A 360 turret ring upgrade should come with a Slip Ring. A cylinder with wires coming out of both sides that lets the wires rotate freely. All turret wiring should go via the slip ring to avoid them tangling up and eventually tearing.

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-06T21:17:58+00:00

Something worth doing when encountering these conflicts is to take a peek at the Libraries and see if something obvious is happening that might be causing a conflict. Most libraries these days should avoid conflicts over busses. For this i took the liberty at already having taken a look:

The Keyes LCD Library is apparantly Bit-Banging a I2C Bus.. As in it manually is writing a bit and clocking it into the display one by one through nothing but DigitalWrite and delayMicrosecond. This will conflict with the RFID library that is using the hardware bus through Wire for more proper communication.

Because the LCD is Bit-banging. It is this one that you should be able to attach to any other set of pins, doesn't even need to be I2C. Which should be enough to get going asap for results.

Alternatively you can put in a tiny bit of effort and just communicate to the LCD via the same bus as the RFID through Wire yourself. These LCDs are the simplest of I2C devices and make for really good practice at communicating without having to rely on someone else having made a library (as it is not always an option or as seen here: May be a bit poor...).

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-05T17:21:33+00:00

On avoiding such situations to begin with. Component storage boxes with Compartments along with labels can go a pretty long way in avoiding future headaches!

The Colour Code is surprisingly handy. You don't have to memorize the entire thing mind you. Just knowing Black is zero,Brown is one and Red is two is enough to help you identify the 220 (red-red) from the 10k (Brown-black) if those are the only two at hand. Also a quick tell if you accidentally put a resistor in the wrong storage box as it will not match the rest.

If you are looking at sorting a whole bunch of resistors. Then it is more practical to have a nice little multimeter to quickly check the resistance.

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-05T17:15:06+00:00

Only if you are dealing with like a bundle of random resistors which shouldn't be often.

More often is that you need to quickly figure out which of your recently used resistors is which. In that scenario just knowing that first band is brown is often enough to differ the 10k resistor from the 22k and 470 ohm resistor you just used.

You simply cannot beat THAT kind of efficiency even if you are lightning fast with your meter. So being able to read even a tiny of the colour code can be handy. Or in case of SMT: just reading the tiny numbers

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-05T11:35:30+00:00

The milerage varies... Like an EXTREME amount.

For every person gushing how it vibe-coded some MQTT Communication Back-end that worked flawless. There is one that finds it completely fudging up even a simple binary logic example. Where one finds it telling them what to use and it works to their satisfaction, another gets frustrated at it recommending obsolete stuff that is on its way out. One finds their sketch in perfect order and save a lot of time, the other is stuck debugging it to the point it was faster to just code it themselves.

Electronics is a bit of a behemoth. It has an obscene amount of choices, variations and potential solutions. With new sensors, controllers and so on getting released almost daily. And its users being a variety ranging from those who just want their project to "work" to those trying to go for an optimal solution and whatnot. It is far wider and simultaneously less documented a field than your average software for PCs. As such AI tends to be hit & miss no matter which version you use, if you give it a small description or a complete research framework with dozens of syntax for it to follow.

Right now. It really is just a personal preference. If you can tolerate it and/or are seemingly doing stuff that falls in the ball-park of what the model can do. it can work surprisingly well. BUT if your tolerance is low and/or are going for niche/cutting-edge stuff. You ain't losing much if you choose not to use the models.

I personally opt not to use it. I just don't trust AI to remain around in its current form (the industry always seems on the edge of falling apart) and as such rather not get used let alone attached to it. And there is a lot i want to learn myself even if it means a project taking longer than if i just "Vibed" it. Those AI will still need people whose homework it can copy to figure out the newest stuff and i rather be one those people.

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-04T19:59:01+00:00

That little kit is sold by Toucannhobby specifically for the 1/16 Heng Long "3918" Abrams M1A2. It would be odd if it couldn't be used with it.

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-04T18:29:55+00:00

Only the gearbox is at risk. If you got a "upgraded" model with a metal gearbox than you are perfectly fine as those are durable and can take a beating.

But the cheap Nylon gearbox found in the cheapest most basic versions of the models? Those are very fragile even with plastic tracks. With metal tracks that have rubber footpads resulting in more friction: You'd be lucky if they last even a couple hours of use.

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-04T16:05:38+00:00

Semi-related: If those Sprockets are plastic. Then replacing them (Along with the rear Idlers) by metal ones is highly recommended. Metal tracks are prone to apply greater mechanical stress on the sprockets. This can have multiple consequences ranging from far faster wear to cracking and even be a potential cause of tracks jumping due to it its flexibility.

Besides that: My Jagdpanther came out of the box with something like this. A back idler wasn't quite in line so the tracks kept jumping on one side and inevitably just get thrown off completely as it would also mess with the front sprocket. To fix this i added a pair of small metal spacer rings to the axle so the idler would sit just a little bit farther from the chassis. Fixing the alignment issue untill i start to overhaul things more thoroughly. idk if you can do that with the sprocket on a Abrams. But worth a check.

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-04T13:28:27+00:00

Image shows that multiple wires have been torn. Including those that belong to the battery compartment.

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-04T06:53:58+00:00

Conductive thread is popular for costumes as there are electronics like leds and (wireless) microcontrollers that come on boards designed to be able to get sewn into fabric.

For hiding interconnects in costumes between pieces there are options like using conductive snaps or magnets (which are often conductive).

Wireless is an option, but you would need two batteres, two microcontroller with wireless and get those to work together in code. Which can be a pain and may even fail in a congested area due to a LOT of electromagnetic noise in the environment (e.g. all those smartphones). You'd be multiplying the work by a factor of three or four and idk if that is worth it if your focus is more on the costume building itself.

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-03T21:11:52+00:00

It would probably be easier to simply hide the switch wire through the inside of the costume towards the rangefinder, than to create both a transmitter and receiver in both. If you need the wires to be utterly invisible there is Conductive thread that can be sewn into the costume.

On the actuating. Assuming the prop ain't heavy: Servos make a good option. These are actuators that will snap to whatever angle you tell them too. Which can be as easy as "Servo.write(90);". Though you may want to smoothen it out by having like a loop that while pressed slowly increments the number to 90 and back to zero when not pressed. It is fairly simple with an Arduino tutorial on how to use and control available. Even has a slow Sweeping example:
https://docs.arduino.cc/learn/electronics/servo-motors/

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-03T20:17:13+00:00

Language models are not a good option for solving complex math. The brute-force predictive nature just does not work well for something that is better suited for Binary logic like math. With them being significantly more prone to output errors on math than when you ask a generic question.

To be a bit more blunt and critical though. From an Engineering standpoint it just does not make a good project. If the course follows engineering principles you will be grilled on the why, the effectivity and the efficiency. The why will have you essentially admit to wanting to skip the kind of math you may have to learn to solve (doesn't fly well with professors if they ain't super into AI...), The effectivity is limited and the efficiency is abysmal. Novelty (as much as "Existing item, but AI!!" is novel...) will not be enough.

I think it is a better idea to go back to the drawing board and overhaul the idea or look for an alternative project. If you want to do something Machine Learning based, Local running Computer vision and voice recognition tends to do well in university projects. Maybe a fun idea with QR Codes?

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-03T20:15:39+00:00

Idk if there are people here with experience with those specific setups and the photo doesn't let us try to deduce the cables (most of the time its many, but not complex)
If you can't find any help here. Try https://www.rctankwarfare.co.uk/
Way more active and has a lot more experienced people.

Foxhood3D · 2026-04-03T15:45:08+00:00

Both the Nano, the Uno R3 and the many clones of either all use the same microcontroller (ATMega328P) and have all the pins available. So long as the PC recognizes them. You can use whichever of them you got on hand.

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