I have been working on converting a radio control truck into a robotic truck. It's not going to be an android (human-like) like many people associate with the word "robot", but rather I'm implementing an electronic "brain" along with some sensors and other features. I may do something like giving it the ability to store "tricks" into it's memory, but that can come later. This webpage is to document my progress as well as provide updates for anybody interested.

The plan is to use a pic16F877a microprocessor for the central control and add additional components as needed. One of the nice features of these chips is they can communicate with other PIC chips, so I can expand if necessary. I already had a programmer (a device for writing programs onto the chip) for a pic16F84a, which is an 18-pin device, but I designed and built an adapter for the pic16F877a chip, which has 40 pins, and it works wonderfully.

My remote control truck is one I got quite a few years ago at Wal-mart, with controls that are either on or off. This means it can be stopped, full-speed forward, or full-speed backward, but nothing in between. It's the same thing with the steering: left, right, or straight.

My first task is to take my remote control truck and replace all components inside to give it digital proportional control, which means it has variable speeds and steering. I bought a radio control transmitter and receiver pair designed for remote control aircraft since it has quite a few additional controls besides steering and throttle so that I can control any additional features I want to implement. Plus the new frequency will allow the truck to go much further than the cheapo circuit board it came with. I also bought a servo for steering and I'll build an electronic speed controller for the throttle. Building it myself will allow me to make better use of the main processor for speed and direction control. I'm also planning on using the landing gear switch to control headlights and taillights (which I am adding to the truck along with reverse lights). Most of the lights will be automatically controlled by the microprocessor using the sensors and current remote control input.