How I turned a windshield wiper motor into a r/c servo
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- Опубліковано 11 лип 2024
- This method of converting a wiper motor into a servo works, but it may not be the best. You can’t adjust or fine tune the PID. However, it’s a quick, easy, and cheap way to get a high torque servo. All you need is a wiper motor, a normal servo, a motor driver board, and a few wires.
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Here is a link to a follow up video answering some common questions and schematics; ua-cam.com/video/Om0bL459Hgo/v-deo.html
Thank you for sharing your understanding of this topic, I'm currently looking for information as I want to upscale an rc vehicle. You made everything clear as day, I thank you again.
You’re welcome. Good luck with your project, and thanks for watching.
Awesome video man, you’re a great teacher
This is still the best method for average users without lathes and welding, congrats.
Thanks!
Best explained video on the topic .. I am also and going to do the same thing just with a 150w motor ..
Hi custom fabrications:
I do appreciate your effort and this is great video. My comment is more about the reason and a purpose to use the car windshield motor.
1. What everyone would need to do is to convert a double speed DC motor with additional controll wires to just identify the two motor wires enabling it to go FWD and REV and dispose the rest of external wiring,
2. Determine the RPM of the output gear,
3. Determine the additional final gear reduction (if needed) to achieve the sought travel distance at the speed you need,
4 Match the final travel distance (linear or rotary linear) to the feedback potentiometer,
5 Come up with the feedback gear that matches that distance to the feedback potentiometer,
6 Implement the means of Control BOX (R/C here) and Power Drivers to be used,
7 Test and take the consideration of alternative Control Boxes (PID) - wheter analog or digitally achieved,
8 Implement,
9 Try and Test, rework if required (go to 4);
10 End
Cheers
Thanks for the comment. I guess it all depends on the purpose of the motor. If it’s just to experiment to see if or how it would work, or to demonstrate how to do it, or if it’s to be used to just apply the brakes (or even steering) in a large r/c car, then there is no more needed than what I did. If you want to use it to control the swash-plate in a really big r/c helicopter, then yea, you would need to do much more.
@@customfabrications Well; yes - but we are talking about using just the car windshield motor. In any envirovement, the output power is the primary consideration for upgrading the power drive, here - to the windshield motor output gear weight close to the 2 lbs and unless you are building a monster r/c helicopter, the swash-plate considerations are.. well, well far away to even be mentioned.
Please refer to my original reply..
I wasn’t implying that I thought this would work in a helicopter. Bad example. But I think the point is, that it seams like we are both agreeing on, is that any servo needs to be designed to meet the requirements of the task it has to perform.
It was worth giving the try ....to learn the lesson pretty well
Yup. That’s one reason why I did it.
Great video now in the process of doing the same
This is a genius method, awesome 🖤🔥
Thanks!
Awesome video I have lots of servos i need to build one for fun Thank you go on
Thanks. Glad you liked it.
Nice! I know your video has been out for awhile but I just stumbled across it and I'm always looking for ideas and tips. I made my first servo from a wiper motor back in 2016 to be used as a steering wheel control on a full size car for staging a crash. The H-bridge amp I used to drive the motor was something I cobbled together but seemed to work. I cheated and used the original servo with the motor removed mounted on the same plate as the wiper motor with linkage back to it for the potentiometer position. I didn't take a lot to time for details because I thought it was going to be a one time use device and be destroyed in the crash. Well, 8 years and over 30 crashes later it's still going strong. I did updated the H-bridge amp to a commercially available board..
Cool! You in the stunt man business? Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@customfabrications
Haha! not hardly.. I'm retired but I volunteer out at the local public safety training center to help stage their own crashes to gather information and data for their accident reconstruction classes. They get good data with all crashes and I have a ball! A little of the mayhem and madness we have done can be seen in this video:
ua-cam.com/video/Td7kBKz7JLM/v-deo.html
@@customfabrications
Ha! No stunt man here. Since I retired I've done some volunteer work out at the local public safety training center rigging up cars to stage crashes for data to use in their accident reconstruction classes. Some of the past madness and mayhem we've done can be seen in this video: ua-cam.com/video/Td7kBKz7JLM/v-deo.html
@@W4STJ cool! Fun stuff!
I did essentially the same thing years ago, via a home-brew H-driver and FET driving an old 12V drill motor, turning a lead screw, steering a Sears hydrostatic drive lawn mower. The motor's hunting was so bad that I had to add a 12V automotive alternator and eventually burned up the drill. But, it worked for a while. And now it sits in my shop. I had plans to switch steering to hydraulics... we'll see. Great video. Don't worry too much about time if you have a complex topic... we'll fast forward through the slow parts. May I suggest additional diffused lighting? Strong shadows were annoying.. but I realize this was some years ago.
Thanks for the comment. I agree, my lighting could use some work.
Thanks for the video! For those of us w/A.D.D. it's a bit slow, but it makes sense for how well it's explained. BIG Question/Thought for you! You are using the FrSky controller. That sucker has programmable end points for steering and what not!!!! Did you try using the programming to basically adjust your PID? Did it work? If you didn't try, give it a shot and let us know!
Thanks for the comment! I did play around with the controller end points, but didn’t notice any PID control. I’ll have to check again.
Nice simple ,this way is one of the best so far , can you please give me a link for a motor driver thanks
Thanks! This was a while ago, I don’t really have a link. I think I got it from eBay. Just go on eBay and search IBT-4. Sometimes they are called stepper motor drivers, but they’re not.
Amazing! One question, the motor experimented any loss of torque?
Thanks, and as far as I know, it should not lose any torque.
Thank you for this video. i am wanting to drive a 12v motor for a drill press. up and down no more that 2 inchs . i only need the pot. to control the motor. so it will eliminate hand cranking it. i build honey bee feeders and drill lots of holes so yeah think this will work. So could i use the pot from the servo without remote? any thoughts?
Glad you liked the video and found it helpful. I think if I were to do what you’re suggesting, I would buy a servo tester. That is basically just a small board that a servo plugs into and has a knob that you turn to control the servo. No need for a transmitter / receiver. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the video!
I started an attempt to operate exactly these wiper motors with the BTS7960.
The wiper motor gets exceptionally hot.
Is that normal?
I didn’t notice mine getting hot. I would think that as long as you run it on only 12 volts (give or take a few) then it shouldn’t get too hot. Motors generally get a bit warm, but I don’t know why it would get very hot.
I realize this is a few years old but I was wondering what the model of that cheap RC servo was? I’m doing the same thing for a steering setup and I can’t quite figure out what angle of servo to buy. Your end result is exactly the distance I need my wiper motor to travel.
Sorry, I don’t remember. The case it was in is long gone.
What motor driver board did you use? Name, part#, or link?
Oh man, I can’t believe I forgot to mention that. Sorry. It is an IBT-4 motor driver I got on eBay. They go for about $10. A lot of them on eBay are listed as a stepper motor driver, but they aren’t.
That is amazing i want one
Thanks!
How many times did it work, I put it togeather like you did using the IBT-4 it worked 3 or 4 times it was going to cost over half to return it so I ordered another IBT-4 and it worked 3 times I like the ideal but don’t like the motor drive any suggestion.
Mine never failed. Not sure why it would. I have fried other motor drivers in the past because of a faulty motor though. It was in an rc car, and after about 30sec the driver started smoking, so I replaced it and the same thing happened. When I replaced the motor (and the driver again) it was fine. And I used this specific motor driver because it was the same one James Briton used in his video (I think).
Como lo Hicistes amigo ayudame a fabricarlo, saludos desde Perú.!
May not be able to fine tune but it's a smart alternative when other than going to school to learn programming you're pretty much on your own with countless videos with the same old info as others.
Thanks!
Great video. I want to make something like this to control 4 levers on a hydraulic control valve. I would need a controller that would give me 4 channels, so 4 wiper motors but I need the control to go back to zero like the wheel on you controller. What do you recommend? Actually it's a machine that I need to move forward and back, up and down and side to side. The up and down need to be momentary because the machine needs to go up or down like less than an inch each time
I would think a simple 4 channel rc airplane remote would work for you.
@@customfabrications yep the more I thought about it I thought so too. Is there a way to build a remote with switches instead of the joy sticks? I'd still like proportional control. There are "companies" out there that want $5K to $10K to make my stump grinder remote controlled. I can do it myself for probably under $1k. I watch Brunton's video on the wiper motor and I think I'd do the pot connected via belt/pulley/sheave.
There are ICs called digital pots. I’ve not used them, but I think you could use momentary buttons to control them and in turn they would drive the servo. Maybe. Or, you could also make it remote controlled (wired) instead of radio controlled, and buy 4 servo testers. They use a pot, but they are cheap and easy. The only other way I could think of just using push buttons would use an Arduino or other micro-controller.
@@customfabrications thanks for the help. Wired might be the way to go at first and may be good enough. I'm not grasping the servo testers. How would I make that into a nice remote?
A servo tester is just a little box with a knob on it. You plug the servo into the box (instead of an RC receiver). You then just use the knob instead of moving sticks on a transmitter.
Finally someone who hasn't used Arduino for this, thank you! Would this work for a motor that's not computer controlled?
Yes. I’m not even using the computer on this one. Just tie the motor driver directly to the motor wires.
@@customfabrications Many thanks
Hi, Which motor controller you have used in this video? Thanks in advance.
IBT-4
@@customfabrications Thanks boss
Hi man try to do as your video i wire both driver and servo supplied by the power of Adruino circuit and it wont work. Is it the case
Without seeing your exact circuit, I have no idea.
Hi, i have a similar design, but it doesn't go to exact center after left or right when i release the stick. Right and left have their different home position, do you know why would it be? There is no mechanical backlash.
Only thought I have is if there is some slop in the feedback pot.
@customfabrications I have tried different pots. And I checked if the resistance changes, it does. It's like that small servo controller has some huge error margin for middle. @21:57 of your video, that one little spot is a big spot for me case. 😂
Could you put a link to where you got the IBT-4 motor driver?
I just got it from ebay
Hello, great video! I bought the same parts and tried it out. But after few seconds my motor stops spinning. After few moments it spins again, and then stops. This goes so on What do i need to do?
It sounds like there may be a loose connection. I would double check all connections first. Then check to make sure the feedback pot isn't loose. If all that is good then it could be a faulty motor driver. Sometimes cheep electronics from china aren't very reliable. Maybe try to just drive the wiper motor from the motor driver (with out all the servo stuff) and see if it does the same thing. Other than that, I don't know. Hope this helps.
thank you i want to use this to rc control a gokart steering but can i make it check center every time it starts up and go back to center
It will follow the input pot, so if that’s centered on start up then so will the wiper motor.
You are great
Thanks!
ok if you hardmount this to your rc chassis its diff? seems to send 12v through chassis when turning (as wiper motor case is ground ) took me while to figure out what was going on as with engine running it was going mad, but works perfectly with engine off...isolated it from chassis to see if it changes :)
I wouldn’t have thought of that happening. Weird.
@@customfabrications yea bit weird isolated it from frame waiting on new Rx to see if it solves it :)
What motor drive board did you use .
Any help please
Ibt-4
Could you send me a link to the bigger circuit board that you plugged the receiver into? Thanks
It’s an IBT-4, I got from eBay.
Thanks a lot sir
Hi man. Thank you for your great video. I have a question. If I want to use this driver to control 24 V RC motor by Adruino, how can I wiring. Could you please help me with this Thanks a lot
I think you would just connect the Arduino output to the driver where I connected the rc receiver or servo tester (assuming the Arduino output is pwm). Hard to say without seeing the entire circuit. Even then, I’d probably have to play around with it until it works.
@@customfabrications Thanks a lot, I wonder you mention if I use 12V power supply to the driver I have to use regulator to avoid damaging the circuit. So how it is be done and wiring
I’m not really sure how to tell you how to wire something up through the comment section, especially having not seen the circuit. However, you can buy a voltage regulator or a dc to dc converter for pretty cheap to step the voltage down. You would just have to look at the data sheet for wiring. Or do an image search for a similar circuit and modify it to fit your needs.
Great video, Can you tell me your opinion about this controler t.ly/psn6 , can you make a video with this controller? or at least tell me the differences and how I can connect it I want to make a servo to press the car's clutch to use it disabled.
I’ve never used that one. The eBay listing of the link you provided shows the wiring connections. I can’t say any more about it than what that shows. At first I was tempted to buy it and play around with it, until I saw the price. For me, it’s a bit too much just to experiment with and not have a specific purpose. But at first glance it looks good. It looks like if you use that, you would not have to dissect an existing servo first. So it looks better than what I did. But much more expensive.
@@customfabrications thank you for the answer
Amazing.. I am not that much expert like but at 31:24 isnt the orange wheel is reversed in motion anyways because its not installed on moter shaft directly so ur original wire work as suppose to but shaft motion reversed at orange wheel motion
Since the feedback pot is directly connected to the output shaft (orange gear), the motor gearing doesn’t matter. But if you reverse the wires to the motor it would be reversed from the pot output and would drive the wrong way and destroy the pot.
So my little board has a 12v+, Ground, and 5v+, then it has a out 1, out 2, out3, and out 4, then it also has a third spot that says ena, in 1, in2, in3, in 4, and ebb. ena and ebb don't worry about, looks like where the plug attaches, so just in 1,2,3 , and 4. What do I plug into what to make it work like yours??😊
At the moment, I don’t know. I’d have to look at it. What’s the board number / part number?
@@customfabrications L298N
@@customfabrications I have a 1/4 scale RC car /Hummer that is run by a 49cc chainsaw motor with expansion pipe, so the small servos don't work that well on it.....
@@customfabrications the one I have looks like it won't work, I'll get one like you have
Cool! Sounds like a fun project. I’ve seen high torque servos on the market, but they are not cheap. Good luck with it!
the windscreen wiper motors have a lot of force?
That is kind of a relative question. It depends on your definition of 'lots of force'. I don't know exactly how much torque it is capable of, but it is a heck of a lot more than a standard (or high torque) servo.
What servo did you use like how it has board made on back
The servo was an ALTURN USA. Honestly, it was just the cheapest one I had in my parts bin. But every servo I've taken apart has had the circuit board right on top like that.
did you have to put plastic in between mine if I touch it to the motor it will try to run motor and burn the small servo out but plastic sleeve so does not touch
I mounted the circuit board to the plastic case of the wiper motor.
Well its working perfectly mate lol I commented on my pc UA-cam last time (smoke graffiti)
Cool! Good to hear.
Can you still fine tune the trim with the radio?
Yes
Do you have a idea why my light on the 1bt-4 is red?
Not sure. Mine has only been green. I didn’t even know it would show red. The only thing I can think of is either you have the polarity backwards, or there is an internal fault.
Can I put a timer to roll this say 14 revolutions and than reverse?
I’m sure that would be possible. I think I would either use a 555 to make the timer circuit, or use an arduino or basic stamp.
Where did you find that that things?
‘Things’? The wiper motor and motor driver came from eBay, the rest I just had. Is that what you meant?
What Is the Torque of this now ?? Please reply.
It might not have been the most accurate to test it, but I clamped a torque wrench to the output shaft, and it showed right at 100 in-lbs.
Keep in mind that every windshield wiper motor will have different speed and torque specs. Also, modifying them like this does not (should not) change that. You are still supplying them with the same 12v.
Hey, how do i hook a poteinometer to control the directions..?
You would need a circuit with the pot. A servo tester would work because that is a pot with the required supporting circuitry. It would really be beyond the scope of a comment to explain how to do it. You could probably find a few circuits online by searching ‘diy servo driver’.
Thanks man...👍🏻 I appreciate you replied
God job Man. Give me a diagram of this circuit please 😍. Thank you
I’ll be posting a follow up video on this soon showing the diagram better.
I loaded a video showing the diagram. There is a link to it above. Hope it helps.
Nice project! Could you please explain how the pins from servo board is connected to the ibt-4 to which pins? Thank you!
I did. Start watching at 17:55. The servo plug is just plugged into the receiver, the motor wires are plugged into the motor driver board. If the motor turns the wrong way, then switch them.
@@customfabrications i ment that the motor pins of the servo board you connecting to which pins on the driver board. There suppose to be two ENable pins and ground.
The wires that went to the servo motor go to in1 and in2. It doesn’t matter which one is which. But before you perminatly attach the pot, you need to test correct rotation of the wiper motor. If it turns the wrong way, then reverse the wiper motor wires. The common ground wire just goes to ground.
@@customfabrications thank you! Really appreciate your help! I will dig in this direction then!
Now I just need to figure out how to do this with a window regulator....
its the same thing.
Could this be done with the L298N H Bridge? or is its 3A peak too low?
Honestly, I’m not sure how much amps the wiper motor draws, but it would be worth trying. If I ever revisit this project I may try it and maybe actually measure the amp draw.
@@customfabrications there's a video where the test w/a multimeter showed ~2A at full speed w/no load, and a ~2.5A peak at a slower speed. being so high at no load is a deterrent
what kind of board is that nice job
The motor driver is the IBT-4. They are fairly cheap on eBay. And thanks,
Take care Wipers have enough power to rip fingers off
Of course it would work..the question is how to drive the bigger motor will that work.
I did the same by using a $1 SG90 to control the servo from a WL1100 r/c car that used servo control integrated into the receiver/motor controller as a single unit. It just drove the motor directly, which was a bigger motor than the sg90, but it worked.
I'm now needing a bigger servo for a 1/4 scale car, but still using the sg90 I will use a motor driver. The question is how to connect the pot to the bigger motor. I think it best to leave the sg90 servo together but get the motor wires and just link the control arms together with a rod using the sg90 servo arm connection. Update: Here is someone that did exactly what I am talking about: ua-cam.com/video/jE_Z0L-jeAA/v-deo.html
Yup, that works too. Probably countless ways to do it. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Yo conozco una forma más fácil pero no se puede compartir por aquí
Take care with powering wiper motors some have a short two contact plugs as a signal, park It you put power on to them the you may burn out the PSU because of the short out signal for parking the blades
Thanks for the info.
You took a simple project and made it complicated, why?
How would you have done it?
@@customfabrications Take a Chinese pwm attach it to motor +,- leads, plug the pwm to Arduino, sync the controller to it and you're done.
Your abilities are good and logical including the video, however, I just thought it would be an easier solution given the parts you need for that conversion are available for cheap.
Thanks for your video and offering another method of doing things.
I appreciate the comment / suggestion, and yes I could have used an Arduino, however, in your setup, you didn’t mention any type of feedback. A servo needs a potentiometer feedback to the receiver so it knows where it is. Also, not everyone is good at (or even knows how to) program microcontrollers. So I was showing a way that didn’t need to. Plus, the parts I used were very cheap. Maybe cheaper than an Arduino clone. Personally, I usually try to build circuits without the help of a microcontroller when possible. No reason except personal preference. I’ll typically only use a microcontroller if I can’t figure out the circuit or if the circuit board I make would be too big for where it needs to fit. Thanks again for watching and commenting.
James who?
James Bruton. He’s a UA-camr who makes robots and other cool stuff.
Dude, I like how u thoroughly explain how to do this. But saying u wanna see how &/or if this hack works is tantamount to suggesting that u thought of performing this hack (using this method) outa the clear blue. Which you & I know is laughable. As if there hasn’t been countless how-to videos over the last 20 years showing how to do EXACTLY the same thing. U could’ve simplified this method & spent about the amount of $ by just using a Pololu jrk instead. The Kangaroo position control adapter is a fantastic add on by the way. I found plenty of info & videos on UA-cam when I made my first wiper motor servo. It cost me about $50 total. Did it when I was 13 years old. I’m 41 now. So, hacking an analog RC servo & using a speed controller/motor driver is an oldie. PS: you’re absolutely right about James B. being the man though. I subscribe to his channel too. Guy is genius!
Thanks, but I did not say (or mean to imply) that I was the first one to ever think of it. But I did think of it years ago, before I started watching YT. Sorry if that’s laughable to you. But haven’t you ever thought of something only to find out later that someone else already did it? I did the same thing about turning a turbo charger into a turbo jet. Again, years before I owned a computer, I asked one of my teachers of it would work and he said ‘the theory is there, but it wouldn’t work’. Not having tools at the time, I didn’t try it. But years later when I got a computer, I found several people who did it. Sure I could have made the servo many different ways, but I wanted to try it the way I thought about it years ago. The only thing I ‘copied’ from James was the motor driver board.
Excellent video.thank you And duration: I could keep up easily, so I watched it in 1,5x speed...😄 ( Video quality wasnt brilliant)
Thanks. I’ve been thinking about a new camera. Maybe.
Yo conozco una forma más fácil pero no se puede compartir por aquí