Motor toy remote operation

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HalfJack
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Motor toy remote operation

Post by HalfJack »

I have a cheap motorized toy I'd like to control remotely and need some help with motor noise. The toy is powered by two C cell batteries and I want to insert a relay in-line with the power switch and the rest of the toy. My remote activated circuit would be powered by the same batteries as the motors. Turning on the toy won't be a problem because the motors will be off but I can sense that turning off the toy remotely will be an issue. I fear the voltage will drop and combined with cheap motor noise I won't get a clean signal that could be recognized as an off command. How do I sufficiently filter the power supply to the remote circuit? The circuit will be a microcontroller with a ir reciever module like those in a TV with a transistor to switch on the relay.

I also need to have a few remote sense switches to detect the winner of the race (toys will be used to race), one in each lane. The track would be about 10ft long how can I get a clean logic signal that distance that's stable enough to detect a winner without false alarms and disappointed children?
sghioto
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Re: Motor toy remote operation

Post by sghioto »

Generally just a .1uf capacitor across the motor windings is sufficient and of course the required bypass capacitors the micro will require.
Most of the remote controlled toys and cars I used to work on had this capacitor installed.

Steve G.
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Bob Scott
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Re: Motor toy remote operation

Post by Bob Scott »

If the remote control is radio controlled and you are getting RF interference from the motor, use an opto-isolator for motor control. Electric model airplane motor speed controllers use opto isolation. The pulse-width modulation RF interference is hard to get rid of.
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HalfJack
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Re: Motor toy remote operation

Post by HalfJack »

Thanks. Any suggestions for the lane switches? How should I handle a long input wire (approx 10ft.) so I get reliable triggering?
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