Okay, so I’ve been messing around with this “luca car” thing, and let me tell you, it’s been a ride. I wanted to build a little remote-controlled car, inspired by that Luca character – you know, something fun and quirky.
Getting Started
First, I gathered all the parts. This was probably the most time-consuming part, to be honest. I ordered a basic RC car chassis online – nothing fancy, just something to get me started. Then, I needed a microcontroller. I went with an Arduino Nano because it’s small and I’ve used them before. Also grabbed some:
- Motor driver (L298N – cheap and cheerful)
- Battery pack (just a simple AA holder)
- Some wires, resistors, and LEDs (because, blinky lights!)
- A Bluetooth module (HC-05, so I can control it with my phone)
I basically dumped everything on my workbench and stared at it for a while, trying to figure out how it was all going to fit together.
Wiring it Up
Next up, the wiring. This is where things got a bit… messy. I followed some online tutorials, but I always end up having to improvise a bit.
I connected the motor driver to the Arduino, then the motors to the driver.
I soldered some wires to the battery pack and plugged that into the motor driver’s power input. The Bluetooth module went to the Arduino’s serial pins. I added a couple of LEDs just for fun – one for power, one to show when Bluetooth is connected.
It looked like a bird’s nest of wires, but hey, it worked! (Mostly… I may have accidentally fried one LED. Oops.)
The Code
Coding was next. I am not very good at coding.
I whipped up some Arduino code to read the signals from the Bluetooth module and control the motors. I found some example code online for controlling motors with the L298N, and mashed it together with some Bluetooth serial communication code. It wasn’t pretty, but it did the job.
Basically, I set it up so I could send simple commands from my phone (like ‘f’ for forward, ‘b’ for backward, ‘l’ for left, ‘r’ for right).
Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3
I uploaded the code to the Arduino, held my breath, and turned everything on. The power LED lit up – so far, so good! I paired my phone with the Bluetooth module, and the second LED came on.
Then, I opened a serial terminal app on my phone and typed ‘f’. The car lurched forward! Success! I played around with the controls, making the car go forward, backward, turn – it was surprisingly responsive.
Making it Look Like “Luca”
The basic car was working, but it didn’t look like Luca at all. I used cardboards to give it a luca look shape.
I found some colored paper and cut out the shapes to pasted them to the cardboard.
It’s not perfect, and it’s definitely a bit rough around the edges, but it’s my Luca car, and I built it. And that’s pretty cool, I think.
