Newbie, help wiring a dual axis gyro to RC servos/ motors

Robotics and electronics discussion Electronics
1

Hi,

I’m new to electronics and trying to attach a a dual axis gyro to a model RC tank to stabilize the turret and gun. I bought both the Pololu XY and XZ gyros (LPR550AL & LPY550AL). They didn’t come with instructions and the website I guess is geared toward people who are pro in electronics. As I said before I’m new to electronics and know the basics. I’m trying to wire the gyro between the RC receiver and the servos controlling the turret azimuth motor and the main gun elevation servo. I’m trying to simulate how a real tank turret is stabilized, if you watch a video of a tank with a stabilized turret you’ll see the turret and gun stays pointing at a certain point even-though the hull of the tank is moving and turning as long as the gunner does not move the turret.

I tried using gyros that are designed for RC airplanes and Helicopters but the servos movements are very small and not continuous because they are designed to adjust rudders, elevators and so on. I’m hopping the Pololu gyros would work continuously.

Thanks for your help in advance.
T. Chouman

2

Hello.

Using a gyroscope to achieve that kind of stability is not trivial. Simply connecting those gyros in between your RC receiver and servos will not work. You will need to read the output of the gyros with something like a microcontroller, interpret the signal, and then generate standard RC servo pulses to adjust the positions of your turret and gun.

By the way, we provide information on how to use those gyros on their product pages, and link to their datasheets under their Resources tabs. If there is a specific part of the datasheet or product page you do not understand, I might be able to explain it better.

-Jon