Hi all - just joined this forum as I’m getting ready to start working on the electro-mechanical aspects of a Full-size, operator-the-inside, motorized Dalek that I’ve been building for the last year. basic construction is 90% complete so its time to start thinking about all the E-M stuff I plan to put in him. I don’t really know anything about Arduinos except for some basics from YT videos and that it seems like the perfect solution for the ‘brain’ of my Dalek.
What I’m trying to understand first is which Arduino should I get? Uno or Mega. I know I could simply get the Mega & be done with it but if for what I want to do it would be overkill I’d like to stick with the Uno. So, I know what I need to do so hopefully if after listing all the functions someone out there can tell me which would be the better choice. Also i would like to understand ‘shields’. Is this something I will need to use as well? So here goes:
1. Rotate the fiberglass dome 360 deg in ether direction & start/stop at any position using servos & DC motor
2. Move the eyestalk up & down through approximately 150 degs of arc, being able to start/stop at any position again with a DC motor & servos
3. Open/close a mechanical iris (mechanical camera lens shutter) in different modes - blink, start, stop, open & close partially
4. Turn on/off LEDs lights in the eye, possibly with patterns as the eye will have 5 LEDs in it
5. Simulate the gun firing with sounds & light in different modes: sound only, sound + light, light only
6. Turn on/off an LED light strip & use different pre-programmed light patterns
7. Turn on/off one or two different pre-programmed “ everything goes all at once” mode … think the “Danger Will Robinson !!” Mode of the robot from Lost In Space …
i expect to use a combination of gears, springs, servos, DC stepper motors & LED lights as the components. i also plan to wire as many controls as possible to an airplane military style flight control stick which has a 4-position Cooley hat, trigger, momentary rocker switch & 3 different push buttons so I can operate everything one-handed.
What I’m trying to understand first is which Arduino should I get? Uno or Mega. I know I could simply get the Mega & be done with it but if for what I want to do it would be overkill I’d like to stick with the Uno. So, I know what I need to do so hopefully if after listing all the functions someone out there can tell me which would be the better choice. Also i would like to understand ‘shields’. Is this something I will need to use as well? So here goes:
1. Rotate the fiberglass dome 360 deg in ether direction & start/stop at any position using servos & DC motor
2. Move the eyestalk up & down through approximately 150 degs of arc, being able to start/stop at any position again with a DC motor & servos
3. Open/close a mechanical iris (mechanical camera lens shutter) in different modes - blink, start, stop, open & close partially
4. Turn on/off LEDs lights in the eye, possibly with patterns as the eye will have 5 LEDs in it
5. Simulate the gun firing with sounds & light in different modes: sound only, sound + light, light only
6. Turn on/off an LED light strip & use different pre-programmed light patterns
7. Turn on/off one or two different pre-programmed “ everything goes all at once” mode … think the “Danger Will Robinson !!” Mode of the robot from Lost In Space …
i expect to use a combination of gears, springs, servos, DC stepper motors & LED lights as the components. i also plan to wire as many controls as possible to an airplane military style flight control stick which has a 4-position Cooley hat, trigger, momentary rocker switch & 3 different push buttons so I can operate everything one-handed.