Arduino 2560 project

This forum relates to the Open Source Tank Control Board (TCB). Please read the sticky and visit the main site to find out all about the board and how to install it.
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Rad_Schuhart
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Re: Arduino 2560 project

Post by Rad_Schuhart »

Well, then ignore the benedini manuals and radio mods and just stick to the Open Panzer benedini mini manual. I guess you have the link, I cannot copy it because I am with the phone and for some reason I cant paste it here.

If you copy step by step what Luke wrote there, it should work.

Anyway I will test it myself too with my benedinis along the week.
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Re: Arduino 2560 project

Post by LukeZ »

wibblywobbly wrote:Benedini Mini advice needed. I happily admit to being as confused as heck by the official manual, and the TCB set up instructions, so I am hoping you can tell me what I need to do.

The sound file that I have has the Cannon sound as Sound#2.
Hi Wibbly, this is easy to do. The wiki as always has the information you need if you read it carefully. On the instructions page for the Micro you can read this:
2nd Coder Functions: In position 1 select the sound number from the Sounds tab that matches your cannon sound. In position 2 assign your machine gun sound.
In other words, under the 2nd Coder column in TBS Flash you will have two entries for cannon fire and machine gun. Cannon fire is at the top (TBS Flash position 1). In the drop-down for position 1 you need to select whatever sound number you have your cannon fire sound saved to, which in your case is Sound #2. This is the position that the TCB will be expecting it at, only we can't know what sound number you might have saved your files under in TBS Flash, so you have to select the appropriate sound number from the drop-down in TBS Flash.

The setup for the Benedini Mini is very similar only you get both 1st and 2nd coder columns so you have many more sounds.

Of course then you need to assign a trigger in OP Config to map some control on your transmitter to the Cannon Fire function. It sounds like you might have already done this, but if not, and since you would like it to occur when the turret stick is moved up, then in OP Config on the Functions tab you need to select "Cannon Fire" from the functions drop down, then Turret Stick as the Trigger Source, and finally "Top Center" as the Trigger Action.

Once all that is done it should work. Let me know your results.
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Re: Arduino 2560 project

Post by wibblywobbly »

Hi Luke

I found that Wiki description last night. I had totally underestimated your brilliance and realised that the Mini is controlled from the TCB firmware. My brain was previously looking at the Benedini instructions and trying to figure out how that would know where the stick positions were on the TCB.

Of course, the Benedini instructions can be totally ignored as everything is handled from the TCB,

It looks like I only need Prop 1 & 2, as I won't be using an encoder knob, the cannon is indeed linked to the left stick up trigger.

I'll give this a go this evening, I can hook up the USB and sort the cannon sound, recoil speed, hook up the headlight and, slow the tank acceleration down all in one go (it is currently way too fast, though totally controllable at low speed).

Thanks Luke!
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Rad_Schuhart
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Re: Arduino 2560 project

Post by Rad_Schuhart »

wibblywobbly wrote:Hi Luke

I found that Wiki description last night. I had totally underestimated your brilliance and realised that the Mini is controlled from the TCB firmware. My brain was previously looking at the Benedini instructions and trying to figure out how that would know where the stick positions were on the TCB.

Of course, the Benedini instructions can be totally ignored as everything is handled from the TCB,

It looks like I only need Prop 1 & 2, as I won't be using an encoder knob, the cannon is indeed linked to the left stick up trigger.

I'll give this a go this evening, I can hook up the USB and sort the cannon sound, recoil speed, hook up the headlight and, slow the tank acceleration down all in one go (it is currently way too fast, though totally controllable at low speed).

Thanks Luke!
Thanks to me too, because I told you to do that too, LOL
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Re: Arduino 2560 project

Post by LukeZ »

To be fair the Wiki is enormous and the guy who wrote it (myself) already knew how everything worked so I maybe often assumed the reader understood things which aren't always intuitive.

Be nice!
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Re: Arduino 2560 project

Post by wibblywobbly »

i was referring to the Benedini instructions on the Benedini site, rather than the TCB instructions on the OP site. :thumbup:
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Re: Arduino 2560 project

Post by wibblywobbly »

Following some time spent trying to get the cannon sound to work, it has become apparent that the DasMikro Mini clone will not work with the TCB firmware.

Thomas at Benedini has quite rightly redesigned his board so that only his programming firmware will work with it, he has also worked with Luke so that the latest version will work perfectly with the TCB.

This only applies to the genuine board.
The Chinese DasMikro clone will not work. You get engine sounds, but the main gun won't.
There may be a way around it with an encoder knob and a programmable tx, but it's beyond the scope of this project.

All is not lost.
The DasMikro 'Micro' will apparently work. I will load one with a Tiger soundfile, plug it in, and see what happens.
The one that can be bought on Bangood which has truck sounds preloaded usually comes with a decent speaker that produces an amazing sound quality. It isn't the tiny one shown in the pictures, but there are pics of it in the reviews.

https://www.banggood.com/DasMikro-Progr ... eviewsWrap
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Re: Arduino 2560 project

Post by LukeZ »

wibblywobbly wrote:Following some time spent trying to get the cannon sound to work, it has become apparent that the DasMikro Mini clone will not work with the TCB firmware.

The Chinese DasMikro clone will not work. You get engine sounds, but the main gun won't.
Just to clarify, Wibbly is right, but it is not so much that the DasMikro Mini board won't work, but that you need to use Benedini's TBS Flash V3 or V4 to program it, and obviously you can't get that software from DasMikro. I'm sure the sound card itself functions correctly as it is no doubt an exact copy.

I am not making judgments at all of people who buy these products, but it is doubly unfortunate that not only is DasMikro cheating Benedini, they are also cheating their own customers when they sell them a board without having any means or intent to provide them with the software required to use it.
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Re: Arduino 2560 project

Post by wibblywobbly »

One thing I noticed is that the DasMikro Mini is a clone of the first Benedini version. Thomas added a set of pins for an amp to the later ones. If the Chinese live up to their reputation, they will copy the newer one at some point, but as Luke says the magic is in the new Flash program, which only Benedini customers can now get.

The DasMikro Mini can be programmed using a copy of the original Benedini Flash, which is available on the web, along with sound files. The bit I am not sure about is whether the V3 Flash will load the original sound files. The originals are on the web, but of course not the later ones.

The DasMikro works great in trucks where only engine sounds are required.
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Re: Arduino 2560 project

Post by LukeZ »

wibblywobbly wrote:The DasMikro Mini can be programmed using a copy of the original Benedini Flash, which is available on the web, along with sound files. The bit I am not sure about is whether the V3 Flash will load the original sound files. The originals are on the web, but of course not the later ones.
I am able to load some rather old Benedini sound files (from before 2015) using even Flash v4. So I think the sound file format has remained consistent over time.
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