3D printed remote controlled 2-speed AWD car


Crawler V5 is a 3D printed, remote controlled 2-speed all-wheel drive car that runs on an ESP32 microcontroller with a custom-built remote control. All details regarding the project can be found here on Instructables: https://www.instructables.com/3D-Printed-Remote-Controlled-2-speed-AWD-Car/

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https://aisler.net/p/EIWCJFWG

1. Why I started with this project?

I enjoy CAD and 3D printing, and my latest challenge was designing a fully custom RC car. Working with breadboards can be very frustrating, and that’s why I designed my first PCBs for this project!

2. What I love about electronics?

The beauty of making something move autonomously is very exciting, and I’m hyped every single time when I succeed with such projects.

3. Which PCB Design Tool I use and why?

The PCBs were designed with KiCAD.

4. What’s my greatest fail with the project?

The first PCB did not have thermal relief pads because I was not aware what they were needed for and, therefore, opted-out the automatic generation of them in KiCAD. The consequence? Soldering was quite a pain…

5. What’s my greatest win in the project?

The project included two PCBs - and both of them work perfectly :slight_smile:

6. What’s my most favorite feature AISLER?

Aisler is very newbie-friendly since a lot of information for beginners is available, which did help me a lot in designing my first PCBs so that they can be manufactured!

2 Likes

That is a pretty cool project @TRDB, thank you for sharing! How many iterations did it take you for the PCB to get to the final version, and how long have you been working on the whole project in total?

Thank you! :slight_smile:

The PCB in the car is still the first one, with the missing thermal relief pads :smiley:
I corrected this problem in the PCB of the remote control. Luckily, I did not make any mistakes regarding the circuit so that both PCBs worked in the first attempt.

The whole project took almost one year because there’s never enough time for hobbies :smiley: