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That impossible to resist urge to rescue an attention-grabbing piece of {hardware} from the trash is one thing that just about each Hackaday reader may have felt at one time or one other. Generally it’s one thing that you might put to work instantly, like an outdated pc or some scrap piece of fabric that’s simply the appropriate dimension. However different instances, you discover one thing on the aspect of the highway that finally ends up being the impetus for a complete new mission.
For [David Bertet], discovering a beat up child’s Jeep Wrangler on the curb was step one in the direction of a journey that ends with PowerJeep: an open supply mission that we wager might find yourself saving comparable automobiles from the landfill. The fundamental concept is straightforward sufficient — strip out the car’s unique 12 volt energy provide and substitute it with 18 V offered by simply swappable device batteries. However as is commonly the case, it’s the main points and the documentation that units this mission aside.
Simply hacking an 18 V battery into the prevailing wiring and controls would in all probability have offered a couple of minutes value of damaging enjoyable, however not a lot else. So [David] approached issues a bit extra methodically; by including a correct motor controller and dumping the unique momentary change “throttle” pedal for an analog model, the upgraded energy from the brand new batteries could possibly be correctly harnessed. The addition of 12 and three volt regulators means the car’s remaining inventory electronics and equipment could be powered with out letting the Magic Smoke out.
However maybe essentially the most thrilling a part of the PowerJeep mission is the ESP32 that’s been added into the combination. Whereas this mission might definitely have been accomplished with “dumb” electronics, placing the WiFi-enabled microcontroller between the driving force and the motor controller permits [David] to do issues like regulate the car’s most velocity relying on whether or not his youthful or older little one is behind the wheel. He’s additionally capable of monitor the system’s very important statistics on his telephone by a slick internet interface, and may the necessity ever come up, he can faucet the massive crimson “Emergency Cease” button to chop energy immediately.
For these trying to improve their child’s trip, [David] has offered supply code for the ESP32, a components listing, a wiring diagram, and even the 3D fashions for the few components that wanted to be printed. Naturally there’s going to be numerous variations on this fundamental premise relying on which specific kiddie automobile you’ve acquired, however this mission ought to nonetheless get you a lot of the means there.
In the event you’re trying to put much more high-tech goodies into your construct, you may want to check out the intelligent traction management system we noticed added to a lil’ Lambo again in 2019. You may even improve the body and slip into the driving force’s seat your self, in the event you dare.
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