Reverse Engineering

In this project, our goal was to take one the the objects used from the previous "Break it apart" challenge, and reverse engineer it. This indicated dismantling the object to see how it works. Reverse engineering is done primarily to analyze and gain knowledge about the way something works but often is used to enhance the object. The main thing we want to accomplish with this reverse engineering project is to improve an almost 30 year old RC car with new additions and fixing problems. Successfully accomplishing this, we could make this car as good or better than new cars on the market.

The device we researched and reverse engineered is a 1993 RedCat Tornado EPX RC car. It is a 1/10th scale 4WD Electric off-road buggy and is controlled through radio waves. Although this car is extremely reliable, it can still be improved in many ways. Among the things we wanted to determine, the first thing was the speed of the car. We plugged in the 2000mAH Ni-MH 7.2 V battery that is made for newer RedCat models. It topped out at 28 mph, but it had some major right steer drift and the direction was inverted. After running it we decided to remove the clips from the shell and look inside. Since most of the wiring and electronics is exposed we could basically see all the parts of the car by just removing the shell. We could instantly see how the shocks worked, how the cervo turned the steering module and how the motor powers all for wheels through the exposed driveline.

Below is our presentation:

Using our knowledge of conceptual sketches, we were able to model the various components of the car and its controller.

We were also able to construct flow charts for the internal processes of the car:

External battery → plugged into → RC controller → motherboard sends signal → motor → turns driveline → spins axles → spins wheels.

External battery → plugged into → RC controller → motherboard sends signal → cervo → turns direction front wheels

Our initial issue was that the car topped out at 28 mph, but it had some major right steer drift and the direction was inverted. The car was drifting to the right when driving forward but had no problem reversing straight. We tightened the bolts on both wheels in order for it to drive straight, but that didn’t work. Instead we used the remote to overcorrect the right steer by constantly having the cervo positioned left. For speed we just used a different battery. We used a Venom LiPo battery 5000mA 50C 11.1V 3 Cell. We had to use 3 adapters, but now it tops out at 40 mph. Lastly the steering was inverted and that was because the cervo switch was inverted. So we were able to fix that component as well.

A resource we utilized that helped us stay on track and split up the work evenly was our gantt chart. By looking at it, we could see what each team member's task was for that day, and use our time in class efficiently:

From completing this project and successfully taking apart our remote control car, we were able to gain a better understanding of how the internal components of the car work together somewhat, and ultimately achieve a basic knowledge on car anatomy. We investigated the subsystems and various elements of the control system, as well as the car itself. By dismantling the parts, we accomplished the reverse engineering goal of finding faults in the object to later improve, as well as running analysis, and gaining in-depth knowledge of the processes that go on internally.

Through this project, I believe my team and I did an excellent job collaborating. With help from the gantt chart, we split up our tasks very well and constructed a schedule to meet the deadline. We split the work up fairly, and each team member had responsibilities to be accountable for. I liked this method a lot, as it gave everyone a job and was a more efficient way of completing team projects. Another thing I think we did well with was our attention to detail. We made sure each aspect of our report and overall engineering process was done to the best of our abilities. We were very thorough and precise in all of our analyses, and successfully laid out all our findings.

Something that could have been done better was our presentation aspect of the project. While we had a very detailed and thorough report, our presentation was not originally laid out well. Our slides had too many words on them, and were we missing some of the important components we needed to include. Upon revision, we were able to redo our slideshow and had a chance to present again. I think this second time went a lot better. After making numerous edits to our presentation, all aspects of our project were where they needed to be. I also think our group could have done a better job with communicating opinions. One team member who had brought in the car had a lot of great ideas for our reverse engineering process, but in a way I feel that some other team members were prevented from expressing their ideas after such a predetermined plan was in place. I think we all could have worked better to communicate these concerns and opinions in a better way, and I know I will personally keep it in mind to improve in future team work.

Overall, I think the project was a great success. I learned a lot of new information, particularly about the mechanical processes of a car. I know I can move forward with positive aspects of how the team worked together, and improve the things that didn't in the future.