I need some help on today’s project: steering my canoe remotely and electrically.
Besides simple laziness, I’d like to make possible for anyone in the boat to control the steering.
I’ve got a 16’ square stern travel canoe with a 55lb thrust motor on it. Sitting on the back seat and trying to reach back or sideways to steer the tiller is literally a PITA.
I’m concocting a way to steer the motor without having to turn around, tip the canoe, and sit sideways until my path is straight again. I’ve rigged a clamp and arm system to give me a 12" or so arm attatched to the vertical shaft of the motor. Parallel to the water, and perpendicular to the front/rear of the boat.
For now, I’ll hook a small PVC pipe or fiberglass rod along the gunwale and connected to the steering “arm”. Pushing forward or backwards will move the arm, steering the boat.
However, I would rather use a small motor and switch to do the moving. This way, the switch can be used by anyone front or rear to steer, leaving the other to fish, take pictures, etc…
I’m looking a 12v stepper motors, but here I’m stuck. Do I have to use a motor controller for any motor, or can it be wired straight? Can I use a rocker switch to step the motor in small increments?
Extra credit for ideas re: connecting the (rotary) motor output to linear movement.
I’d love a geared flexible rod that can stand the torque without bending, but I haven’t found one just yet.
I’m a EE, but I would do this mechanically. A pair of Bowden cables would do the job. You could pass the controller around, you just need to keep the cables unkinked…6" or so radius bends are fine. These are typically used for brake cables on bicycles. You can buy the housing in bulk. Pyramid is a popular low-cost brand. Brake housing is cheaper and probably better. Shifter cable is made not to change length as it is bent, but is rather delicate, and limited in acceptable bend radius. The inner cable can be any stainless cable. Avoid galvanized, it will still end up rusting in a marine environment, and the zinc coating has more friction. The longest lengths available from bicycle suppliers are for tandems and only perhaps 3 meters or so long, but McMaster-Carr will hook you up with any length you want. Many motorcycle throttles are pull-pull so that would take care of the controller end, you’d just need to work on the motor connection.
I’ve decided to forego the motor for now and stay mechanical.
The shifter/throttle cable idea is perfect. I’ve already concocted a setup with materials on hand, but need to perfect the lever connection to allow for rotation. A simple Z-bend on the end of a stiff wire cable would fit into a hole drilled in my PVC, and allow for some flexibility there.
If you were going the electrical route you’d want a linear actuator, which could use a stepper motor, but doesn’t have to. The easy method of sharing controls is to pass a single control box around on the end of a wire. If you give everyone individual controllers you’ll need a way of allowing only one person to control at a time, or some kind of fun averaging system or random selection mode to allow simultaneous control by multiple people. If you want to use RC for wireless controllers, make sure they are waterproof and will float.