RC Car.
My very first project. Started in spring 2020, right after the Covid-19 lockdown — pocket-sized, every part 3D-printed in ABS, an Arduino Nano up top, hobby gearmotors below, and a custom 2.4 GHz handset to drive it.
Small, printed, drivable.
This is my very first project. I started it in spring 2020, right after the Covid-19 pandemic shut everything down — the schools were closed, the workshop was the kitchen table, and I needed something to print and solder my way through.
The whole chassis comes off the Prusa MK0 — body, wheels, motor mounts and the handset shell, all in ABS. Everything bolts together with M3 hardware and a single battery clip.
An Arduino Nano on a perfboard reads two NRF24L01 channels from the handset and drives an L298N H-bridge. Steering is differential — a tank-style left/right thumb stick, no servo.
It is tiny, the wheels are red, and the only thing that has not failed yet is the printed gearbox. We are keeping the logbook honest.
The build.
What's on the bench.
| Kind | radio-controlled · scratch-built |
|---|---|
| MCU | Arduino Nano · ATmega328P |
| Radio | 2× NRF24L01 · 2.4 GHz · ~30 m line of sight |
| Drive | 2× N20 6 V gearmotor · L298N H-bridge |
| Chassis | ABS · Prusa MK0 · 0.4 mm nozzle · 0.2 mm layer |
| Power | 1× 18650 · 3.7 V · TP4056 charger |
| Tools | Onshape · Prusa Slicer · Arduino IDE · solder |
| Status | driving |