maillemaker

So when my son and I are driving our tanks around it's hard to "aim" your tank without being in the line-of-sight of the tank.

I was thinking it would be cool to install a video camera in the mantlet that looked "down the barrel" and then have some VR goggles that the video gets transmitted to, and you could have a "you are in the tank" experience.

Has anyone done that?

I know this is a thing with drones...anyone have links to FPV systems that might work?

Steve

dgsselkirk

Yes, a couple of us have done it although we didn't go the googles route we use a 7" monitor attached to our radios. Gives you the experience but isn't as disorienting as the googles which are really tough and a bit frustrating to use as we have experimented with them. Whole kit under $200 U.S. and once you have the monitor you can put a camera and transmitter in other tanks for about $50 bucks and you use the same monitor. We are going to experiment with marking BB's this spring where we use only the screen and a field map with our backs to the field and battle... :-)

maillemaker

So how do you mount your cameras on/in the tank? Do you stick them in the commander's position or make them look through a hole in the tank or what?

Steve

dgsselkirk

Depends on the Tank. Larger turrets are easier especially the moderns. We tuck them in either the MG ports or in the moderns one of the view ports on the roof works. Turretless have lots of room to put one in. The good part is you can wire everything up before you mount it. The best view is down beside the barrel...

Crius

I'm working on this right now, Steve. I take it you haven't seen any of the FPV videos on my youtube channel? I'm currently working on exactly the system you're talking about, with the camera mounted on the mantlet so it looks right down the barrel, with a laser pointer, and the whole unit disguised as one of the Infrared camera systems the Germans were experimenting with.

And I also have a complete system with goggles that will set right on any tiger tank to give you the driving experience. Let me know if you need a link to the videos.

ausf

That was my dream about 50 seconds after I first bought a couple of TBUs. Sitting on the deck wiith headsets on battling through a village in the backyard. Camo, etc would really come into play as welll as a whole host of tactics.

The ultimate would be a a team effort: driver sighting throughand controlling the hull and a commander sighting through the turret and operating the canon.

The Shark headsets have come down nicely recently and they're doing some fantastic stuff with UM planes for real time FPV flying. If I wasn't venturing into subs and boats, I'd be jumping on video tank fighting.

dgsselkirk

Watch for our club posting videos in the spring...

maillemaker

Yeah I think I saw your video driving around in the snow.

I had assumed it was just a gopro mounted to the tank, recording video. I can kind of do that now - I have a gopro I could stick on the top of the tank and it has wifi broadcasting ability but it is very laggy. Also not very realistic to have a big camera housing on top of your tank.

But the idea of hidden, integrated real-time FPV in a tank is really cool.

Steve

TheBennyB

Its all fun and games till ya start running into stuff/breaking off parts and puking in your lap cause of disorientation with the googles. Gotta go with a display to keep some situational awareness and overview of the battlefield. It's novel for a short time in my opinion.

Rad_Schuhart

I would be happy to see the set ups and what to buy!

Crius

OK, try this one. It should show you most of the stuff I used. My next system will be on a Panther and will be mounted right to the mantlet and disguised as an IR camera and light. I did this system mainly because I already had the Mobius. Since then I've picked up another camera for the goggles so I can switch back and forth and see what's going on around me without having to remove the goggles, and I also got the camera for the panther. It's actually advertised right here a lot, it's from bang good. The panther will have a totally concealed system, but for now I'm having fun with the tiger set up. It doesn't look that great on the tank, but when driving you can't see any of that, and it also doesn't affect the video. When recording the Mobius has a very slight lag, a couple tenths of a second, maybe, but it hasn't been a problem for me. Just go slow and take your time, and you won't run into too much stuff, and I haven't had any kind of disorientation at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ur-jgDUV_E If you have any specific questions just ask and I'll do my best to divulge the information.

Crius

BTW, I don't have any videos in the snow.

This is the video taken with the Mobius, driving with the goggles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsesZXmzOdI At about 4 minutes you'll see me driving with the goggles on. This is before I learned that to speak into the camera I have to turn the volume down on the tank or you won't be able to hear me.

Martellus

a laser pointer would be a decent temp solution, if a bit unrealistic

Rad_Schuhart

Thanks for the videos, but Im specially interested in the cameras that you want to disguise as a IR Panther unit. I want to do something similar on an airsoft Panzer III, so you know is a small tank and quite hard to put everything inside.

Crius

This is the real system



There's a company that makes a 1/16 model of this system that mounts on the mantlet of the tank, and that's the one I'll use as a guide. I'll do my best to make the camera for FPV look like that IR light, and the IR camera on the real thing will be the laser pointer on the model. I've already got the camera and the laser pointer, just need to get to work and then get a TX to go in the tank. This system won't use goggles, but will be like Dean's with a screen attached to the TX (I'll be using the i10 for this tank).

TheBennyB

Here's a build from a buddy that put the camera in the mantlet of a Pershing. It's kinda old so it may be outdated with whats available now.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-t...m45-build.html

maillemaker

Awesome videos, Crius!

Now to me, that is the way to to RC tank battles! It's like World of Tanks, but with real tanks!

I think the PIII has a pretty conveniently-located driver window that a camera could peek through.

What we need is a set of Goggles that doesn't toggle from looking forward of the Goggles to the tank, but rather switches between cameras on the tank. So you could push a button and switch from driver view to commander view! Commander view should be like a periscope or something (dressed up to look like a crew figure?).

I would think this would be like the "next big thing" that a company like Heng Long would jump on as an upgrade option.

Now what we need is a sensor that can detect the sound of an airsoft BB against plastic.

Steve

maillemaker

Link?

Steve

TheBennyB

Scroll down to see the different variants.
http://www.asiatam.com/index.php?cat...gdpanther.html

Imex-Erik

I would never go back to a screen I was always good at fighter pilot and flying games so it never really bothered me I guess Screens are ok for the tanks though, but it really kills the immersion....
For disguising you will be looking for pico cams. They are the tiniest of cams atm but are CMOS and not as good as normal CCD cameras (like the true and tested H1177 or PZ0420). Some of them have removable lenses too which will make mounting a lot easier as well. I know the Mobius has this but they are expensive to destroy and use just as a FPV cam. I will eventually do a nice video on FPV tanks when I get a chance

TheBennyB

Your right Erik, it would take from the experience. Loosing that peripheral kills ya in battle though. If everyone is using it then your on the same playing field. Just going to be a long battle of people driving around trying to find the enemy, especially on a larger battlefield. Cool technology, just not real practical as you also lose the ability to communicate with your platoon/teammates. There's a reason why this stuff has been out for 5+ years and not caught on with the IR tank battling, same with the other novelty options available with some of the aftermarket boards. Ok, enough poopoo'ing this, just my experiences and observations playing with around the house and Danville. It is cool to take some awesome vids of driving around or taking video's of battles on a tank perspective.

maillemaker

Yeah, I would think everyone would have to be using it in order for it to work.

Steve

Imex-Erik

Yea totally understand. With some people not using it may become a disadvantage. However if all did or had drivers looking and commanders firing we would all be good
Yea the problem is limited channels on the 5.8GHz band. Recently Immersion/FatShark introduced the raceband channels which helps 8 people play with the least amount of interference but any more than that is pushing it and will most likely cause issues with other people's feeds. Other frequencies are available but require a HAM license and non so friendly frequencies (2.4 and 5.8 are the most friendly US frequencies).

maillemaker

I've been looking around at various FPV stuff. You can get some tiny cameras that can probably be hidden in good places in a tank.

But it's probably not financially feasible. You're looking at $200-$400 per tank to have 2 people be able to battle FPV. I think I'd rather buy more tanks.

Steve

TheBennyB

A cheaper and more plug and play way to have some fun during battling is to set up a tank with 2 operators. One controls the lower hull while the second operates the turret and firing. Just put 2 RX's in a tank, one bound to a TX for the hull and another bound to another TX for the turret. Of course you have to have the hobby grade radio's and amount
of people to do this. The most we've had were 16 operators for 8 tanks to do 4 vs 4. Absolutely hilarious to see some of the operators try and work together. Some were very successful while other you could actually see the steam coming out of their ears!