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To turn left, press and release the motor L button; to turn right, press and

release the motor R button. After the kart has turned far enough, press and

release the same button again, and the kart will go forward. If you want the

kart to go backward, just press and release motor button L and quickly press

and release motor button R (or vise versa); ditto if the kart is moving back-

ward and you want it to move forward.

If these buttons work opposite to the way you expect, swap the wires from

the motors at the terminal blocks on the receiver.

Just like your car on a cold winter morning, the kart could take a few

moments to warm up. Wait a few beats after you turn on both on/off

switches, and then go for it!

If you plan on keeping the kart working long-term (rather than using the parts

on another project), we suggest that you remove the Velcro from the motors

and from the base (where you mounted the motors) and glue the motors to the

kart base at the same spot. This will make the kart a little more stable. You can

also glue the wheels onto the motor shaft to make your kart more permanent.

Taking It Further...........................................................................................

Are you so wowed by the go-kart you want to add to it? Here are some ideas

to explore:

Other encoder/decoder ICs are available that have more than the three

input/output pins used here. One option is the Holtek HT12A encoder

and HT12D decoder; another is Reynolds Electronics IR-DX8 encoder/

decoder. Building a kart by using one of these lets you add other things

to the kart that you can control: for example, LED headlights or a buzzer

to use just like a car horn.

If you want to race go-karts with a friend, you can build multiple karts

with one of the other encoder/decoder pairs just mentioned. These

allow you to pick an address for each kart by tying different pins to

ground or +V on each of the encoder/decoder pairs. However, you still

have to be careful not to activate your transmitters at the same time or

point your transmitter at your buddy’s car lest you confuse the receivers.

The only way around this is to use radio control instead of infrared con-

trol, and use different frequencies for each transmitter. See Chapter 18

for information about using radio control.

Spiff up the go-kart base and top any way your artistic whim dictates:

Paint it, add racing stripes, use a different shape, add decals, or glue

fuzzy fur and cute little ears on it.

Chapter 11: Controlling a Go-Kart, Infrared Style 277