Make Your Own RC Rally Simulator

Once a month, I compete with the SoCal RC Rally Runners in three-stage rally races. Unlike traditional RC racing where you watch from a driver's stand, RC rally has you running directly behind your car as you navigate the course—it's an absolute blast and a great workout!

Finding places to practice in California can be tough, as traditional tracks don't fit rally setups and many trails restrict dust-kicking vehicles. To keep my driving skills sharp between races, I decided to turn one of my favorite video games, Art of Rally, into a realistic practice simulator.

In this Instructable, I’ll show you how to connect a standard two-channel hobby transmitter to your PC to use as a game controller. Steering and accelerating with an actual pistol-grip remote makes in-game cars handle just like real RCs, and it has noticeably improved my race times. Let's turn Art of Rally into Art of RC Rally!

Components:

1. Arduino Leonardo
2. USB cable that comes with the Arduino Leonardo
3. 4x male to female jumper wires
4. A container of your choice (I chose to recycle the packaging from my ESP32 touchscreen)
5. A specific 2 channel transmitter and receiver
6. Flysky FS-GT2E Transmitter and AFHDS Receiver
7. Spectrum SLT2 Transmitter
8. Spectrum SLR300 Receiver
9. Velcro
10. A PC
11. Art of Rally for PC

Note: I made the code for these two specific Transmitter and Receivers with them being most common and budget friendly at the present. The Flysky is the most budget friendly with it coming with the correct receiver. The Spectrum SLT2 comes with most ready to run RCs. You will have to purchase the SLR300 receiver separately. An Arduino Leonardo is required. This specific Arduino allows you to create custom controllers that can interface with games. Other Arduino's will not work.

Tools:

1. Plastic Nippers
2. Scissors

Take the Arduino Leonardo and your receiver and place them in the container you chose. Once you are happy with how the components sit in the container use the Velcro to fasten them in place. Mark where the USB port on the Arduino Leonardo is relative to the container. Using plastic nippers cut a hole where you marked so the USB cable can be inserted into the Arduino while it's in the container.

Take the four jumper wire and follow the steps below based on your transmitter and receiver combo

Flysky FS-GT2E Transmitter and AFHDS Receiver:

1. Red or orange wire connected to one of the + pins on the receiver to the 5V port on the Arduino Leonardo.
2. Black or brown wire connect to one of the - pins on the receiver to the GND port on the Arduino Leonardo.
3. Any color wire from from the Channel 1 S pin to the 2 port on the Arduino Leonardo.
4. Any color wire from the Channel 2 S pin to the pin 3 port the Arduino Leonardo.

Spectrum SLT2 Transmitter and SLR300 Receiver:

1. Red or orange wire connected to the + pin on the AUX Channel of the receiver to the 5V port on the Arduino Leonardo.
2. Black or brown wire connect to the - pin on the AUX Channel of the receiver to the GND port on the Arduino Leonardo.
3. Any color wire from from the THR Channel S pin to the 2 port on the Arduino Leonardo.
4. Any color wire from the STR Channel S pin to the 3 port on the Arduino Leonardo.

Download and install the Arduino IDE from here: https://www.arduino.cc/en/software/

Once the IDE is installed open it and then insert the USB into the computer and Arduino Leonardo. On the top most ribbon select tools then hover over boards. Under boards hover over Arduino AVR Boards and find Arduino Leonardo and select it.

Download one of the codes below.

Controller.ino is for the Flysky transmitter and receiver combo.

ControllerSLT2.ino is for the Spectrum transmitter and receiver combo.

Navigate to Open and locate the downloads folder and select the code.

Finally, click the arrow and wait for the done uploading popup to open.

Your simulator rig is ready to rally!

Install the Art of Rally on your PC. Next turn on the transmitter and then plug the simulator rig into your PC. Open Art of Rally and navigate to the options. Under controls go to joystick options. Scroll down to steer left and press enter, then turn the receivers wheel all the way to the left until you see an L. Scroll down to steer right and press enter, then turn the receivers wheel all the way to the right until you see an L.

Scroll down to accelerate and press enter, then pull the receivers trigger all the way back until you see an L. Finally, Scroll down to break/ reverse and press enter, then push the receivers trigger all the way forward until you an L.

Go back to the menu and jump into a race! Happy rallying :)

Trouble Shooting:

If the car drives backwards or steers opposite use your transmitter reversing switches to make it go in the right direction.

If the car is slow make sure the throttle is turned to 100 percent on the transmitter.

If the car turns to tight or not enough adjust this on the transmitter.

If the car veers to one side adjust the centering trim on the transmitter.