12/03/2026
We've been putting data to use ! Over the past weeks as we get ready for Robots Live! in Maidenhead we've been working on refining the control systems in Storm 2 - all thanks to our incredible Rugged Circuits LLC Arduinos that are now the brains of Storm 2
We've spent time inside the code and telemetry logs, completely overhauling how our Rugged Arduinos process data to control Storm 2. We're not just using the software to mix drive signals, but carry out stall detection and even mechanical stress in the system. Once you get everything into software, it's amazing what you can do with it.
Here is what we’ve been working on behind the scenes - firstly the inputs to the system
Most hobby-grade setups use a sequential loop to read the receiver, checking steering, then throttle, then safety switches. It works, but it introduces digital "slop" and latency. We’ve moved Storm 2’s drive control to a Hardware Interrupt architecture. Now, the moment a receiver signal changes, the processor doesn't pause and there's been a real noticable improvement in latency and thus handling.
Auto Invert: Onboard solid-state sensors talk to the drive logic in real-time. If we get flipped, the controls remap instantly so the driver doesn't have to fight their muscle memory - and in case the sensor stops working, there's a way to fail the sensor out of the loop and leave the human brain to do the work.
Getting the inputs right is only half the battle; we also wanted to improve the control on the weapon arm. We were noticing nasty frame twist and mechanical bounce at the top of the arm's stroke. When you throw this much mass around (the arm moves through a full cycle in 0.3 seconds), hitting an electronic limit and instantly cutting the PWM signal to neutral causes a massive shock load - we also wanted to optimise the current limits on the arm's upgraded S28-400 Magmotor, too much and it's wasting energy, too little and it's lacking power.
While digging into the telemetry (and trust us, we never thought when we started building robots in 1999 that we'd be sat in the Storm Technology Center with laptops plugged into the robot analysing real-time data feedback), we actually found an irritating code bug making the manual control even worse: an integer overflow in our deceleration math. At a specific potentiometer value, the 16-bit maths wrapped around and told the ESC to briefly throw the motor into reverse. The arm was literally fighting itself right before the top of the stroke.
We fixed the maths and implemented a single 'soft limit' for both manual driving and the auto-flip sequence (did you know Storm 2 has no physical stop on the arm, it's all control and software). Instead of a hard cut-off, the code reads the arm position and automatically feathers the throttle down as it approaches the physical limit.
In the image you can see the autoflip and manual flip sequence side by side - showing the input PWM and the resulting position of the arm.
We've only had time to invest in this because the new Storm 2 has been rock-solid reliable, and rather than having to constantly firefight technical and reliability issues, we've actually had the time to get start to make some refinements.
We'll see you all at Robots Live in Maidenhead, the shows are almost sold out but there are still a few tickets left if you head over to their booking website
https://www.robotsliveshow.com/
