New smartphone-to-RC board: BlinkRC
Here's a cool new product from the Maker Shed: Blink RC. It's a wifi-to-RC board, which can let you replace your RC gear with a smartphone or other wifi-enabled computer. From the announcement:
The BlinkRC from the Maker Shed replaces your standard remote control receiver in your car, plane, or boat, and allows you to control it with your smart phone. The more adventurous can try creating an application on your computer that takes advantage of the open messaging protocol and the BlinkRC’s (3) output channels and (2) analog input channels. Now you can control a variety of different servo’s and sensors from almost anywhere that has WiFi or Internet access.
A few thoughts:
1) Looks good! But...
2) $125!!!
3) Wifi range limitation makes it inappropriate for most aircraft applications
4) Not open source :-(
Here are the full specs:
- 802.11b/g/n connectivity
- Onboard low-profile WiFi chip antenna
- Onboard U.FL-R-SMT-1 external WiFi antenna connector
- Infrastructure or Ad-Hoc Modes
- Transmit range up to 330' depending on environmental / antenna considerations
- Requires 3.5vdc to 5.5vdc regulated input (typically from ESC)
- Three (3) Output Channels for Servo/ESC control
- Two (2) 0-20v analog input channels with 8-bit resolution
- Reverse Polarity Protection on Battery input
- Optional plastic enclosure
- FREE download of iPhone controller app
- FREE download of PC compatible controller app
- FREE download of Droid controller app (coming soon)
- FREE download of Blackberry controller app (coming soon)
- Dimensions: 2.8" (L) x 1.0" (W) x 0.25" (H)
- Weight: Approximately ~4oz
- Outputs: Three (3) Universal/Futaba J Style Connectors
- Inputs: Two (2) .1" Header Connectors w/ +5V and GND Available for Sensors
-
Comment by robert mcintosh on March 8, 2011 at 12:41pm -
Interesting. would be more usefull for flight if it converted the tx rc/ppm signal into cellular/3g and then back to rc/ppm on the rx side for long range no line of sight flights.
-
Comment by I.S. on March 8, 2011 at 1:40pm -
Too few channels and bit pricey IMO
-
Comment by Hamish on March 8, 2011 at 5:14pm -
lol, i like how they say 'packed to the brim with components', even though its a wifi module they found in a broken laptop + an AVR. . .
-
Comment by Jack Crossfire on March 8, 2011 at 5:18pm -
Can't believe it has no data connection. It just does PWM. That's the RC world & people actually buy this stuff because they don't know how to go from wifi to PWM. Now those $parkfun $50 wifi - UART boards that only do 1 megabit look like a steal.
Actually, this is the $50 wifi module from $parkfun. & every time you hit "buy", $parkfun's inventory goes down by 1.
-
Comment by Duane Brocious on March 8, 2011 at 6:28pm -
Get an AR Parrot for $50 more and you have WIFI, FPV and stabilization system on an RTF quad.
Comment
Social Networking
Top Content
Contests
Season Two of the Trust Time Trial (T3) Contest has now begun. The fourth round is an accuracy round for multicopters, which requires contestants to fly a cube. The deadline is April 14th.A list of all T3 contests is here.
Groups
-
Agricultural UAVs
125 members
-
techpod users
39 members
-
Queensland
4 members
-
Moderators
24 members
-
ArduCopter User Group
1286 members
Advertisement
© 2013 Created by Chris Anderson.
Powered by
You need to be a member of DIY Drones to add comments!
Join DIY Drones