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3D Robotics

iPhone controller for RC planes

Posted by Chris Anderson on April 18, 2010 at 2:42pm

The creator explains: "No jailbreaking. No WiFi. Stock receivers. I fly model airplanes and helicopters with my iPhone. I use an off-the-shelf 2.4GHz module and a custom iPhone app. The app is now in beta testing.

I use the phone's headphone jack to communicate with the Spektrum module. I make no modifications to the module or the receivers. This application does not use WiFi, Internet, external servers or microcontrollers."

(via MakeZine)
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Comments

  • Ari Krupnik May 26, 2010 at 10:39pm
    Thank you for your encouragement. It works with the touch--even better than with the phone as you don't need to worry about incoming phone calls and airplane mode.
  • Ron Jacobs May 26, 2010 at 9:09pm
    I say cool. Does it work with a iPod touch?
  • Ari Krupnik April 21, 2010 at 11:45pm
    Thank you guys for your feedback.

    More information on the project and instructions for beta testers now appear at http://www.lib.aero/iphly/

    iPhone ships with 44.1kHz audio, so the resolution is even lower than John says. The pulses aren't entirely square--the signal oscillates a little around the edges. It makes a pretty picture on the scope.

    The DSM2 module emulates 72MHz Futaba modules. It takes regular "pulse high" PPM in. It has an internal pullup on the PPM line. It uses a 3.3V regulator inside, so anything from 4-cell NiCad and up can power it.
  • Developer
    John Arne Birkeland April 20, 2010 at 4:19am
    Xander: That is a good point. At the highest normally available sample rate (48khz), and asumming the audio DAC is capable of generating clean square pulses. There will only be 48 available steps in a millisecond.
  • Xander April 19, 2010 at 4:25pm
    Interesting method. I wonder how accurate this can get running through the audio port though. I mean it's not designed for this sort of thing...
  • Mike Machado April 19, 2010 at 2:30pm
    Can you share any links on the details of interfacing to the DSM2 module?
  • Moderator
    Alex April 19, 2010 at 5:10am
    lol if it only used iphone i would say more than WOW cuz the guy magically allowed iphone to output r/c 2.4ghz :P but i tend to agree with Johns comment that it would be better to just use a normal radio with 2 joysticks in terms of control, because the throttle control seemed abit annoying, but still this is just beta version so lets see what happens, its still a cool idea
  • Angus Peart April 19, 2010 at 4:47am
    If it used just the iPhone, I would say "Wow!", but requiring to have that huge box on the outside, or more to the point, any external hardware, pretty much defeats the purpose in my opinion.
    You might as well make a proper completely integrated tilt controller with a touchscreen.
  • Developer
    John Arne Birkeland April 19, 2010 at 4:16am
    I must confess that beyond the wow factor, I do not see the reason for using the iPod tilt compared to regular sticks. Maybe is is just the early implementations I have seen demonstrated so far. But it seems like a step backwards in regard to responsiveness and fine control of the aircraft.
  • Chris Johnson April 18, 2010 at 8:23pm
    ari@lib.aero


    (last five seconds of the movie has the email for beta testing signup)
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