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Pre-order the iPhly iPhone R/C controller on Kickstarter

Posted by Ari Krupnik on March 25, 2011 at 1:00pm

Please visit the Kickstarter project page: iPhly.org/ks.

3689395734?profile=originalIt's all in the wrist. Roll the phone to roll. Tilt down to pitch down. Swipe up to throttle up. Swipe side-to-side to yaw.

You can store as many model memories as you like. You can give them long names. You can photograph your models using the iPhone's camera. Seven-segment displays on a TX are so last century.

The software is GPL. The schematics and SVN are on iPhly.org. The app is in the app store (if you don't want to compile your own). I am using KS to raise money for a production run.

 

Please visit the Kickstarter project page: iPhly.org/ks and share with your pilot friends.

 

Ari.

Tags: tx, hardware, iphly, iphone, open
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Comments

  • I.S. March 25, 2011 at 4:57pm

    Note: Supposing same antennas used on both radio links, of course.

    No more a hell of a difference for today

  • I.S. March 25, 2011 at 4:54pm

    @Chris

    of course is sth different. It's not just freq which determines the range. Even pwr neither. Encoding, BW, and other terms factor the range.

    Common wifi radios and RC radios may share freq (2.4GHz) and even power levels (about 60mW = 18dBm). But codification scheme, bandwidth and bitrate are hell of a difference so sensitivity are.

    Wifi sensitivity are under -90dBm and other "simpler" RC radios could get over -100dBm (not wifi territory).

    This is what makes the hell of difference.

  • Ari Krupnik March 25, 2011 at 4:50pm

    @Supercharger: thank you for your support. Your feedback helps define the product.

    @Chris: the difference is antenna design. Ask Kevin Poulsen about mile-range WiFi.

  • I.S. March 25, 2011 at 4:46pm

    @Ari

    - Sorry, I didn't get to the FAQ page yet!

    - You mean 3V3 TTL? Pretty hard then to make a 6.6Vpp from an audio jack (usually limited to swhere to 2Vpp)

    It's surprising you managed to get high BW PPM pulses from a BW limited (<22Khz?) audio output.

    How sharp the pulse edges are? Do you have any oscilloscope capture?

    - One last thing! (I am quite excited with your project as you see). May I suggest a height hold or somekind of middle throttle value when shake gesture is done instead of cut throttle as demonstrated on your video?

    Again thinking about rotatory wings safety. I am afraid of our copters smashing to the floor or going to the sky is the limit.

     

     

     

  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson March 25, 2011 at 4:43pm
    Ari, that's good to know, but my phone's wifi range is about 100ft, and my RC gear's range is more than a mile, so there's something different there ;-;
  • SupreCharger March 25, 2011 at 4:42pm
     I've signed up for $70. Hope you will add arducoptor support later.
  • Ari Krupnik March 25, 2011 at 4:34pm
    @Chris, you know the kind of chips the 2.4GHz R/C devices use, right? They are low end wireless USB transceivers. Spektrum uses Cypress chips. It's the kind you find in $4.99 wireless keyboards and mice.
  • Ari Krupnik March 25, 2011 at 4:30pm

    @IS: Thank you for your interest, and for reading my website. Thank you for pointing out that it's unclear.

    The signal that's coming out of the phone is strong enough to work as the trainer input on many "positive PPM" transmitters. This includes DX7 and JR 9303. Frequency modules generally expect TTL level signals and need an amplifier. Other transmitters expect a "negative PPM" signal and need an inverter to work with iPhly. Schematics for that are on the site too.

    iPhly works with all models of iPhone and iPod touch. It works on the iPad, too, though it's cumbersome holding a device this large in one hand. iphly.org has an FAQ entry on that.

  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson March 25, 2011 at 4:23pm

    Ari, I think for straight Wifi, you're right that latency can probably be dealt with. But for longer range, we end up using other wireless technologies such as Xbee, where latency is a bigger issue.  I've yet to see a radio technology that has the range of regular 2.4gHz RC and similarly low latency. 

     

    That said, onboard autonomy can avoid the need for lightning fast reactions. In our fly-by-wire mode, for example, we just point the plane in a direction and it flies itself. In that case a few hundred milleseconds of latency might not be that big a deal. 

  • I.S. March 25, 2011 at 4:22pm

    @Ari

    ups! one more question missing!

    this should work on iPod touch and iPad too, shouldn't it?

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