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Fly An R/C Plane With an iPhone
An anonymous reader writes "Ever wished your iPhone could do more than just play some cool games? How about using it as a spread spectrum transmitter to fly your R/C Toys around, complete with using a Linksys router as a receiver?"
Yes, it's nothing really more than a simple UI feeding pretty basic data to a WLAN router which actually controls the vehicle.
But what have *you* done lately?
Was his server also running on an iPhone?
Upon hearing this news the FAA has now banned iPhones as a kneejerk reaction to potentially taking over commercial flights, especially if you also use said iPhone to herd pigs via the iLivestock app.
"To err is human, to mod Funny divine."
Fatal error: Out of memory (allocated 7602176) (tried to allocate 4864 bytes) in /home/myaunt/public_html/wp-includes/pluggable.php on line 901
Yeah that's very cool! I'm almoast jealous I don't have an iPhone...or a Linksys AP...or an R/C toy...
Since you have a linux computer on board, you could extend this beyond just real time control. Programmed flight paths? Use a smaller embedded linux computer and add extra gear, maybe cameras and GPS, you could do all sorts of cool stuff (although, now this is starting to sound like a military spy plane... expect a knock on the door from the FBI)
I lost me sig.
I had no idea R/C was considerred hip these days...
I RTFA. The guy claims to fly model planes, code in php AND had a *girl* in his bed. While he was coding php?!? It was either his sister, or I call bullshit on the whole story.
Those of you that don't fly should know that even minor glitches can lead to the total loss of your plane. If you do it right - get a simulator, get some training with an instructor, learn to build planes correctly - you minimize your losses but exceedingly few r/c pilots have never lost a plane. (I've lost one in 4 years or so of flying but I don't fly anywhere near as much as I'd like). You can think about where you want to put your plane but you have to get to the point where you can instinctively move the controls to do any maneuver you think of in under a second. If you can't it's called getting "behind the plane" which is bad (ie your thinking and planning to move your plane needs to be ahead). It's not rocket science but it's probably comparable to learning to ride a bike or ski or surf for the first time only if you get it slightly wrong your plane is history.
The last thing you want to do is risk your plane with an unreliable hack on the plane (or flight surfaces, or anything holding the plane together). It could cost you hundreds of bucks, days of work, and if your plane is gas powered or heavier than a few hundred grams it could hurt someone. (Fatalities are rare with smaller planes but not unheard of).
Also depending on where you live controlling your r/c plane with a radio that isn't designed and certified for it might not be legal even though the part of the spectrum you're using may be free to use (eg. 2.4GHz).
Frankly I haven't even gone to 2.4GHz. I know from having other devices on those frequencies that it's a noisy part of the spectrum. At the moment it's still quite new tech which is cool but I don't fully trust it yet for anything critical.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
This seems Horribly familiar.
http://www.chaotickingdoms.com
Site seems slashdotted, but this might be similar to the DIY iPhone-Controlled R/C Car story from October -- links to this video tutorial about the project.
grow up out of the iphone hysteria guys.
last year i wrote a simple java app for my se w810i to control my rc truck connected with a bluetooth module. the only difference here is that its an airplane and an iphone.
Why not put the iphone on the helicopter and use it to control it. Use the accelerometer data to stabilize the helicopter, the wifi geolocation ability to figure out where it is(for the most part...), and the camera to avoid obstacles using some sort of optic flow algorithm. Maybe even use google maps imagery to figure out where it is even better.
Ever wished that every tech website and commercial orgnisation didn't assume that you are an Apple drone with an iphone? I refer to the summary, which uses the phrase:
Hey! I have an iphone? I didn't know. Could you send it to me? Thanks!
I have a perfectly good mobile phone which works well with platform independent software and includes accelerometers, touch sensitivity and other amazing innovations. Yet my phone and my custom are of no interest to the majority of tech websites or businesses.
Similarly, it pisses me off that 90% of music docks are ipod-only, rather than being compatible with something crazy like a standard mini-jack.
Cue moderation to -1000, mild criticism of something tangentially connected to Apple.
Read Pynchon.
Look. Slashdot, we need an intervention here.
If we're gonna have a damn 'Idle' topic to begin with, then crap like this should be /kept/ there, and not allowed to spew out onto the main page.
Alright?
Alright.
there's an app that ssh's into a router and that is what's controlling the plane. it's as advertised, but the summary is wrong. the app makes the router control the plane.
Now you're talking. Schematics/code? Hope he'll share them (there's no better backup) before the next rm...
Ludwig Catta, is that you?! ;-)
How to use an iPhone to Fly R/C Airplanes and Helicopters
HOW I DID IT: I've had an iPhone for about a year now, and find it quite indispensable. It's handy in so many situations, and fits into a lot of nerdy stuff I do. However, it hasn't fit in perfectly to the main nerdy thing that I like to do: Fly radio control airplanes and helicopters. For that, I use a really high quality piece of hardware from a company called JR, a JR 9303 radio. It works great. However, one day it occurred to me, how cool would it be to use my iPhone to fly my RC stuff? The answer was "So cool" obviously. I tossed around the idea for a couple of months and ultimately gave up on it because the iPhone doesn't have a receiver I can put in the airplane to fly it with.
So the idea sat untouched while I learned how to program stuff on the iPhone for other nerdy purposes. My roommate requested I make a chadwick balancer for him using the accelerometers. (For those who don't know, this is a device they use in real and model helicopters to find out if something is not balanced. Main blades, tail blades, shafts, gears etc...) While I was learning about the accelerometer functions in the iPhone, the idea pinged me again, and I thought, How cool would it be to fly an R/C model using the accelerometers inside the iPhone?! Alas, still no receiver.
IMAC Season came and went, and so did indoor season. I was busy practicing for contests I knew I'd be beat at, and building planes I knew were way to good for me. =) Then, one fateful day, I deleted some PHP program I was working on by accident. This was a LOT of work, and I was exceptionally pissed off about it. I was distracted by some girl in my bed (Don't EVAR program PHP with a girl(s) in your bed!) and maybe a beer or six in my blood. I was writing a series of test programs for a SOAP interface, and had named one of them 8.php. (The more seasoned nerds among you can probably see where this is going). The program had turned into a complete disaster and was causing "internal server errors", and I wanted to delete it. While girl was yammering in my ear I typed rm *.php instead of rm 8.php, and hit enter. Deleting every php file in the folder. Hours of hard work gone into the void.
The next day I went and bought a time capsule from Apple so this would never happen again. The side effect of this was that I had a Linksys 54 to play around with. I always had this grandiose idea of building a WIFI sniffer/jammer. I figured there may have been some people playing around with these routers. And gosh, was I right.
The DD-WRT project is a group of people who have reverse engineered many popular brands of routers and have managed to load a small linux distribution. As soon as I saw that they had independent programs running, it hit me like a bolt of lightning: My planes and helis don't need a receiver if they are carrying around the server. If I could carry around the router on board, I could fly my stuff.
So I started scheming. There were a lot of problems to be solved, and I am only just so nerdy. I made a list:
1. How do I get the router to talk to the servos? How much current can ethernet handle?
2. How do I control throttle with no stick?
3. What is the latency going to be like from iPhone->Router->Program->Servo?
4. What is the range of WiFi? Good enough for RC?
5. Can I fly with the accelerometers? I'm a stick banger. BIG time. How does one add expo to this?
6. Whose planes can I test this on? >=)
So I had my basic idea down. iPhone joins the Linksys router network. It gets an IP address. Then, I open up my pilot program. The pilot program interfaces with the router via SSH (I couldn't think of a better way that has redundancy, and speed, and was already buily by someone else). The pilot program interprets what the iphone is doing, and outputs data to one of the ethernet ports of which there are conveniently 4. Rudder, Ailerons, Throttle, Elevator.
Once I had
This is very cool but, it was done (an RC car - not heli) earlier with a IPhone, a Wii-mote, a Wii-fit board and some other stuff by the guys at hardcode.tv.
Check out their cool demo: http://www.hardcode.tv/
This is nothing new. I see people driving cars with cellphones and iphones all the time. One hand on the phone, one on the cigarette, one on the coffee cup. That doesn't leave any for the steering wheel so they must be driving the car with the phone. Get Moose and Squirrel!
Network RJ45 to PWM? No wonder he is not telling how he did it - impossible. And the phone call from this girl?? Sooo made up... Wishful thinking from a sad little Jewish boy.
Why would I want to do that?
Is it like scratching your balls with a ballpoint pen? Or flipping pancakes with a fork?
How 'bout this: I'll go mow my lawn with a nail clipper instead.
You are welcome on my lawn.
MyAuntIsHot or MyAuntIShot?
to go with the military-version iPod Touch. An iPhone-controlled UAV, called the iDrone.
I couldn't agree more. I think it's part of the marketing hype that Slashdot and others have fallen to where "On The IpHoNe" - or indeed, "On Your Iphone" makes it newsworthy.
"Ever wished your iPhone could do more than just play some cool games? How about using a chat client instead of SMS?"
"Ever wished your iPhone could do more than just play some cool games? How about using it to access a website, just like almost every other phone has been doing for years?"
"Ever wished your iPhone could do more than just play some cool games? How about using it to speak into the microphone, and use it as a communication device to talk as if by magic with someone not even in the same room?"
Similarly, it pisses me off that 90% of music docks are ipod-only
Whilst there's no excuse for the lack of standardisation that Apple have encouraged, in this case at least you can't blame the manufacturers as the Ipod is the most popular device. But the Iphone? Sorry, despite the impression one might get from reading Slashdot, it's just one of many phones with much larger companies that have sold billions - and plenty of those phones have for years been doing the "new" things that are advertised, er, reported for the Iphone. That "Ipod" has become synonymous with "mp3 player" is understandable, in the same way it occurred for "Walkman", but trying to do it for the Iphone? That's just annoying.
Take something old, put "iPhone" on it, voila, news!
Youtube Video first: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72V0n1GaMsw
Text below from Google Cache.
Iâ(TM)ve had an iPhone for about a year now, and find it quite indispensable. Itâ(TM)s handy in so many situations, and fits into a lot of nerdy stuff I do. However, it hasnâ(TM)t fit in perfectly to the main nerdy thing that I like to do: Fly radio control airplanes and helicopters. For that, I use a really high quality piece of jrp2915-250hardware from a company called JR, a JR 9303 radio. It works great. However, one day it occurred to me, how cool would it be to use my iPhone to fly my RC stuff? The answer was âoeSo coolâ obviously. I tossed around the idea for a couple of months and ultimately gave up on it because the iPhone doesnâ(TM)t have a receiver I can put in the airplane to fly it with.
So the idea sat untouched while I learned how to program stuff on the iPhone for other nerdy purposes. My roommate requested I make a chadwick balancer for him using the accelerometers. (For those who donâ(TM)t know, this is a device they use in real and model helicopters to find out if something is not balanced. Main blades, tail blades, shafts, gears etcâ¦) While I was learning about the accelerometer functions in the iPhone, the idea pinged me again, and I thought, How cool would it be to fly an R/C model using the accelerometers inside the iPhone?! Alas, still no receiver.
IMAC Season came and went, and so did indoor season. I was busy practicing for contests I knew Iâ(TM)d be beat at, and building planes I knew were way to good for me. =) Then, one fateful day, I deleted some PHP program I was working on by accident. This was a LOT of work, and I was exceptionally pissed off about it. I was distracted by some girl in my bed (Donâ(TM)t EVAR program PHP with a girl(s) in your bed!) and maybe a beer or six in my blood. I was writing a series of test programs for a SOAP interface, and had named one of them 8.php. (The more seasoned nerds among you can probably see where this is going). The program had turned into a complete disaster and was causing âoeinternal server errorsâ, and I wanted to delete it. While girl was yammering in my ear I typed rm *.php instead of rm 8.php, and hit enter. Deleting every php file in the folder. Hours of hard work gone into the void.
The next day I went and bought a time capsule from Apple so this would never happen again. The side effect of this was that I had a Linksys 54 to play linksys routeraround with. I always had this grandiose idea of building a WIFI sniffer/jammer. I figured there may have been some people playing around with these routers. And gosh, was I right.
The DD-WRT project is a group of people who have reverse engineered many popular brands of routers and have managed to load a small linux distribution. As soon as I saw that they had independent programs running, it hit me like a bolt of lightning: My planes and helis donâ(TM)t need a receiver if they are carrying around the server. If I could carry around the router on board, I could fly my stuff.
So I started scheming. There were a lot of problems to be solved, and I am only just so nerdy. I made a list:
1. How do I get the router to talk to the servos? How much current can ethernet handle?
2. How do I control throttle with no stick?
3. What is the latency going to be like from iPhone->Router->Program->Servo?
4. What is the range of WiFi? Good enough for RC?
5. Can I fly with the accelerometers? Iâ(TM)m a stick banger. BIG time. How does one add expo to this?
6. Whose planes can I test this on? >=)
So I had my basic idea down. iPhone joins the Linksys router network. It gets an IP address. Then, I open up my pilot program. The pilot program interfaces with the router via SSH (I couldnâ(T
He keeps talking about 'girls' in the story, for example that he had a girl in his bed, or he was flying his plane and a girl called him, but what he forgot to mention that the girl he is referring to is his mom, and the party he was invited to was Friday pizza night, with his mom.
-Xoltri
I know I have twistd personality after seeing that site; but word "receiver" brings to my eyes memory of my first visit to goatse :-/
www.plantraco.com they hail from canada, and you even get 10 pages of customs paperwork every time they ship ya a plane via fedex.. lol these people came up with a battery that has magnets on the connectors, to hold the battery to the reciever on the plane, truly made for us clumsy flyers! their best is the carbon butterfly! for outdoors, the UAV, or avonette are great.. but if you like you planes to have wheels for the challange of touch and go's anywhere you go, then the 'pocket plane' is what you are really after
Just because it's an iPhone it's not newsworthy, nor ./ worthy. Even the photo-chopped controls image on the phone indicates FAIL.
And of course it would work for 2 seconds until the iPhone drops connection since the WiFi has always been flaky on that (andother 3G phones) hardware. Also 2 moving access points is not a strength of DSSS WiFi. I believe the JR and R/C radios that use wifi are FHSS or better. Anyway he would have been better off using 2 iPhones and a 3G connection. Better yet, 2 openmoko devices, or even better, a iphone+sun spot. Even a G1 would have been a better phone choice (2 accelos, digi compass).
The again, the article is so ridden with 'nerdy', l33t speak, and WRT that I kept thinking "script-kiddie on 4chan".
Now I'm not saying this app is useless, but why would anyone need to fly an RC play with their iphone? Don't the have remotes for that already?