[Demetris] sent in a tip about a project he’s working on: an Open Source Remote Control transmitter. This is one of the most impressive looking RC transmitters we’ve ever seen. The OSRC could be great for a small UAV – just get the GPS position from the aircraft and map it with the transmitter’s screen. There’s also support for a video downlink so flying around New York City is possible with a single device.
The transmitter/receiver combo are more actually referred to as transceivers. According to [Demetris], the radios on both the ‘ground side’ and ‘vehicle side’ can talk to each other on a 115 kbps*data link on the 2.4GHz band. Sending commands and getting telemetry to something we’ve seen before, but never in a single integrated package.*The expected range is in the neighborhood of 10 – 40 km.**The ground unit is based on a Gumstix board and has a 4.8 inch display. This really isn’t so much an RC transmitter but a computer that happens to control RC airplanes.
[Demetris] has had some success doing some professional development with Gumstix boards, so it looks like he has the skills to build a very nice R/C controller.
Filed under: radio hacks, toy hacks, wireless hacks
