wireless

Having two or more Arduino boards be able to communicate with each other wirelessly over a distance opens lots of possibilities like remotely monitoring sensor data, controlling robots, home automation and the list goes on. A good, reliable and inexpensive solution is NRF24L01.

The NRF24L01+ is a newer version of the NRF24L01, capable of doing an extra 250kbps of on-air data rate while the one without “+” has only 1Mbps and 2Mbps. Both versions can be mixed together as long as 1 or 2 MBps is being used as the data rate.

The physical assembly of the car has been completed with all the components properly installed and ready for use. The next steps involve reprogramming the Arduino Nano with the appropriate software to enable all the features, including pairing the car with the AirControl joystick via the NRF24L01 module.

Radio control cars are small vehicles powered by electric or gas motors that can be remotely controlled by a transmitter. The transmitter sends signals to a receiver on the car, allowing the operator to control the car's speed, direction, and steering. Radio control cars are available in a variety of sizes, from miniature models that can fit in the palm of your hand to large off-road vehicles that can climb over rough terrain.

Controlling devices over a distance opens lots of possibilities. Our Arduino roadmap contains many projects that must be controlled remotely and sometimes on a long-distance. Of course, it can be done with a PC but our experience has shown that it becomes complicated when you need long way, portable and rapid communications. Our solution was designing a multi-functional remote controller, we have called it AirControl. Aware of the needs it will have 4 push buttons, 2 switch buttons, 2 potentiometers and two analog modules. Additionally, each analog joystick module has integrated push button.

Wireless communication implies having a transmitter, in our case the joystick, and a receiver. We must build a simple circuit with NRF24L01 wiring that will act as listener for our joystick. The NRF24L01 module strictly needs 3.3V but the logic pins are 5V tolerant. That why we recommend to use the NRF24L01 adapter which acts as regulator, keep the voltage stable, apply filtering and reduce noises.

With the idea of making a remote-controlled car in mind, we began our investigation by disassembling the frame to uncover its internal components and understand how they work. By gaining a clear understanding of the car's original configuration, we were able to approach the modifications with greater confidence, knowing what changes were necessary and how they would integrate with the existing system.

Based on the solution of designing multi-functional remote controller and being aware of the needs we started building the joystick. It will have 4 push buttons, 2 switch buttons, 2 potentiometers and two analog modules. And, additional 2 push buttons integrated on the analog joystick module.

The physical part of the controller is finished but what about the brain? Once more, our decision falls on Arduino Nano. It perfectly fits by size providing all the necessary functionality. For programming a Nano board we need a USB to serial interface which can be hooked up to the programing header located on the top side of our controller.

Radio control cars are small vehicles powered by electric or gas motors that can be remotely controlled by a transmitter. The transmitter sends signals to a receiver on the car, allowing the operator to control the car's speed, direction, and steering. Radio control cars are available in a variety of sizes, from miniature models that can fit in the palm of your hand to large off-road vehicles that can climb over rough terrain.

Controlling devices over a distance opens lots of possibilities. Our Arduino roadmap contains many projects that must be controlled remotely and sometimes on a long-distance. Of course, it can be done with a PC but our experience has shown that it becomes complicated when you need long way, portable and rapid communications. Our solution was designing a multi-functional remote controller, we have called it AirControl.