Radio control transmitter with PC interface

[babylon5]

Hi anyone, I am looking for a suitable radio control transmitter with PC interface so that I can use the PC to control the models something like this applications !See link

http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-te...rifying-video/

Cheers

[idea fly]

I don't have one ,but have quadcopter ,do you want it ?haha

[Wildflyer]

After watching the video, I believe there must be a transmitter for each quad copter.

Several times a certain unit is doing something at a slightly different time, or moving in a different direction than the others. I don't think you can do that with one TX, unless each unit has a different digital address than any other unit.

I would think that was a very expensive thing to make work as well as it does.

[babylon5]

Thanks for your response and contribution, I just want to use the transmitter so that I can interface with a PC and use the PC to overwrite the control sticks for robotic application and not necessary a quad copter .(quad copter is just part of it.)

Cheers

[kyleservicetech]

Originally Posted by babylon5

Thanks for your response and contribution, I just want to use the transmitter so that I can interface with a PC and use the PC to overwrite the control sticks for robotic application and not necessary a quad copter .(quad copter is just part of it.)

Cheers

Would a connection to the transmitter trainer port work in your application

[babylon5]

Originally Posted by kyleservicetech

Would a connection to the transmitter trainer port work in your application

Yes, that might work. I never thought about it. So I need to know what sort of signal goes through the trainer port and simulate that signal from the PC.
Thanks for the idea.

Cheers

[babylon5]

Originally Posted by kyleservicetech

Would a connection to the transmitter trainer port work in your application

Yes, that might work. I never thought about it. So I need to know what sort of signal goes through the trainer port and simulate that signal from the PC.
Thanks for the idea.

Cheers

[kyleservicetech]

Originally Posted by babylon5

Yes, that might work. I never thought about it. So I need to know what sort of signal goes through the trainer port and simulate that signal from the PC.
Thanks for the idea.

Cheers

If you've got access to an oscilloscope, that would make it easy to find out what's coming out of those trainer ports.

If not, I can look at my Spektrum DX7's and see what they have. Let me know.

FYI, I've been playing with those Microchip PicChip microcontrollers now for some 15 years. Programming them to directly drive servos is fairly simple to do. All you need is a postive pulse of 1.0 to 2.0 milliseconds with about a 15 millisecond frame rate. PicChips have up to 20 output ports or so, depending on which chip you buy. Some of them go for only a dollar or three.

A real nice MicroChip is their PIC18F13K50, that is rated for up to 5 volts DC. It has the option for a built in clock, several A/D converters and a whole lot of other stuff. You can program it with the MicroChip Pickit3 programmer. If you go to higher powered microchip microcontrollers such as the 16F873, these also have built in debugging abilities for single stepping, break points, and the ability to read every registor in the computer chip. The '873 requires an external crystal clock or resonator to work.

You can use the PicChips to convert the analog inputs to digital outputs to directly drive servos. The 18F458 unit is a fairly high powered unit with a lot of capabilities. Not played with it, but believe some of those PicChips are capable of interfacing with PC USB ports. There are literally thousands of different MicroChips available to work with.

[babylon5]

Thank Denny for your suggestion. Will check up the signal with a oscilloscope.
Cheers and have a good day.

[babylon5]

Hi Denny I can get a pkit2 and the PIC18F family to work on the programming. I probably also need an interface or a decoder that can decode the MCU data to talk to the trainer port.


Thanks again for your help
Cheers

[kyleservicetech]

Originally Posted by babylon5

Hi Denny I can get a pkit2 and the PIC18F family to work on the programming. I probably also need an interface or a decoder that can decode the MCU data to talk to the trainer port.


Thanks again for your help
Cheers

That will require a solid understanding on programming those PicChips. I've been using machine code for the past 30 years and am comfortable with it, even if it is "Stone Age" technology. MicroChip also has "C" software for this purpose, but if you're familiar with "C" you know it is $$$$ expensive.

Nice thing about these microcontrollers, they can likely be the full interface and decoder that you need do do the job. Problem is, even though the circuitry would be very simple, the programming could easily reach many many pages.

Take a look at the attached photos of one of my "Breadboards" for the PicChip PIC18F458. This version PicChip is no longer available, but other very similar versions of the '458 are still available, and are about $10 or so. I've got another breadboard layout that is 3.8 by 2.5 inches where www.expresspcb.com can build three boards for around $60. This breadboard brings out all of the picchip pins, and also has direct interface connections to an LCD display. (Probably not needed in your application)

Kind of avoid the lower cost PicChips for projects. They operate with "Pages" in their programming, and getting the wrong page on a command can result in total frustration. The PicChip 18F and higher series operate on a "Single" Page.

The circuit board has a 6 pin connector that directly plugs into the PicChip Pickit3 programmer. The programmer plugs into a USB port on your computer. For machine code, everything is free from MicroChip. The PicKit3 allows programming the PicChip, debugging it, single stepping it, and a lot of other stuff. All of these parts are available through www.digikey.com. (I can provide part numbers if you're interested.) For design work, you'd connect the PicChip to the transmitter trainer output, connect the PicChips outputs to your project. Then connect the Pickit3 between the PC USB port and the PicChip. Kind of a poor mans microprocessor simulator or emulator.

This PicChip project is connected to an accelerometer that is used to measure vibration levels on a glow/gasser model. As you can see, not much to the circuitry. That TO18 "Transistor" is a 5 volt regulator powered by a standard 9 volt alkaline battery. The PicChip is programmed to read the voltage output of the accelerometer chip, 20,000 times per second, and using a lookup table, convert it directly to "g's. The PicChip output directly drives a standard LCD display.

Let me know what you need for inputs and outputs on your project. I'll take a look at it, and let you know what would be involved in "PicChiping" it.