Teleoperation alternatives (No more RC =D)

[jklv]

I was asking some time ago, about alternatives to usual RC controls.
So I searched but did not understand a thing about UART.
And somehow lately I was thinking if, is it possibly to remote control something using a cellphone connection?
I mean, you make a call to another cellphone, than instead of transmitting sound information, you transmit orders information to the teleoperated thingy.
I really need a long range alternative(2-10 miles), any could be helpful. Of course cheaper then the usual $200 RX-RT devices
And all of this controlled by a laptop

[dunk]

there's a lot of articles out there on connecting a cell phone to a microcontroller.
eg:
http://www.embedtronics.com/nokia/fbus.html
http://www.riccibitti.com/tinyplanet/tiny_intro.htm
http://www.google.com/search?q=cell+phone+microcontroller&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.ubuntu:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

alternatively you could throw some money at it:
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/categories.php?cPath=66_68

to connect the microcontroller to the phone (or sparkfun module) you are still going to have to use a UART on the microcontroller though.

dunk.

[jklv]

there's a lot of articles out there on connecting a cell phone to a microcontroller.
eg:
http://www.embedtronics.com/nokia/fbus.html
http://www.riccibitti.com/tinyplanet/tiny_intro.htm
http://www.google.com/search?q=cell+phone+microcontroller&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.ubuntu:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

alternatively you could throw some money at it:
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/categories.php?cPath=66_68

to connect the microcontroller to the phone (or sparkfun module) you are still going to have to use a UART on the microcontroller though.

dunk.

Thanks a lot! 
Do you know where could I find an understandable UART tutorial or guide?
Will I be able to control the teleoperated thingy real time? Like RC
I am planning to use the free-cellphones I got from cingular xD and because cingular to cingular calls are free, there is no worry about time

[dunk]

Do you know where could I find an understandable UART tutorial or guide?

not without knowing what microcontroller you plan to use.

Will I be able to control the teleoperated thingy real time? Like RC

i presume it's possible to tell what buttons are being pressed on the remote phone using this method. if so that would give you fast response times.
i don't know for sure. read the links.
it is definitely possible to send and receive SMS messages this way but they are not really fast enough for real time control.

dunk.

[gamefreak]

if the microcontroller was programmed to respond to certain tones on the phone, ie 2 = forward, then it could be real time i think, but im not sure.

[jklv]

if the micro controller was programmed to respond to certain tones on the phone, ie 2 = forward, then it could be real time i think, but im not sure.

But then a sound recognition system would be needed, doesn't it?
I mean when sound is transmitted, information is transmitted, which than gets translated into sound right?
Could that information instead of being sound could be just numbers or something simple that the UAV can understand.

[dunk]

http://www.google.com/search?q=dtmf

[jklv]

http://www.google.com/search?q=dtmf

Thanks for that, I think I understand

[Asellith]

I did a lot of research into The modules mentioned at sparkfun
for the module
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=757

and the eval board (comes with rs-232 as well)
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=281

Or the kit with GPS capabilities might come in handy at that 10 mile range your talking about
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=479

We wanted to use these to remotely control radio station transmitters for our radio network.
As a robot platform all you would need is one of them and a sim card and service from tmobile or I think At&t still does GSM. But verizon and altel use CDMA which will not work with this unit.

On the rs-232 board you can pull some jumper pins and tie right into the uart output from the module this will allow you to connect with a laptop or computer with either the same module or just a standard telephone connection if available. Then dial the number and if the module is setup properly it will answer the call in data mode and output what you input into it with hyper terminal.

The module is also programmable with python. Not sure what the capacities for it are but people use them as custom data loggers for distance applications that download every so often. It has several GPIOs and some other nice features to it. So might be able to use just the module as the mcu and communications solution for the robot. But you have to learn python. Something I was not willing to invest time into

Hope this info is of some help. Let me know if you have more questions about this solution

Johnny B

[Admin]

Do you know where could I find an understandable UART tutorial or guide?

I keep promising I'll write one . . . I've been doing tons of UART stuff to understand it myself lately . . .
I should have a tutorial up by December on how to add UART capabilities to the $50 robot . . .

Ill be using an AVR microcontroller programmed in C . . .

[HDL_CinC_Dragon]

Dont suppose theres a way to use a deactivated cell phone for something like this? Perhaps hacking into the phones electronics and hijacking the RxTx circuitry so it doesnt have to be connected to any network? and basically create my own specifically for use with my robot? Maybe even put like a 15 foot antenna on my roof haha

[vidam]

I did a lot of research into The modules mentioned at sparkfun
for the module


Or the kit with GPS capabilities might come in handy at that 10 mile range your talking about
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=479

Why does it seem like everything is out of stock at SparkFun lately?

[HDL_CinC_Dragon]

Price: $254.70

yeaaah I was wondering if there was a way to simply interface with it somehow without spending that kind of money because I simply have non (I do, however, have a LOT of parts laying around)

Could I just do that?
Also, I think that device needs an active phone...?