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From software algorithms to material selection, Mr. Roboto strives to meet you
where you are — and what more would you expect from a complex service droid?
by
Dennis Clark
As you are reading this, in the back of your mind
you’re thinking that spring is right around the corner. As I
am writing it, I’m thinking about what Santa will bring me.
Not quite the same thing, but still distracting. Speaking of
distractions ... I have had some interesting questions lately.
I’m going to clear the table here at the end of the year and
do my best to answer them, from the ones I thought were
simple to the ones that were obscure. An interesting lot
this has been!
It has been my experience that using web search
engines can be a frustrating attempt to re-create the
thought processes of the folks that post their information
for us to find. Did the author call this a “circuit,” a “board,”
or a “schematic?” Did she use “RC,” “R/C,” “Radio
Controlled,” or “Remote Control?” With that thought in
mind, I went ahead and answered some of these questions
for those out there who also might give up on the “cloud.”
Q. I have Futaba 8FG remote controls that I use on aircraft. How do I connect a remote control so the plane can then be controlled from a PC?
Signals out of what? Thanks.
— Hananto
A. Hanato, this is not so difficult as many would think. The manufacturers do not talk about how to do this, but the hacker community is very alive and very in
tune with connecting transmitters to flight simulators, and
creating cables for what the R/C aircraft community calls
“buddy boxes” which allow a trainer to be connected to a
pupil’s transmitter so an instructor can take over when
needed. However, this is a great way to void your warranty,
so read on if you don’t mind risking your radio!
Before you proceed, please note that I have not done
this experiment with any of my equipment, so you will need
to experiment with my suggestions to get your transmitter
to be in “student mode” and accept signals from your
computer. I do not recommend that you try to generate the
signals on your PC; it simply can’t deal with the close timing
required. I suggest that you instead use an embedded
processor — one of many I have written about in the past —
and have a serial port connection to your embedded
controller board, and use your PC program to tell the
embedded board what signals to send to your transmitter.
Figure 1. Trainer jack.
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