RC controllers and receivers

[musicman]

any one know where i can get a RC controller and receivers that my team can use as a off-season job that they can program and put together? if any one has an idea that would be great.

[EricH]

What's your application? What type of control systems are you looking for? What's your price range?

[musicman]

just to use on the old robot from last year and i really dont have a price range yet.

[EricH]

You might want to take a look at Bill's Blog from today; the cRIO FRCII is due out in early October. Discounted price $285 (no modules) or $525 (with modules); this is assuming you haven't used your discount for this year yet. (Or, if you're really in a hurry, you can still get a cRIO... but I might go with the new one.)

Aside from that, there are the VRC controllers. You might be able to get your hands on an old IFI system.

If you're REALLY desperate, you could try an R/C controller like is used for a model airplane. The problem there is, you only get a form of PWM output, so goodbye CAN control...

[Mark McLeod]

The new cRIO FRC II won't be usable until the 2012 Kickoff, so that's not practical for an off-season project this year.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

The new cRIO FRC II won't be usable until the 2012 Kickoff, so that's not practical for an off-season project this year.

Missed that part... but it'll still free up a cRIO I!

[Gdeaver]

This year we took one of our old robots and put a vex controller on it. Programed in easy C. It was stripped down and was used to hassle this years robot in practice. Worked well for this application. I referred to it as the PITA bot.

[Aren Siekmeier]

Many teams in the collegiate FIRST pilot competition this year used hobby r/c radio connections for the air and ground vehicles. I wish I could remember what they were called, but there were two brands that were on either side of 2.4 GHz (just outside of Wifi). The transmitter and receiver are tiny and light (think r/c aircraft) and still quite robust. There are also speed controllers of similar scale and performance, also in the hobby r/c area. If I can remember what exactly they were I'll be sure to let you know.

[IndySam]

We use a Vex controller for our t-shirt bot.

[Roger]

Originally Posted by IndySam

...our t-shirt bot.

A remote-controlled t-shirt that shoots little robots? Sorry.

[Retired Starman]

Just one caution. If you decide to use an RC control system, be sure to get one designated for surface vehicles, not one for model airplanes. The two run on separate frequency channels so model airplanes don't accidentally get controlled by someone close by with a model car or boat.

It's both a legal issue and a safety issue.

Dr. Bob