Heliosphere

Hey there,

I'm a total novice when it comes to RC stuff (well other than a basic RC car when I was about 10, many moons ago!) and am also a quadriplegic (since not quite so many moons ago.) I would love to be able to fly an RC plane and am sure it should possible with the right adapted controls. I was hoping somebody here might be able to give me some advice on how feasible the idea is..

I'd have to use my mouth for control so was thinking if I had a small joystick set up for the elevator and rudder, with a variable resistor next to it for throttle, then I should be able to handle a basic three channel aircraft shouldn't I??

If that idea is sound, then how would I go about getting it built? Could I buy an existing transmitter, get it dismantled then modify or replace the components I need to make them accessible, then have them mounted in a way so I can get to them?

Hope someone can give me some feedback either way, I'll try not to get my hopes up too much!

Cheers.

Heliosphere

I just came across the product "Futaba 3FR" (I can't paste links yet sorry) three channel, single joystick controller.. maybe that could be a good starting point to try and modify to be accessible for me?

Dave H

Certainly it’s possible from the hardware/RC perspective. The controls on a radio are just potentiometers (pots), one should be able to remove and mount them separately/remotely if needed. Of course best to limit the extra wire length, perhaps use a little larger gage, but I don’t think it’s real critical (3 fairly small wires each I believe). I’ve seen stuff like this done for various oddball projects several times.

Best wishes (and condolences), great to see you are not giving up, I always liked that this is a great hobby for those with various challenges.

Heliosphere

Thanks Dave that's encouraging, I'm not sure where to start now though.. I was thinking maybe getting a cheapo transmitter (suggestions?) that can be connected to the PC, then try and modify it and see how I go with one of the PC sims.

Is this forum the place to ask technical questions about sourcing and wiring in new pots, or is there somewhere else more suited to those type of questions??

All-Or-Nothing

This sounds great. I hope you find all the info you need as I can't really help you out. Might help by posting this in one of the robotics forums. I have a friend who is into building them and it seems like those guys would be the ones to really provide the most help.

Try out societyofrobots.com

I know they do lots of projects and I think they would love the chance to tackle this problem.

Good Luck

Justpassedu

iTrader: (118)

I don't know if this will help but I came across it and figured you could take a look at it , I wish you the best also - http://www.beatyourtruck.com/forum/c...CK-TRANSMITTER

Heliosphere

That Beat Your Truck link is great, those are the sort of mods I'd need I reckon, just mounted in a different configuration.

I've ordered a $30 USB transmitter for PC RC sims for starters, so we can try pulling that apart to see if I can use one of the stock joysticks or if we need to get more creative and start replacing components.

I've been doing lots of googling and have been checking out FPV videos, man that would be awesome if I could get a setup like that! Amazing what's possible with technology these days.. probably getting a bit ahead of myself now though

Justpassedu

iTrader: (118)

I Wish you the best of luck , hope it helped. Let us know the outcome.