Control RC Car with Gaming Laptop
 

Hi everyone,

Have you ever wanted to control your RC car using your laptop? If so, you're in luck because it's possible! With the right hardware and software, you can create a system that allows you to control your RC car using your laptop as the controller.

One example of this setup is using an Arduino board, which can be connected to your laptop via USB, and then programming it to receive commands from your laptop and send signals to the RC car's motor controller. You can write a program in the arduino software that maps keyboard commands from your laptop to specific actions for the RC car, such as driving forward or turning.

Another option is to use a wireless communication module, such as a Bluetooth module or Wi-Fi module, to connect your laptop and RC car. This allows you to control the car from your laptop wirelessly and in real-time.

Have any of you attempted this before? If so, please share your experiences and any tips you have. If not, are you interested in trying it out? Let's start a discussion!

Best regards,
Yash

I read about similar solutions from enthusiasts on the topic blog, but it requires programming and configuration knowledge. This is not the case when you can download ready-made firmware and simply control your car from a laptop.

Well, hello, ChatGPT.

The ergonomics of this idea strike me as, er, artificial...

I've considered trying it, only so I can go race at Bendigo via livestream without actually being there.

C'mon, Bendigo's not bad. It's lovely at certain times of year.

Why not program the car to just drive itself? :)

This feels like the start of an infomercial.

"HI, BILLY MAYS HERE FOR THE WORLDS GREATEST CONTROLLER, YOUR GAMING LAPTOP!."

It's a bit of a drive to do it regularly.

So what is the use of our 40 to even more than 70mph running cars to control by some keyboard clicks? Impossible to control!

You could move to Sunbury or somewhere on the M79 and split the difference.

Only kidding. It's an interesting thought exercise - the network between you and the track will be a key element in all of this. People get obsessive about framerates and latency, but I'm not convinced it's always so simple. Human minds are pretty good at filling in gaps and anticipating responses. Consistency in latency (thought bubble) would be very important.

I went looking for latency performance data in Land of Oz, and with extensive (~2 minutes) search, only found this:
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rct...678c651b01.png
Couldn't find info on how that was measured (ie: end-point to ISP or something else) and no obvious data on consistency of latency.

There's an overall loop of input->response->visual feedback involved and if things are consistent, then I imagine this may be quite workable. You need the latency of the visual feedback to be quite low and consistent. Camera, encoding and streaming need to be decent. I've watched live streams while trackside and they've typically been half a second or more behind actual events. I suspect you'd need something quicker than that for a decent driving experience.

Can't imagine it would be difficult to rig up the control side; the guys at PDNR have good video gear. Maybe try it sometime...

That's why we use radios, so much more convenient and practical. (jmo)

It sounds very cool, though a bit fantastical. It can certainly be fulfill by programming enthusiasts with the right skills. By the way, if you really want to implement such a project, I can recommend a team of specialists who can take over the software development (https://syndicode.com/services/web-a...n-development/). They have a lot of experience and love such unconventional tasks. I think it could find a lot of practical use in many professions.

Oddly enough so does this solution. It's just a lot more complicated and expensive.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rct...3295848b5.jpeg
I control my onroad cars with a Simon. When I tap the wall it goes "brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr".

Most of the top Australian drivers do something similar, with a local variant called uowis
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rct...954738b2c4.png