professorcake
Id like to be able to manually control my RC Crawler using an EZ-B v4/2 + camera combo. Ideally I would like to control it with an xbox 360 controller using the triggers as proportional forward/reverse and one of the sticks for proportional left/right turning, both with auto centering (hands off the controller = stationary with the wheels straight). Controlled over a local network initially, but ultimately I would like to be able to mount my phone on the truck broadcasting a mobile hotspot and be able to control it from my desktop/laptop computer from anywhere. An RC car is fairly simple compared to a typical robot, after watching some videos, reading some tutorials, and messing with the software a bit it looks possible. Rather than ask how, I mainly wanted to ask if what I am describing is achievable with this ezrobot hardware/software.
Yes - except not with a phone onboard. Get a $100 mini pc
Thanks for the quick reply DJ. Couldn't the EZ-B connect to wifi via a mobile hotspot just the same way it would connect to any other wifi? Clarification, phone would be mounted on the truck just so the EZ-B could connect to it via wifi (hotspot), then use any internet connected pc to control it over the internet. If you wouldnt mind please explain how an inexpensive mini pc would help for my example.
The phone cannot use an Xbox controller
DJ is confused. He is thinking about the EZ-B mobile interface, not using the phone as a Hotspot. Your solution will work fine as described with one exception. Most phone Hotspot you can not define what IP address it hands out, and the leases are short, so the EZ-B may not automatically connect on startup without someone local to assist.
Alan
Your other challenge with a mobile phone Hotspot is port forwarding. If you have a VPN client on the phone so that your remote computer and the Hotspot are essentially on the same network you can probably work around that, but you need to be able to connect to port 23 and 24(if you use the camera) on the EZ-B. So certainly possible, but there are easier solutions (like an on board computer running TeamViewer or similar for remote control without knowing the IP address).
Thanks guru, really appreciate your response! You are right the phone would be for hotspot not the mobile interface. You make some good points on connecting with a hotspot but ill always be local to the "rover" before i send it off on missions. So I could just figure out what my ip is each time and configure it with that, then all i would need to worry about is vpn/port forwarding? Im sure I can figure out how to get this set up over a local network but one of my goals is to be able to connect to the rover wherever it can get 4g mobile internet from my phone. If you think running an on board computer and something like teamviewer would be better, can you go into a bit more depth on how that would work?
Also i forgot to mention the crawler will use standard hobby grade electronics, a hobbywing esc and savox servo.
I purchased a used AC791L verizon jetpack for $50 as a better mobile hotspot option. It would be a better physical fit for the crawler, supports an external antenna for boosting 4g connectivity, and ultimately would only be $10/mo on my plan. The real benefit of using this jetpack is that it has port forwarding and dmz capability built in unlike using a phone for hotspot so I think it will help with the networking issues mentioned above. I can use it for lots of other purposes so even if it doesnt work out here I think its a good value. Waiting on my EZ-B hardware to come in, cant wait to get started.