PRO
afcorson
Australia
Asked
Is there a method of controlling a robot remotely which has an onboard PC with EZB4 connected via USB? All of my robots bar one, use WiFi connection and are controlled using an interface on an Android device or laptop. The WiFi disconnects regularly so is unreliable. Having an on board PC works perfectly but the robot can't be controlled remotely. I believe a wireless touchscreen may be the answer but these are not readily available as yet. Any ideas?
Related Hardware EZ-B v4
I don't know why the WiFi disconnects periodically. I had four robots set up at an Expo, all using different IP addresses, and they all disconnected at some point. I would imagine free channels might vary depending on the location. At an Expo, for example, there can be 50+ exhibitors with all sorts of equipment connected with wifi, bluetooth, etc. However, the scanning tool you mention is something I will definitely try next time I take a robot somewhere and it disconnects.
Thanks for the update on HTML and ARC @DJ. I know you have spent a lot of time looking into this and given it a lot of thought.
hi @afcorson the 2.4GHz spectrum is pretty crowded and the EZB just has an onboard etched PCB antenna and doesn’t have an external antenna. It support 802.11b/g/n You maybe using 802.11b that doesn’t handle interference very well (microwave ovens/ pass through interference/ metal in robots etc) .
What wifi router are you using?
You maybe better off with an onboard PC and 5GHz /external antenna for a more reliable connection but you can try 802.11g or n on EZB. Not sure what features you use on EZB and if ESP would work instead but some ESP also support external antennas.
there is a new ESP32-C5 coming out that supports 5GHz I guess we can try that when it becomes readily available. https://www.espressif.com/en/news/ESP32-C5
@afcorson That's actually quite normal. We've had connection problems at trade shows and expos ourselves. When the 2.4GHz spectrum becomes saturated it's difficult for any radio to stay connected. The amount of people with WiFi/Bluetooth devices in their pockets and every vendor connecting their booth to WiFi definitely saturates the environment and creates interference. The radio on the EZ-B does not use a high-power antenna, nor do laptops and phones, but one device that does is a WiFi Router. You could increase signal strength by placing your EZ-Bs into client mode and connect to them via a router to create your own local area network which will boost the signal by quite a bit and allow you to keep a solid connection to your EZ-Bs.
@ jeremie thanks for this I dont think I have ever connected my robots via Client mode...I'm thinking about having a dedicated router for just the robots. Thanks!