Remote control vehicle
Encyclopedia
Remote control
A remote control is a component of an electronics device, most commonly a television set, used for operating the television device wirelessly from a short line-of-sight distance.The remote control is usually contracted to remote...
by a means that does not restrict its motion
Motion (physics)
In physics, motion is a change in position of an object with respect to time. Change in action is the result of an unbalanced force. Motion is typically described in terms of velocity, acceleration, displacement and time . An object's velocity cannot change unless it is acted upon by a force, as...
with an origin external to the device. This is often a radio control
Radio control
Radio control is the use of radio signals to remotely control a device. The term is used frequently to refer to the control of model vehicles from a hand-held radio transmitter...
device, cable
Cable
A cable is two or more wires running side by side and bonded, twisted or braided together to form a single assembly. In mechanics cables, otherwise known as wire ropes, are used for lifting, hauling and towing or conveying force through tension. In electrical engineering cables are used to carry...
between control and vehicle, or an infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
controller. A remote control vehicle or RCV differs from a robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
in that the RCV is always controlled by a human and takes no positive action autonomously.
Scientific
Remote control vehicles have various scientific uses including hazardous environments, working in the deep ocean, and space exploration. The majority of the probes to the other planets in our solar system have been remote control vehicles, although some of the more recent ones were partially autonomous. The sophistication of these devices has fueled greater debate on the need for manned spaceflight and exploration. The Voyager I spacecraft is the first craft of any kind to leave the solar system. The martian explorers SpiritSpirit
The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...
and Opportunity
Opportunity
Opportunity may refer to:*Opportunity International - An International microfinance network that lends to the working poor*Opportunity NYC is the experimental Conditional Cash Transfer program being launched in New York City...
have provided continuous data about the surface of Mars since January 3, 2004.
Jason is the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of all aspects of marine science and engineering and to the education of marine researchers. Established in 1930, it is the largest independent oceanographic research...
's deep water explorer and can withstand depths of up to 6,500 feet. The Scorpio ROV
Scorpio ROV
The Scorpio [Submersible Craft for Ocean Repair, Position, Inspection and Observation] is a brand of underwater submersible Remotely Operated Vehicle manufactured by Perry Tritech used by subsea industries such as the oil industry for general operations, and also by the United States Navy and...
is a British submersible that rescued the crew of the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n AS-28
AS-28
AS-28 is a of the Russian Navy, which entered service in 1986. It was designed for submarine rescue operations by the Lazurit design bureau in Nizhny Novgorod...
on August 7, 2005.
Military and law enforcement
Military usage of remotely controlled military vehicles dates back to the first half of 20th century. Soviet Red ArmyRed Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
used remotely controlled teletank
Teletank
Teletanks were a series of wireless remotely controlled unmanned robotic tanks produced in the Soviet Union in the 1930s and early 1940s. They saw their first combat use in the Winter war, at the start of World War II. A teletank is controlled by radio from a control tank at a distance of...
s during 1930s in the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
and early stage of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. There were also remotely controlled cutters and experimental remotely controlled planes in the Red Army.
Remote control vehicles are used in law enforcement and military engagements for some of the same reasons. The exposure to hazards are mitigated to the person who operates the vehicle from a location of relative safety. Remote controlled vehicles are used by many police department bomb-squads to defuse or detonate explosives. See Dragon Runner
Dragon Runner
Dragon Runner is a military robot built for urban combat. At 9 pounds it is light enough to be carried in a Marine's backpack. The original project was funded by the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab in conjunction with Carnegie Mellon University...
, Military robot
Military robot
Military robots are autonomous robots or remote-controlled devices designed for military applications.Such systems are currently being researched by a number of militaries.-History:...
.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV
Unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...
s) have undergone a dramatic evolution in capability in the past decade. Early UAV's were capable of reconnaissance missions alone and then only with a limited range. Current UAV's can hover around possible targets until they are positively identified before releasing their payload of weaponry. Backpack sized UAV's will provide ground troops with over the horizon surveillance
Surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...
capabilities.
Recreation and hobby
See Radio-controlled modelRadio-controlled model
A radio-controlled model is a model that is steerable with the use of radio control. All types of vehicles imaginable have had RC systems installed in them, including cars, boats, planes, and even helicopters and scale railway locomotives....
.
Small scale remote control vehicles have long been popular among hobbyists. These remote controlled vehicles span a wide range in terms of price and sophistication. There are many types of radio controlled vehicles. These include on-road cars, off-road trucks, boats, airplanes, and even helicopters. The "robots" now popular in television shows such as Robot Wars
Robot Wars (TV series)
Robot Wars is a British game show modelled on a US-based competition of the same name. It was broadcast on BBC Two from 1998 until 2003, with its final series broadcast on Five in 2003 and 2004. Additional series were filmed for specific sectors of the global market, including two series of Robot...
, are a recent extension of this hobby (these vehicles do not meet the classical definition of a robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
; they are remotely controlled by a human). Radio-controlled submarine also exist.
Recently, Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB is a joint venture established on October 1, 2001 by the Japanese consumer electronics company Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson to manufacture mobile phones....
released a remote control car that could be controlled by any Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...
cell phone. Radio is the most popular because it does not require the vehicle to be limited by the length of the cable or in a direct line of sight with the controller (as with the infrared set-up). Bluetooth is still too expensive and short range to be commercially viable.
See also
- Remote-controlled animalRemote-controlled animalA remote-controlled animal is controlled via a radio link. Electrodes have to be implanted in the animal's brain and it has to carry a receiver . The electrodes do not move the animal directly, as one would move a robot; instead, they are used to signal its desired direction or action, then...
- Remotely operated underwater vehicle
- Unmanned aerial vehicleUnmanned aerial vehicleAn unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...
- Unmanned ground vehicleUnmanned ground vehicleAn unmanned ground vehicle is a military robot used to augment the soldiers capability. This type of robot is generally capable of operating outdoors and over a wide variety of terrain, functioning in place of humans....