“Why not control your RC car with smart phone?” asks the “Smart Racer’s” product description. Though certainly rhetorical, if you, like many engineers (including myself) take things way too literally, the implied answer is, “no reason.” Or so I would have to believe.
If you’d like to give it a try, this board from “Some1” uses either WiFi or Bluetooth for control, depending on the version you order. It takes the place of a normal receiver in your RC car, and is powered by the electronic speed control (ESC). In addition to speed and direction, it allows you to control up to 5 lights, potentially giving your car a fun new look.
You can see the setup demonstrated below, accelerating and turning left and right. Perhaps if there is a reason not to do this, it’s that the interface might be a bit clunky compared to a dedicated transmitter. On the other hand, all the code for it is available here, so if you’d like to modify how it works, you certainly can. Though meant for RC vehicle control, especially with the “light” outputs, the potential for this little board would seem to go way beyond its original purpose!
