When you’re building a robot or remote controlled vehicle, you have a fundamental choice to make. Do you go with some sort of WiFi or Bluetooth control, that while flexible, is subject to limited range and possible setup complications, or use a “traditional” R/C transceiver setup? This presents its own set of limitations, but can offer very long-range operation, as well as ready-made accessories.
One of these R/C limitations is that control is limited by the number of channels available. In a 2-channel R/C car, for example, this would be one channel for forwards/backwards and one for left/right. You can’t just add controls for lights, a horn, etc. without a physically different transmitter and receiver (Tx/Rx) — at least not normally.
This R/C Servo Signal Trigger, however, solves this issue by hijacking the signal that normally goes to a servo or speed controller from your receiver, and adds a relay. The signal passes to the servo or speed controller as normal, but when you push a newly-added button on your transmitter, it sends a maximum position signal to your receiver that it normally wouldn’t experience. The circuit sees this as a button push and responds appropriately.
Though you’ll need to do some equipment modification to get this to work, and there is a possibility of some servo movement when triggered, it looks like a great solution when you need an extra output.
And if you’re wondering about more than one button/signal, according to its creator, several of these units could be used in an R/C setup on multiple channels. Alternatively, several triggers could even be used on the same channel with multiple trigger points at different signal levels, presenting all kinds of possibilities.
