GPS Trackback Device

[stu_rank]

Hello All,

Thankyou for your time, my name is Stuart Rankin and i am currently studying a degree in Electronic Engineering at the univerity of Brighton in England. I am currently part of a team doing a project on design and product management, and we are basing our product around a idea of a gps rc car trackback sytem. As part of my research I would be interested in your thought on the idea. More details are below, please leave any thoughts (Bad or Good!) on this thread. I would be very grateful for any of your thoughts.

< Ghost-Nav > the anti remote vehicle loss device

Ghost-Nav is a GPS anti loss device to be used with remote control
vehicles. It prevents your remote control vehicle from being lost by
using GPS technology to help your vehicle find its way back to you.


When your vehicle leaves the range of the remote controller,
ghost-nav will automatically detect that the car is out of range, and
will then steer the vehicle back to you safely. Ghost-nav works by
using GPS technology to remember the remote controllers location,
Ghost-Nav will continually update your location and in the event that
the vehicle becomes out of range, Ghost-Nav will guide the car back to
you, within the range of the remote controller. Ghost-Nav works by
using the existing remote control channel, therefore no complex
installation is required. Ghost Nav would come in 1 complete package, no
larger that a 9v battery, it only requires 2 connections into the
power source of your vehicle, and will not drain the battery; in fact
you will hardly notice the addition of our product. With its simple
installation, and easy operation it’s the ideal addition for your
remote control vehicle.

*Low cost product to protect your expensive and precious remote
control vehicles.

*Easy and simple to install, operation requires no user intervention.

*Compatible with all 2 channel remote control vehicles.

*Low power source drain

*Small and light product

Another idea is a remote control memory device that will be like a recorder. So it could record your fastest laps, and then you could play them back to experiment with suspension setups etc. It would have a memory of 5-10 minutes of remote control driving, and would be a external device that could be attached to your remote.

Any thoughts on these ideas would be great, especially limitations you can see and any modifications you would make as RC car users.

Many Thanks. Stuart Rankin on behalf of Team Abacus at Brighton university, UK.

[turbored21]

the issue i see with your ghost nav .. is well obstacles.. it cant see it wont know whats going on in the event it hits something itll just keep trying to come back possibly damage the vehicle and in some cases the vehicle has an EXTREMELY expensive motor system and burning it up would be a bad thing and or ramming into something like a wall and destroying it trying to keep it cost effective you wont be able to add sensors so that it will attempt to go around objects the problem with that is it will then veer off of its original path to try to navigate objects which could in turn throw it further off path and further from you finding it

on to the memory recorder. great idea. but track conditions change and well 2 laps are never the same so a 5 min recording of movements may include dodging obstacles may result in yet again loss of control and the car or truck running rampant trying to follow the set path where again it has no idea where its actually at gps doesnt have tracks and layouts programmed into it

the best things we have in place right now are quite perfect.. fail safe.. returns servos and throttle controls to 0 so the vehicle stops and we can simply go get it

and telemetry units that give us laptimes speeds and that sort of thing so that we know if said lap was faster with said setup

in this sort of hobby.. there really is no need to overcomplicate things that are simply done with current technology and the technology needed to make a vehicle understand its surroundings and or return to point of origin arent cost effective at the moment as where our current products can be had for little cost to us in most cases and work perfectly fine

The ideas your offering are good ideas im not here to say the thought and idea doesnt deserve merit.. but at this very moment we just have things out there that dont need to be smart and are well much easier to rely on