rc22Radio control (RC) is a 100 year-old technology. RC requires both a transmitter and a receiver. The control box sends commands to the robot the same way you change channels on the TV with the remote.

The difference between RC (radio control) and IR (infrared control) is in the frequency of the signals. With the radio controller, the light waves that carry the command information are lower energy, lower frequency signals. The TV remote uses higher energy, higher frequency infrared signals called CIR (consumer infrared).

Both RC and CIR require circuit design at a college graduate level. However, wired remote controls are well within the reach of any young budding scientist.

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25 Responses to “Remote Controls I”

  1. Aurora Lipper says:

    Please email a nice, well-focused picture of your connections to [email protected] and we’ll take a look.

  2. sunnysolace says:

    my switch didn’t work even after i switched the leads

  3. arrowmakercpi says:

    I figured out a remote control so that when I turn on my SPST switch[this is attached to my jigglebot with alligator wires] my jigglebot turned on. I figured out a way to wire my remote control so that it worked. I thought of it myself!!!

  4. I try to re-use as many parts as I can from one project to the next. There is one case where we need 3 batteries, so I show you how to modify one of the packs so that it will work.

  5. I have a question, why do you always use a 2 battery pack? Could you use a 1 battery pack, or 3 battery pack?

  6. Yes – try it and see how it works!

  7. talaljabari says:

    can you use steel fasteners

  8. Yes you can put the batteries and switch right on the robot and it will zip away! Or do you mean radio control like an R/C airplane?

  9. Cindy Hoskins says:

    what if you could make it without wire connected to the robot 🙂

  10. Madhavi Kongara says:

    Thx

  11. You can use nails or steel tacks, but they might need a little dab of hot glue on the tips to keep them from falling out. Does that help?

  12. Madhavi Kongara says:

    Is there any other option except for brass fasteners

  13. Yes, but you’ll have to do something so they don’t slide out of the holes. A dab of hot glue after you’ve made the electrical connections?

  14. Carey Clark says:

    we dont have that many brass fateners could we use some thumb tacks?

  15. Cut one of the wires between the motor and battery pack, and then connect two very long wires from the remote control to one wire on the battery and the other long wire to the motor. And send me a pix when it works!!

  16. Lorelei Grecian says:

    I need help! All I need to know is how to hook up the jigglebot with the remote!!!! 🙂
    Raena

  17. It sounds like an issue with your internet connection speed. Try this:

    1. Click play on the video
    2. Click PAUSE and wait for it to load completely
    3. Click PLAY again.

    Did that help?

  18. Sophia Pitcher says:

    Hey Aurora,
    This video keeps on pausing in the middle of words, going on silently and then starting again in a different places so I can’t hear what you’re trying to say. Thanks, Jasmin

  19. Karri Woods says:

    I just found some brass fasters bt thanks anyway

  20. Hi Liam! Can you find something else that conducts electricity and can hold that paperclip in place? Or even place a piece of tape in the middle of the paperclip (the lower half) and hook the wire clips onto either ends (where the fasteners would normally be)? I know you can figure something inventive out… that’s what real scientists do! 🙂

  21. Karri Woods says:

    Hey Aurora, it’s Liam what if you don’t have brass fasters?

  22. Absolutely! So… that makes you think, though, doesn’t it? What IS a robot? What makes a robot different from a penguin, or a rock?

  23. A Carrington says:

    SpideyRae says:
    If it has a remote control is it still a robot – (techniquliy)

  24. Apryl Henry wrote: “We cut a phone cord, but it had only 2 wires; any suggestions for where to find a cord with 4 wires as in the video?”

    You want to find Cat3 or Cat5 network cable (there may be more wires in there than you need, so just sip off the excess). Either one of those will work fine.

  25. Apryl Henry says:

    We cut a phone cord, but it had only 2 wires; any suggestions for where to find a cord with 4 wires as in the video?