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I am looking for a better way to control my autopilot.
Pypilot comes default with wifi based controller. There are also RF remotes.
My issue with the wifi remote is I need to connect a device to the pi's wifi network. This works great but it means my iPhone(for example) insists on accessing the internet through the pi's wifi signal which is not connected. To access the internet I need to leave the pi's wifi. I also find the iPhone takes forever to connect to these networks that aren't connected to the internet. You can only connect to 1 wifi network.
My RF remote is OK but it's a bit clunky. Mine requires 12 volt power.
What would be ideal is an app on my phone that could blast a bluetooth signal to my pi. I know wifi signals may travel further than bluetooth but I'd like to also have a bluetooth capability. This should be possible because my pi zero has bluetooth.
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The main issue with bluetooth (other than being less reliable than the RF remotes) is that on the pi zero bluetooth has to be disabled to use the hardware serial port used for the motor controller which is the most reliable way. It is possible to use the usb port for this, but I dont really recommend it.
More recent pi versions have more hardware serial ports, and my more recent pypilot hat supports a secondary motor controller output for either a second motor controller, or to avoid using the first one (so you could still have bluetooth) but this only works in pi 4/5 and pi zero 2.
With that said, there is not bluetooth software written right now to control pypilot with a bluetooth remote. Did you consider making the pypilot a wifi client instead of an access point? It could then connect to a wifi network and you could hopefully avoid some issues you are having, but whatever hosts that network would also have to be running to use the wifi. tinypilot also supports acting as both access point and client at the same time which might be useful as a backup in case the normal access point is not working.
Which RF remote is "ok" but clunky? I am curious to know for better feedback. I have developed a few rf remotes in addition to the cheaper ones. The RF remotes have the lowest latency and are therefore better for manual control in my opinion.
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OK. That is helpful info on Bluetooth. It sure would be nice if you made an app for iOS that could control the pypilot. It would be so convenient to just connect over BT with my phone because it is always connected and you can have multiple simultaneous BT connections.
The RF remote I am using is the one I purchased through your store a few months ago. It seems to require 12 volts to operate. I'm not sure how I will install it. I'm so used to working with arduinos using 5v power. I suppose I could just get a small 12 volt battery and make a little box to carry my remote around in.
I believe the remote is described as waterproof. This seems unlikely. It has open circuits on the backside. Can it really with stand getting wet?
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Is this the handheld remote? If so there is a small 12v alkaline battery type a23 for it.
The panel with wires does require 12 volts but it might work with less range with less volts.
Did you receive it with the hat? If so, then yes it is not waterproof. I sent some preliminary units out that were not sealed. Sorry for the trouble if you wanted the handheld remote but this one is actually much better in terms of timing as well. It was more intended to be mounted near the tinypilot computer itself and wired into the 12 volt system there.
