The future of roboting

[muchalucha]

if i wasnt on a pocket money budget i would have gone 2.4 gig ages ago , but i just cant afford a spektrum system . would bluetooth still be allowed under 2.4 ghz ?

[beast]

as long as its safe works and failsafes i cannot see a problem butyou would haveto ask the experts in this field

[muchalucha]

i was just thinking ,if the worst comes to the worst and 40 mhz is banned , xbee moduels might be a cheap 2.4 ghz alternative

[robotwars]

i'm all for convincing people to go away from 40.

If there is a safer option available we should encourage it.

I think there even out now . . My local model shop is selling or about to sell 4 channel 2.4 gig cheaper than 2 channel 40 sets.

I've sold plenty of 40 stuff on ebay you can recoup most of your costs towards them.
Any new teams should go 2.4 straight away. :-).

[widow_twanky]

i was just thinking ,if the worst comes to the worst and 40 mhz is banned , xbee moduels might be a cheap 2.4 ghz alternative

Here's a thread we were looking at:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=801036

Never really had the time yet to get anything up and running but certainly doesn't look that hard. The Xbee modules seem a bit expensive to me and there are other alternatives which work just as well and are a bit cheaper.

Andy

[craig_colliass]

My view on the 40mhz and 2.4ghz issue is simple.

1/ The FRA should say in the rules that, 2.4ghz systems are preferred but 40mhz are still allowed for the time being.
2/ 40mhz systems will be phased out in 5 years. This gives plenty of time to find a 2.4mhz unit in the second hand market. If it€™s about an old robot not coming back as a result of this rule, then I would say, if it is not coming back in 5 years it€™s probably not coming back at all.
3/ EO€™s retain the right to refuse any radio system at their events if it is not compatible for them.

I have at least 3 complete systems that run on 40mhz so i would not like to see the rules change too soon. :blush: :blush:

Thanks


Craig

[muchalucha]

someone (maybe me ) should design a small 2.4 ghz transimmter and receiver pair simialr to the one shown above , a module similar to the xbee units , and microcontroller at both ends would allow for an almost normal 2.4 ghz system , and the signals from ps1 controllers are fairly easy to decode , so these could be used as transmitters.

in fact , i am going to have a play with something like this , ill keep you guys posted n any progress .

[m2xt]

How is 2.4GHz safer John? So far there has been 2 product recalls on 2.4GHz sets. Safety should not have any reliance on the radio gear, there should be other systems in place that prevent injury. There appears to be a culture growing that is becoming dependant on the advantages of 2.4GHz which is not a certified fail safe system. As far as I am concerned, 2.4GHz has just two advantages and good ones at that: no crystal changes and little aerial needed. There are no safety features that I am aware of on 2.4GHz that cannot be equally achieved on 40MHz unless someone can explain to me what I am missing. The issue now is that 2.4GHz users may not be suppressing the electrical noise and causing interference to 40MHz users which is not permitted under the FRA build rules.

[craig_colliass]

The electrical noise point is interesting I don€™t have any suppressors on most of my robots. Could the noise be measured at a show and advice on reduction maybe parts sold be done there and then. I for one would not like to think my machine was causing problems for others, I think the main area would in practice be the featherweight robots as there can be so many in the arena together the noise from all those motor may cause problems.

On another note has anyone else had problems getting onto the Technobots web site as for most of the weekend I have had no luck!!!

[muchalucha]

to be honest , in an average house thee are loads of sources of 2.4 ghz interference , wifi , any wifi compatible device, bluetooth devices , microwaves. And i have never had anyinterferance problems with 40 mhz , ill say it again , 40 mhz is fine , but 2.4 ghz is just a little bit better , and i think that eventually 2.4ghz shoudl be introduced but not for another 10 , or at the very least 5 years.