Controlling Robot Using cellphone

[gan3sh]

Hi all,

I am creating a robot using the arduino mega and I would like to be able to control said robots movements using a cellphone. First off, I was wondering if people could give me a quick run through of how it would be done.

Here is the basic description of the robot:
the robot is controlled by a mobile phone that makes a call to the mobile phone attached to the robot.
The robot is a 2-wheel drive. The brains of the robot is the arduino mega board. I'd like the controller to be able to conrol the robots movements, forward, backward, left, and right and also control some autonomous routines.

Thanks for the help!

[Far-seeker]

If the cell phone you plan on using as the controller has Bluetooth it would be much better to use that, as there are existing tutorials and arduino shields for Bluetooth communication (the same goes for WiFi).

I'm not even sure it would be possible to have control a robot by using the cellular network... except perhaps some baroque system using text messages containing alphanumeric codes.

[gan3sh]

Thank you for reply Far-seeker.Here is the link of same project is done using atmega 89c51 mc.
1) http://www.8051projects.net/download.php?view.234
2) kitsnspares.com/admin/pdffiles/Cellphone_Land%20Rover.pdf

i want make same project bt using arduino.pls help

[Far-seeker]

Wow, I stand corrected.  Someone did find a way to do it using an even more baroque solution than I ever though possible... using the normally incidental phone keytones during a call...

Sure I suppose it's possible to replicate this control system using a Arduino.  However there are better ways to do this with an Arduino, some of them don't even require phones.  Is there some reason why you want this specific control system, or are you open to alternatives?

[gan3sh]

actually i m making project for final year BE. i dnt want to use same thngs to make project.and no 1 is used arduino board before in my college.
if similar project is available ...give me details of dat....

Thanks

[pittom]

are you using a smartphone?there are many people that have done it.Start off with a rc car then arduino with wifi shield then add ip camera this is what i did.Look at this http://ttjcrew.com/2011/07/22/open-source-robot-controls/  and just google rc robot or rc wifi car

[Far-seeker]

If you don't need to use a phone at all, you could use infrared signals to send commands to your robot. All you need would be an IR reciever (like these) and a spare TV or similar IR remote.  Then you decide what you want your robot to do based on the command it recieves and program the Arduino accordingly.  Here are some links on the Playground with example projects and libraries for using IR remotes with an Arduino.

[gan3sh]

hi,
Wireless-controlled robots use rf circuits, which have the drawbacks of limited working range, limited frequency range and the limited control.
               Use of a mobile phone for robotic control can overcome these limitations.
It provides the advantage of robust control, working range as large as the coverage area of the service provider.
How can i connect mobile to arduino board??

[dxw00d]

What sort of range do you need? There are people on this forum getting over a kilometre range using off-the-shelf RC gear to control the Arduino. Are you planning on going past visible range?

[Far-seeker]

hi,
Wireless-controlled robots use rf circuits, which have the drawbacks of limited working range, limited frequency range and the limited control.
               Use of a mobile phone for robotic control can overcome these limitations.
It provides the advantage of robust control, working range as large as the coverage area of the service provider.
How can i connect mobile to arduino board??

As dxw00d, the available RF modules that are compatiable with Arduinos can have significantly greater performance then standard RC controllers in any one limitation you mention and many times more than one.  Furthermore, when you build an RF system you get to decide what to prioritize, so if you want a fairly long range even through most solid objects you can choose lower frequencies than commercial RF controllers use.  The only reason we are trying to steer you away from using two cell phones with active subscriptions is that there are better (in basically any sense of the word "better") solutions already made and documented, try looking at the Communications section of the Playground for examples and guides. 

If you are dead set on using a moble phone to control your robot I'd use a GSM module, as described here,  on your robot instead of a second phone.  You'd still need an extra SIM card with an active subscription.  However, it's better than the way you want to do it because you can send signals directly to the electronics controlling your robot, instead of having to go the round about way of listening for key tones.  You can also have two-way communication through text messages.

[jraskell]

hi,
Wireless-controlled robots use rf circuits, which have the drawbacks of limited working range, limited frequency range and the limited control.
               Use of a mobile phone for robotic control can overcome these limitations.
It provides the advantage of robust control, working range as large as the coverage area of the service provider.
How can i connect mobile to arduino board??

I wouldn't necessarily agree with that statement.  Control of any robot will ultimately require some feedback.  Direct Visual feedback is the best possible method.  Short of that, real time video feed.  After that, various levels of telemetry and environmental data feeds.

The project you linked to is a perfect example.  What does it matter if the phones allow you to control the robot from miles away if you have no means of feedback once it's out of your sight.  How do you control something if you don't know where it is and what's around it?

It makes for an interesting/cool demonstration, but without any sort of feedback, it has no practical applications at all.

[jayakrishnan]

You would need a dtmf decoder ic. It actually converts the different frequencies that is produced in the key strokes to a digital signal. You could use these digital signals as input to your microcontroller. Connect your dtmf ic to the mobile in your robot, take the digital outs from the dtmf ic to the arduino.

[jayakrishnan]

The project you linked to is a perfect example.  What does it matter if the phones allow you to control the robot from miles away if you have no means of feedback once it's out of your sight.  How do you control something if you don't know where it is and what's around it?

If the phone in the robot has a camera, you could place a video call to the phone, so you'll be getting a visual feedback. So I'm pretty sure you control it miles away, provided, there is cell phone coverage.

[esdad697]

Can you just connect the arduino to the cell phone's audio jack, like when listening to a phone call with ear plugs? The Arduino would have to decode the frequencies of the tones.

While decoding a phone call's tones is cool, you could just write an app for your phone that connects over the internet to your server or the Arduino could connect directly with the server (over bluetooth or wifi.) This is pretty normal stuff.

[dxw00d]

Can you just connect the arduino to the cell phone's audio jack, like when listening to a phone call with ear plugs?

As long as the negative half of the signal doesn't reach the Arduino.