Arduino to PC Serial Communication

Projects Networking, Protocols, and Devices
1

Hi,

I am working on building a small quad copter drone that is programmed using an arduino pro mini like board. I am making my own arduino board so that I can make it fit my needs. I am trying to figure out how I can use a wireless serial communication module to send instructions from a pc to arduino. I can also use an android phone if that makes things easier.

I need to be able to send some thing like "LAND"
from the PC to the arduino wirelessly over a distance of about 20m(the more the better).

The arduino is the flight controller for the drone so it will have instructions like(pseudocode)

if(Serial.available()!=0){
if(Serial.getString()== "LAND"){// I know this is a syntax error but im just trying to explain things
land = true;  // The loop function executes the landing code whenever land is set to true
}

Please let me know if this is possible and how-so
Also what would be the preferred method of communication? RF,Bluetooth, WI-FI?

I was thinking RF and did a bit of research into other's peoples projects into this but I could only find one example of something where it does PC to Arduino.

However I could not figure out how it worked in the code side...

Also I forgot to mention I want some sort of small device that if possible I can simply add to my pcb design of my custom arduino board so that it's literally a part of the device and fits right in, the main reason for this is to ensure that it doesnt move around or become disconnected in flight, which could obviously become a problem if i have to send a landing signal from my pc.

Is there anyway to do this, maybe there is some sort of existing smd package? or anything fit for a pcb, im thinking small but also quite affordable. At the moment price is not an issue but it would be nice to find something reasonably worth it.

Also I would like to be able to send Serial.print("Has landed") and similar back to the pc from the arduino. If this is too much of a hassle one-way communication is fine but whatever works :smiley:

How do normal rc quads work and what is their range?

Thanks!

2

Google for : sparkfun wireless buying guide.
I think those RF transceiver modules are the best choice for you. They can be 433MHz or 2.4GHz. Perhaps a nRF24L01+ or CC1101 or something like that.

3

OK Thanks for that. I'll take a look. Any idea on how to program it? Maybe some sample code?
Thanks!

4

z3t0:
how I can use a wireless serial communication module to send instructions from a pc to arduino. I can also use an android phone if that makes things easier.

I think it's simpler to use bluetooth to communicate with the outside world. It has about the same range as NRF24 and costs about the same.

Here is some basic background:
http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~npyner/Arduino/GUIDE_2BT.pdf
http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~npyner/Arduino/BT_2_WAY.ino

Also, one of the biggest threads on this forum is about Android bluetooth joystick. I have never read it but it must have all you need by now.

I understand the BLE modules have much greater range than the plain vanilla HC-0x stuff