Best way to remotely communicate with arduino

What is the most reliable form of remote communication with arduino? I have a project that is going to require a remote control, and it would be really bad if the controller was, for whatever reason, unable to communicate with the arduino?

Communication is a probability thing. It's not if communication will be lost, it's how often. Build in a fail-safe that will prevent injury or property destruction when communication is lost.

Thanks for the reply. I guess where I was going was that, if I'm in a heavy noise enviornment, i.e., in an urban area with lots of noise flying around everywhere, and a lot of servo noise, is there a solution to accommodate such an enviornment? This RFDigital's wireless inventor shield sounds like a potential solution (http://www.mouser.com/new/rfdigital/rfdigital-RFD21815/). However, I am unsure of how to communicate with a device without using another arduino entirely. It seems completely overkill, but is there an RF module of some sort that I would be able to connect to something more simple, like a breadboard with some buttons and potentiometers?

I am not sure if you are asking a question or just using this thread to actually formulate a question and/or clear your thoughts right now. You have no description of the device or system you are trying to build, yet you have some "most reliable" requirement for this device. Good luck with your choice of hardware. Of course using an arduino is an overkill because, you know, (actually I don't).

In a noisy environment you need transceiver modules (combined receivers and transmitters) that have complex communication protocols to ensure that messages get correctly transferred. Basically, the remote receiver has to transmit an acknowledgment signal to the sender's receiver that the message was correctly received, and that message necessarily includes a sophisticated error detection protocol. XBEE and other small modules are available that implement such messaging, and they essentially have built in microprocessors that oversee the entire procedure.
If you want to experiment with such a system, Pololu offers the inexpensive Wixel, which is programmable using a similar environment to the Arduino, but there are also a number of preprogrammed applications that you can use as a starting point.

Thanks for the replies all. Liudr, I'm really sorry if my questions/comments offend you (actually I'm not). I'm relatively inexperienced and just want some feedback from the community without getting bogged down in the details of my project. I have a series of servos that I'm using to move a camera across a given space and bluetooth has simply not worked. I purchased a host shield and used a USB dongle to send commands to my 'arm,' but the ps3 controller I'm using keeps dropping its connection. I fear it is due to the high density of signals in the area, and perhaps because of the servos, which is why I simply asked if there were any robust solutions for wireless arduino communication (the test enviornment is very short range, but I'd like to get a 50-75 meters if possible).

If it is just robust communications you want, buy some Xbee Series 1 modules, or Xbee shields.

OK, it seems like you are OK spending a bit more for robust solutions. Without the details you just supplied, nobody can help you with problems they don't know of.
I would recommend xbee that operates at 900MHz (or whatever is legal in your country). Cordless phones operate at that frequency. All wifi operates at 2.4GHz so if your controller is using that frequency, you could have some interference. If you suspect the signal density issue, have you tried setting up your rig in a more remote area and just test out reception? Try that. It could be a distance issue. These controllers don't sit 50 m away from their consoles. How large is your living room?! :astonished:
So if I understand you correctly, you have one arduino controlling a number of servos? You use the host shield on arduino and it accepts commands from your ps3 controller. You can replace the host shield with wireless shield for xbee. I would use the most recent version of xbee (there is no series 1 or 2 naming according to digi, the manufacturer). You go with xbee pro 900 HP module. Get two of them, two arduino wireless shields, one sparkfun xbee explorer (for testing and flashing firmware). You can still use the ps3 controller between you and an arduino with the host shield and wireless shield + xbee. This arduino never sits more than a couple of meters from you and it takes the commands from your controller and transfers it via the xbee to the other arduino that is with your rig. With the right antenna, the module can reach 18 miles (or close to 30 Km).

There is probably no way to answer your question without actual experiments in the actual location.

I don't think you have mentioned the range over which you want to communicate or whether it is indoors or outdoors.

Another critical issue is how often you need to update the data. If the data only needs to be updated every 5 minutes you could build a system that relies on many retries to get valid data. If you want data so frequently that there is no time for retries it probably won't work.

...R

Alright. Xbee looks like the clear favorite, so I'll begin exploring that option. Thanks everyone.