I'd really like to build a robot controlable over wireless internet. And I'd like it to give it complicated behaviour. The obvious answer is to connect a cell phone to a microcontroller via USB.
However... most phones have a USB slave port, rather than a USB master port. Have there been solutions to this, or am I automatically forced to use bluetooth?
USB is very much preferable because it will allow me to use multiple arduinos over a USB hub, rather than having to build a network protocol distribute the input of the arduino BT over connected motor controllers via the io pins.
Do you know of a solution, or am I making unnecessary assumptions?
There is currently a shield in the works that would allow the arduino to function as a usb host. If you are set in using a phone over USB then this would be your best bet, as the phone will require a host USB connection.
There are older cellphones that you could probably get cheap on the used market that had serial interfaces, instead of USB.
But my guess is that, by the time you pay for the cellphone minutes, you're probably better off buying the Xbees. And/or using Arduinos like the RBBB that don't have a USB interface, and spending the time to develop that multidrop protocol.