Keyboard control

Hi,
I'm attempting to build an ROV using an Arduino Mega and 3 brushless motors. My aim is to be able to control the motors using a laptop and keyboard on the surface. So far I am controlling the motors using 'serial' and the serial monitor in the Arduino software. I can turn motors on and off by presseing a key then the return key.

I cannot work out how I would control them by only pressing the key without the need to press return. I.e. ROV moves forward when 'w' is depressed and stops when released.

Any help would be appreciated!

I cannot work out how I would control them by only pressing the key without the need to press return. I.e. ROV moves forward when 'w' is depressed and stops when released.

Don't use the serial monitor.
Use an IR remote control.
http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=317625.0

Do you mean control I should control the ROV using an IR remote and not a key board? As I will be using a laptop for collecting video I would want to control the ROV using the laptops keyboard, not another device.

Then you will have to press return if you use the Arduino serial monitor.

You could look at using Processing or maybe Visual Studio and write your own serial control.
Maybe Realterm is an option.

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Thanks for your help, I'll have a look into Visual Studio.

you could also try a serial app, like coolterm or terra term.

This way you wouldn't need to press return

This is purely a limitation of the Arduino IDE serial monitor which only sends the whole line of text when Enter is pressed. A standard terminal program will send each character as you press the key - and if you hold the key pressed it will repeatedly send the same character which is clearly what you require.

Putty sends data without needing to hit return/enter.