Im trying to control my Arduino using my iPhone. I'm well familiar with Arduino, OpenOSC, Processing and such. My problem is that right now the Arduino needs to be connected to my Mac but i really want it to be fully independent from any computer. I have seen people on Youtube who are using xbee modules to solve this problem. (Arduino Quadcopter - Phase 2 (Mobile Control) - YouTube) My problem is that I don't know anything about xbee. How to get started?
I got some questions:
I can see that some people are using xbee modules with antennas and some are using without - What is the difference?
Is the transmitting and receiving module different models? So a transmitting xbee can never be receiving?
How do i connect it to the Arduino? Some people uses shields. The guy i linked to before doesn't seem to use any shields? My Arduino uses the official motor shield, so the xbee shield needs to be compatible with this.
I have been seeing some tutorials around the internet. This guy tells something about the need of some kind of xbee to USB converter to make the programming much easier (In the vid about 1:06) Is this only needed with the shields he uses? Do you recommend it as well?
Whether or not this is possible does not mean it is advisable. As soon as the quadcopter gets out of wifi range of your iphone it is going to fall out of the sky or fly eratically into someone's face (or their child's face) and cut it up badly leaving someone scarred for life and you with a huge lawsuit. Is it worth it to save the cost of buying the proper radio equipment ? Does that sound wise.? If you go out to the desert or some remote location and don't fly over innocent bistanders then the only person you are endangering is yourself and you are welcome to do it. Just don't do it where others can get hurt.
That's why people who are experienced with these drones use Spread Spectrum, or at the very least , 72 Mhz (as do I ) which is pretty much almost obsolete but still much safer that wifi.
raschemmel:
Whether or not this is possible does not mean it is advisable. As soon as the quadcopter gets out of wifi range of your iphone it is going to fall out of the sky or fly eratically into someone's face (or their child's face) and cut it up badly leaving someone scarred for life and you with a huge lawsuit. Is it worth it to save the cost of buying the proper radio equipment ? Does that sound wise.? If you go out to the desert or some remote location and don't fly over innocent bistanders then the only person you are endangering is yourself and you are welcome to do it. Just don't do it where others can get hurt.
That's why people who are experienced with these drones use Spread Spectrum, or at the very least , 72 Mhz (as do I ) which is pretty much almost obsolete but still much safer that wifi.
Thank you for your reply! Im not planning to make a quadcopter Just learning about wireless communication with the arduino.
