Software Information

This section describes the software used to run my M1045. Most of the vehicles participating in R/C tank combat are controlled by standard hobby R/C equipment. This vehicle is controlled by a laptop computer via WiFi (802.11g). It contains a small on-board PC that receives commands from the laptop and sends back telemetry information and video. The on-board PC runs Windows XP and a custom Windows service that listens for incoming WiFi commands and sends video and telemetry information. The service is written in C# and C, and relies on the .NET Framework 2.0.

The operator software is a C# application that reads input devices and sends vehicle commands. It also receives video and telemetry information and displays it to the operator.

03-05-2007

A better shot of the control software. The current version looks similar but supports a few more features. It has a 2x, 4x, and 8x digital zoom on the commander view. I used old USB cameras from my parts bin, so I only have 352x288 pixels to work with. The higher zooms are very blocky. I couldn't tell if I was looking at Steve Tyng's Cromwell or Joe Somer's butt. I devised a simple test to discriminate; shoot the object in question with a paintball ! If it screamed in pain and swore at me, I was viewing the latter :)

07-16-2006

A photo of a later version of the control UI. Both cameras are on-line. Vehicle battery voltage and current are also monitored along with cumulative amp-hours consumed. The vehicle now has brakes and the operator can select either brake or coast mode. Current marker elevation is displayed. The ammo count is not live yet.

At the left is a screen shot of the operator control software version 0.001. This was taken during the very first test drive of the M1045. No turret, weapon, or body has been built yet, just the basic chassis. Plus, I need to focus the camera :)

The throttle bar is at the top. The keyboard or mouse is used to drive. It's very hard. I have the beginnings of a DirectX game device interface, but I wasn't using them here. Because the video is digital, I can do cool things like super-impose a reticule and perform zooms.

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