Description

Replace a standard remote control for RC boats with:

• Dedicated Wifi hotspot (access via phone/tablet/PC)
• Control through a webpage with:
  • RC control buttons (forward, backward, left, right)
  • Onboard video streaming
• Alternatively control via websocket connection

Based on:

• Raspberry Pi web server, controlling onboard GPIO/Servo/Motor & Camera
• Onboard video streaming is accessible for anybody connected to open PiBoat wifi
• NodeJS with pi-blaster

This guide was written for beginners (in Raspberry, GPIO, Servo, ...) with detailed instructions. Expect costs of about 100€ and ~10 hours to install & configure it.

Result

Project Setup

1. Setup Raspberry Pi Zero W
2. Setup camera module
3. Connect pi-blaster and ESC
4. Control boat from within the web-browser via REST
5. Control boat from an iOS app via websockets
6. Setup Wifi AP

Use it

• Plug the boat battery on the ESC
• Plug the battery pack on the Pi Zero
• Turn the ESC on, so it powers the motor
• Wait about 1 minute that the Pi Zero starts its web app and wifi hotspot
• Connect your phone to the "PiCruise" wifi hotspot
• Open http://raspberrypi.local:8082/ in your phone browser
• Control it using left/right/top/bottom buttons and see onboard view in real-time (expect less than .5 seconds delay)