London-based developer Tamlyn made a neat Android-powered toy which some of us would gladly take for a ride. Made out of an existing RC powered tank, everything but the drive assembly and power supply was removed and replaced with an Android smartphone and the so called inexpensive IOIO (pronounced yo-yo) board to control the circuitry remotely. As a result, Tamlyn is able to move his baby using any web browser.
The Android phone runs the special app that is connected to the Internet to communicate with the web-based application. Signals are sent out via the phone’s USB port, interpreted by the IOIO board circuitry, and the tank’s existing electronics and mechanics take care of the rest, driving the vehicle in the direction you told it to go. Apparently, controlling the tank via Wi-Fi works flawlessly (response time is about 30 milliseconds), while doing the same over 3G could be troublesome due to latency issues…
I’ve said it enough; I know you want to see this baby in action. So here comes… Enjoy! 😉
[Via: AndroidCentral]