The History Of Radio Controlled Devices

Radio controlled devices have gained popularity as hobby items apart from being used for various other purposes. Building, modifying and driving radio controlled vehicles is a favorite pastime of radio control enthusiasts. The sport involves displaying the skills of the person in handling the device, efficiently.

Remote or radio controlled devices are controlled from a remote distance. Jagdish Chandra Bose was perhaps the first to demonstrate remote controlled activity when he set alight gun powder to strike a gong using electromagnetic radiation, from a distance. Tesla was the first to show the use of a transmitter and receiver to remotely control a ship. He showed how mechanical gadgets could be controlled using the wireless principle in the year 1898. He also began the construction of a wireless tower that remained incomplete due to lack of finance. Tesla can be said to have created the basis for the design of radio controlled devices which are in use today. The American inventor Armstrong said, "The world will long have to wait for a mind equal to Tesla's, a mind of such creative possibilities and such wealth of imagination."

Remote controlled devices are also known commonly as RC devices- RC meaning radio controlled. Dr. William and Walter Good, two twin brothers created and flew the first radio controlled airplane in 1937. Dr. William was a radio specialist whereas his brother Walter built aero models. They combined both their skills to create a radio controlled airplane. The principle of radio control has also been used in the World War II. From the 1960s, transistors were available, and this revolutionized the circuits to make them compact and light.

Sometime during the mid or late 1960s, the British company Mardave, began producing the first commercially feasible remote controlled cars. The first gas powered or nitro cars were sold in the early 1970s in Leicester, where the company was based. Radio controlled devices need a control transmitter, a throttle trigger and wheels for turning, while the receiver is located in the body of the toy. These models run on either electricity or fuel. Electrical speed control is used in electrical models, whereas radio control mechanisms are used in fuel control systems to regulate the fuel input.

Toy grade devices are usually assembled models available at retail shops and are much cheaper than hobby grade models. The toy grade models use electric power and run on batteries. Hobby grade radio controlled devices are more serviceable and durable, but are very expensive. They run on fuel like gasoline or nitro and unlike toy models which are ready made, these require assembling of the various components.

RC devices come in the form of cars, airplanes, boats and helicopters. Remote controlled cars are used for racing and this is a very popular sport among car enthusiasts. Small cars and toys are used for indoor games. Radio control technology is combined with robotics to create various devices used in international robotics contests held in Japan.

There are numerous uses for radio control technology and vehicles are only one aspect of it. Radio controlled hobbies can be enjoyed in many ways and combined with robotics, they open up wider possibilities for the hobbyists.