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PenguinTutor YouTube Channel

RC Remote Control for a Raspberry Pi Pico

19 June 2021

One of the things missing from the Raspberry Pi Pico is the lack of network connectivity. There are other models that do provide that such as the Arduino version of the Raspberry Pi Pico - The Arduino Nano RP2040, but there are alternative ways to communicate. In this case I had an RC remote control which I thought would work well.

Model airplane RC transmitter and receiver used for a Raspberry Pi Pico

The model I used is the Flysky FS-i6 which is relatively inexpensive controller for RC model planes. Although designed for model airplanes it can be used with other models and in this case to send signals to a Raspberry Pi Pico. You could also use other types of controllers such as those designed for cars or boats, as long as they provide a PWM output pulse typically used for controlling servo motors.

In the video I show how I used a logic analyzer and digital oscilloscope to check the signal and how I set about creating the code to detect the PWM duty cycle on the Raspberry Pi Pico. This can then be used to control other devices such as robots or animatronics.

The demonstration source code for detecting the RC signals on a Raspberry Pi Pico is available from the link below.