WiFi RF Transmitter Setup

Hey there,
Got a question about RC tech... (hopefully I’m even in the right subforum here)

So, here’s the deal. I’m trying to build an RC aircraft (well, attempting to)
Basically, I’ve got six 4.5V motors with propellers ready to go. Now comes the tricky part: how do I actually hook them up to a controller? I’ve been digging around online and keep seeing stuff about RF transmitters. From what I gather, that's just a setup where a transmitter sends a signal from the model back to a remote that uses the same frequency...
What I’m actually looking for is something similar, but different. I need a way to connect my motors to a board that can broadcast a Wi-Fi signal, allowing me to send data from my smartphone to the RC model—just basic ones and zeros.
Like, just telling a motor to turn on or off.
I just need to be able to push data through. Since I’m a programmer, I can handle building the app myself.
Ideally, I want four of the motors to run constantly, while the other two cycle on and off alternately. Basically, three different control inputs.
Can anyone recommend something on eBay that I could pick up to integrate this into my RC model?
I’m putting this together for my nephew.

Thanks in advance 😉

To seems like an Arduino project waiting to happen, honestly, since you could just grab a WiFi module and I'm pretty sure you'd be able to link up to it right from your phone, and then if you pick up a motor driver module, you can just program the Arduino to take those wireless commands and turn them into actual signals for the motors, so maybe spend a little time poking around on Google, but I really think if you go that route, an Arduino is a fantastic choice, and if one microcontroller doesn't quite cut it, you can always use it as a programmer to flash more optimized code through the ISP headers without having to mess around with their standard software or bootloaders too much.

I’ve heard some buzz about that Arduino too... but honestly, their official site is a total mess when it comes to explaining how things actually work.
Anyway, thanks man. I'll dig into it a bit more and then pull the trigger on an order. 😉
Cheers.

Hey there, hope I'm not too late to the party! Like Nathan Moore6 mentioned earlier, you can totally pull this off using an Arduino. But honestly—there’s this newer option out there now, probably been around for at least six months by now. It's basically a tiny little board, way smaller than an Arduino, and it already has a WiFi chip baked right in. The best part? Adding a WiFi shield to an Arduino can get pretty pricey, whereas this thing is usually under $10.

It's the ESP8266 chip. You can find tons of info on it online if you dig around. They come in all sorts of flavors, from the ESP-01 to the ESP8266. Since they work with the Arduino IDE, using them feels just like working with an Arduino.

Speaking of which—I've been kicking around the idea of starting a dedicated site for this kind of stuff. Just a place for tutorials on smart home tech and DIY builds. What do you guys think? Just throwing it out there.

Richard Sullivan5 said:I’ve heard some buzz about that Arduino too... but honestly, their official site is a total mess when it comes to explaining how things actually work.
Anyway, thanks man. I'll dig into it a bit more and then pull the trigger on an order. 😉
Cheers.

When it comes to Arduino, you can find an absolute mountain of documentation online, and since Atmel provides such extensive deep dives into their microcontrollers, even a total beginner could probably become a real pro if they put in the work.😁

Bryan Martin6 said:Hey there, hope I'm not too late to the party! Like Nathan Moore6 mentioned earlier, you can totally pull this off using an Arduino. But honestly—there’s this newer option out there now, probably been around for at least six months by now. It's basically a tiny little board, way smaller than an Arduino, and it already has a WiFi chip baked right in. The best part? Adding a WiFi shield to an Arduino can get pretty pricey, whereas this thing is usually under $10.

It's the ESP8266 chip. You can find tons of info on it online if you dig around. They come in all sorts of flavors, from the ESP-01 to the ESP8266. Since they work with the Arduino IDE, using them feels just like working with an Arduino.

Speaking of which—I've been kicking around the idea of starting a dedicated site for this kind of stuff. Just a place for tutorials on smart home tech and DIY builds. What do you guys think? Just throwing it out there.

Any site focusing on these kinds of topics is a great idea, and honestly, having another place where people can go to learn something new is always a welcome move.