First-person R/C car puts you in the driver's seat
A company called Fat Shark offers one of the coolest R/C cars we've ever seen. How so? Its system has a camera mounted in the car's driver's seat. It transmits its signal wirelessly to VR-style goggles that give the operator a first-person view of the terrain ahead of the car itself. That alone would be neat, but the camera has pan and tilt functionality that the driver controls by simply moving his or her head to "look" in each direction. The video pasted after the jump gives you a taste of what what you'd see if the glasses were strapped to your noggin. Granted, you'll look like a dork with the antenna-festooned goggles on, but at least you'll be having fun. Fat Shark also sells the camera and components separately, so you can use them on model airplanes, too. Thanks for the tip, David!
[Source: Fat Shark]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
paul34 8:00PM (6/13/2008)
Haha, wow, here I was thinking that you could put someone INSIDE the r/c car and drive them around! lol - terrifying!
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SteveJ 11:49PM (6/13/2008)
They did that on Top Gear.
Brennan 8:07PM (6/13/2008)
words cannot express the awesome.
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Soul Shinobi 9:13PM (6/13/2008)
Yes they can: up-skirt.
BrianM 7:12AM (6/14/2008)
For me the words are:
"Better get a bucket"
I love the idea but I do not think it loves me.
Reader 1:41PM (6/14/2008)
This would be ridiculous on a little nitro that does 40-60mph. Would seem more like 300mph.
hashiryu 3:42PM (6/14/2008)
Indeed. That just comes with bucket loads of WIN.
Vodou 8:08PM (6/13/2008)
ok.. that is about the coolest thing I have ever seen. Santa? I've been good all year so far.
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TigerMil 8:10PM (6/13/2008)
HMmm...I see several military recon possibilities with this on a plane...can it carry a 1/4 pound of C-4?
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NotASenator 8:28PM (6/13/2008)
ok, I see from the video that they have the head tracking as well.
NotASenator 8:27PM (6/13/2008)
People have been doing this for a while with RC planes. They are called FPV systems and people even mount motors on them to allow you to look around.
Here's an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGToRphxgJM
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NotASenator 8:30PM (6/13/2008)
And now I see that second link.
Ok then. Carry on.
Franz 9:34PM (6/13/2008)
I gotta get me one of these.
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Spike 10:50PM (6/13/2008)
Mute video before watching. Seriously!
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Tony 2:12AM (6/14/2008)
This would be awesome hooked up to logitech racing wheel with pedals
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rpm773 8:06AM (6/14/2008)
That's awesome!
Now I will go vomit
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Wombert 8:27AM (6/14/2008)
Haha same here. Motion sickness or something. Still awesome.
Hamud 10:12AM (6/14/2008)
F...ing AWESOME.
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slash28 12:05PM (6/14/2008)
Unless I missed something obvious, it was overly difficult to find a price for this product. The manufacturer is a wholesaler and doesn't seem to list an MSRP, and most of their distributors don't seem to carry this product yet. Fortunately, I found the Italian distributer not only carries it, but is kind enough to offer an English w/USD version of their site:
http://lnx.walkera-italia.com/en/product/2637/
Price: $833
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Alex R 5:44AM (6/15/2008)
This is going to make upskirt shots soooo much easier for those Japs.
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