Objectives

1) Build a free roaming electric vehicle that carries a webcam.
2) Control the vehicle and the webcam from a web page displayed on a remote computer.
3) Use these notes to "meet" others with similar interests who find the content on Google

Reasons

1) Enable members of my family who live on the the other side of the planet to visit my garden in England by "tele-presence".
2) Learn embedded Linux and microprocessor hardware and software application.

Method

Host the webpage in a Sweex router in the house running Linux.

Have commands from the webpage control internal Linux scripts and c coded programs that send data via an RS232 serial port to a PIC 16F877A microprocessor.

Cause the PIC to generate a pulse train that mimics that created within a 4 channel 27MHz AM radio control transmitter. Inject this into the transmitter in place of that created by the internal potentiometers and encoder chip.

Build a 4 channel RC receiver into the electric vehicle. Use 2 channels for a 2 axis webcam control and use the other 2 channels for vehicle steering and power control.

Employ a colour TV camera on the vehicle feeding a 2.4 GHz radio link to a receiver in the house that feeds the picture to the web page.

Note
A wireless internet connection (WIFI) was first tested but the power consumption was too great. This might be reconsidered later under the control of some micropower circuit that switches it on as needed. This might be an Atmel Butterfly microprocessor board and low power receiver.
I also hope to test a wireless RS232 link.

Progress so far
Sweex software - later
PIC design and software - tests on pic here
Radio control Link - moving to wireless RS232
Webcam
Vehicle control hardware - H-Bridge tested - servo pulse to PWM (PIC program) tested
Compass - an i2c compass linked to the Rover PIC
Ultrasonic Ranger - detect walls that get in the way
GPS receiver - probably not accurate enough but worth a test since I have a second hand GPS module