i-Racer Wireless Control from  Android  (Sparkfun ROB-11162)

This is one cool little car. This simple, two-wheel drive chassis has a rack-and-pinion style steering mechanism so it turns like a car, not like a tank. Also, the drive motor is geared-down to the live axle in the back and provides plenty of speed and torque for driving on relatively flat terrain.

Did we mention that it comes with a battery and a controller board? That's right, this is ready to drive pretty much out of the box! The on-board Bluetooth radio allows you to pair the car to your Bluetooth enabled Android device and use it to control the car. If you're not into the Android controller, you can build your own. The firmware on the car works by interpreting command bytes that are received over Bluetooth SPP at 9600 baud. You can find the list of control bytes in the documents below. We've paired ours to a PC using our Bluetooth USB Mini Module and passed command bytes to it using a serial terminal, it works great.

The board itself is a pair of simple motor drivers, a CSr Bluetooth module and an ATMega48V microcontroller. It has a built-in battery charging circuit which charges from the included USB charging cable. The fine folks at Dagu have also been kind enough to break-out two of the ADCs from the ATMega as well as the 6-pin ISP header so you can upload your own custom firmware. A copy of the original firmware which ships on the unit can be downloaded below.

The transparent vacuum-formed plastic cover provides the car with some sporty shape and stickers are even included so you can pimp your ride.

Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 3.5"

Features:

• Wireless Control from your Android Phone or Tablet
• Designed around ATMega48V Microcontroller
• Simple Bluetooth SPP Interface (8-N-1 @ 9600)
• Rechargeable Li-Poly Battery
• Slick, Hard-Rubber Tires
• Rack and Pinion Steering
• Plastic Body Shell
• Access to ADC and ISP pins
• Power, Speed and Bluetooth Indicator LEDs

 

Includes:

• i-Racer Platform
• USB charging cable
• Android Software CD
• Sticker Sheet

 

• User Manual
• Command Set
• Android App
• Unofficial Android App
• Firmware
• Product Video