Variety usages of the Remote Control
2008-08-15

                                                                                               Variety usages of the Remote Control        With the development of technology, now TVs have become very popular for most families, relatively, TV remote control has also been settled into the households.        A TV remote control is an electronic device which used for the remote operation of TVs.       TV remote control has a history of no more than 60 years, but it has had a so rapid development.       Zenith began playing around with the idea of a TV remote control in the early 1950's. They developed one in 1952 called "Lazy Bones," which was a long cable that was attached to the TV set. Pushing buttons on the remote activated a motor that would rotate the tuner in the set.       In 1955, the Flash-o-Matic was invented. A flashlight was shined toward light sensitive cells in each of the four corners of the TV. Each corner had a different function. They turned the TV on and off, changed the channel, and controlled the volume. However, people often forgot which corner of the TV operated which control. Also, if the set was in sunlight, the sun's rays would affect the operations of the TV.       In 1957 a group of engineers developed the Zenith "Space Command," a wireless remote control using ultrasonic waves. The problem with the ultrasonic control was that clinking metal, such as dog tags, could affect the TV set. High frequencies sometimes also made dogs bark. The ultrasonic remote was used for two decades until engineers discovered a better way to operate TV's, the infrared remote control.       On the infrared control, each button has it's own command, and is sent to the TV set in a series of signals. There is a digital code for each button, and in the TV there is a tiny sensor called a photo detector that identifies the infrared beam, and translates the code into a command.       Manufacturers used to only make remote controls that operated one TV set. However, now they've already made universal remote controls that can operate any TV set.       In fact, the TV remote control is only one of the variety remote controls; remote control has a wide range of species, so it is applying to different areas, which bring great convenience to human beings.       Actually the first machines to be operated by remote control were used mainly for military purposes. Radio-controlled motorboats, developed by the German navy, were used to ram enemy ships in WWI. Radio controlled bombs and other remote control weapons were used in WWII.      Once the wars were over, United States scientists experimented to find nonmilitary uses for the remote control. In the late 1940's automatic garage door openers were invented, and in the 1950's the first TV remote controls were used.      But nowadays, remote controls are already being used in a wide variety of areas. Industry      Remote control is used for controlling substations, pump storage power stations and HVDC-plants. For these systems often PLC-systems working in the long wave range are use.

Emergency      Remotely controlled machinery is used in radioactive or toxic environments to avoid human casualties and to prevent damage to human health. For example, remotely controlled robots were used during liquidation of circumstances of Chernobyl disaster. 

Military      In World War I the Imperial German Navy employed FL-boats (Fernlenkbootes) against coastal shipping. These were driven by internal combustion engines, and controlled remotely from a shore station through several miles of wire wound on a spool on the boat. An aircraft was used to signal directions to the shore station. EMBs carried a high explosive charge in the bow and traveled at speeds of thirty knots.      The Soviet Red Army used remotely controlled teletanks during 1930s in the Winter War against Finland and the early stages of the Great Patriotic War. A teletank is controlled by radio from a control tank at a distance of 500–1,500 meters, the two constituting a telemechanical group. The Red Army fielded at least two teletank battalions at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. There were also remotely controlled cutters and experimental remotely controlled planes in the Red Army.

Space      Remote control technology is also used in space travel, for instance the Russian Lunokhod vehicles were remote-controlled from the ground. Direct remote control of space vehicles at greater distances from the earth is not practical due to increasing signal delay times.

Video games      Video game consoles had not used wireless controllers until recently, mainly because of the difficulty involved in playing the game while keeping the infrared transmitter pointed at the console. Early wireless controllers were cumbersome and when powered on alkaline batteries, lasted only a few hours before they needed replacement. Some wireless controllers were produced by third parties, in most cases using a radio link instead of infrared. Even these were very inconsistent, and in some cases, had transmission delays, making them virtually useless. The first official wireless controller made by a first party manufacturer was the WaveBird for Nintendo Game cube. The Wavebird changed the face of wireless technology in video game consoles. In the current generation of gaming consoles, wireless controllers have become the standard.

PC control        Existing infrared remote controls can be used to control PC applications. Any application that supports shortcut keys can be controlled via IR remote controls from other home devices (TV, VCR, AC,). This is widely used with multimedia applications for PC based Home Theatre systems. For this to work you need a device that decodes IR remote control data signals and a PC application that communicates to this device connected to PC. Connection can be made via serial port, USB port or motherboard IrDA connector. Such devices are commercially available or it can be home made using low cost microcontrollers.

Toys       Remote control toys, such as racing cars, boats and even aircraft are a favorite pastime of many people.