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This project requires basic skills in electronics, soldering and Linux (Raspberry Pi level, e.g. using ssh, networking, running commands, editing files). While the electronics are based on off-the-shelf modules, everything needs to be wired correctly on a prototyping board and installed in the transmitter.
The headless transmitter comprises of an inexpensive "Blue pill" board with an STM32F103 micro-controller. It drives a nRF24L01+ module with integrated power amplifier. A single cell Li-Ion battery, protected and charged by another cheap module, is used as power source. There is no need to make a PCB, everything fits easily on a prototyping board. Please refer to transmitter/electronics/BOM.txt for a full list of components required.
The configurator is built with an Orange Pi Zero and a CORE51822B module. The 256 MByte version of the Orange Pi Zero is enough for our simple application. It is powered by a suitable power bank or other 5V supply. Please refer to configurator/orangepizero/HARDWARE.md for a full list of components required.
Follow the instructions in configurator/orangepizero/INSTALL.md to install and configure the Armbian Linux distribution and required software on the Orange Pi Zero.
The firmware for the micro-controllers comes pre-compiled in the bin/ folder of the project, no need to install development tools and compile it yourself. You can use the Orange Pi Zero to flash it. Refer to configurator/orangepizero/openocd/README.md for instructions.
Power up the headless transmitter. You should hear a short beep and the LED should be on. The transmitter is now operational, with a simple default configuration.
Turn on the configurator and wait until it has booted (green LED turns solid).
On your PC or Smartphone, open https://laneboysrc.github.io/rc-headless-transmitter in the web browser.
Now connect Wi-Fi to the SSID of the configurator, which is "LANE Boys RC". Use the passphrase you have configured when building the configurator (default is "12345678", but you hopefully changed that while building your own configurator ...).
After pressing the Connect button on the web-app, the list of transmitters should show Unconfigured Tx. Click on the Edit icon next to the name. The transmitter should beep and after a few seconds the web-app will show the settings of the transmitter. You can now proceed with configuring it.
After connecting to a transmitter for the first time, you should give it a unique name and assign a new RF protocol address and hop sequence.