Date: 08/07/2010

2.4GHz reference design for remote controlled toy cars from Nordic

Are you looking circuit diagrams and any such design references for designing toys? Nordic Semiconductor has unveiled the nRFready R/C Racing, a complete reference design for advanced remote controlled racing toys such as cars, that enables toy manufacturers to bring advance game-play features to mass-market toys by using Nordic's low cost 2.4GHz wireless solutions.

The game-play features include racing with multiple friends, setting up free-form racing tracks using waypoints, feeling crashes through controller vibration, and the ability to collect, see and share racing data.

Some of the key features of nRFready R/C Racing reference design are:
1. Includes a pair of cars and controllers, four waypoints, a USB dongle, the nRFready Racing Studio PC application, as well as all required source code and hardware design files.
2. The cars, controllers and waypoints are all based on Nordic's single chip nRF24LE1 2.4GHz RF System-on-Chip (SoC) solution (see "About the nRF24LE1" below).
3. Provides a flexible development platform with flash, and a smooth migration to Nordic's lower-cost OTP (one time programmable) variants for mass production.
4. The cars in the reference design feature continuous steering and throttle control, crash sensors, plus blinker lights and headlights that can be switched on and off from the controller.
5. The controllers include LEDs for car battery status and force (vibration) feedback to indicate crashes.
6. Cars can detect when they are in close proximity to a waypoint and wirelessly send race statistics such as lap times, speed and number of crashes to the nRFready Racing Studio PC application through the USB dongle.

"We see an increasing interest in our 2.4GHz technology from the toy industry," says Thomas Embla Bonnerud, Product Manager with Nordic Semiconductor. "This reference design enables innovative toy manufacturers to very easily take advantage of our 2.4GHz technology to take their remote controlled toys to the next level by adding features not possible with the 27/49MHz technologies typically employed today, and at a price point consumers around the world will find appealing."

Availability: Now