By Andrew Liszewski
Usually when I write about a Kickstarter project I’m excited about the product, but pessimistic about it ever actually coming to fruition. But the iPhly is proof that some projects do successfully raise the funding they need. Designed for RC enthusiasts, the iPhly replaces those incredibly expensive controllers with a considerably cheaper and far more compact housing that attaches to your iPhone and interfaces with it through the headphone/mic port. So instead of flying an RC plane via a couple of sticks, you can take advantage of the iPhone’s built-in gyroscope to pitch, roll and even throttle up by swiping across the display.
The accompanying iPhly app, which of course is available for free from the iTunes App Store, uses a simulated attitude indicator for its interface showing how the plane is oriented to the horizon, or a simple animated steering wheel when used with RC cars and trucks. At $99.99 the iPhly isn’t terribly expensive if you’re already an iPhone user, however, you do need to add a Futaba-style frequency module. But if you’re already an RC enthusiast you can just swap it over from your existing controller since most of the popular brands have already been tested to ensure they work with the iPhly.
[ iPhly iPhone RC Controller ] VIA [ Gizmag ]
I dunno, your main argument for it is that ”
the iPhly replaces those incredibly expensive controllers with a considerably cheaper and far more compact housing”
, but it looks like you basically have to buy most of the expensive hardware anyway. I think the real appeal is that you get to control something new using the tilt accelerometers.
Controllers are actually getting pretty cheap, even the decent 2.4 GHz ones, so the “replacing expensive controllers” argument won’t hold. BUT it does seem intuitive, and the sky’s the limit as far as adaptation mods go. What I’d REALLY like to see is a compo including a camera. A camera feed on top of this would make the iPhone adaptation shine.
wow. why is it that when i mention the iPhly back in March and nobody dig it until Gizmag posted it? oh, i know, perhaps i am lacking of 1.4 million unique visitors. damn.