The iPhone, with its design that incorporates a touch screen and built in accelerometers, is really a good device from a control standpoint.
Especially considering what kind of ad-hoc controllers that I have built over the years to do simple functions. Yes, it is a very convenient device for control, as is almost any touch screen device on the market. Usually, though, I find that the Windows Mobile devices end up in the hands of the physical project hacking crowd. The new low price of the iPhone may be changing this, at least until Apple makes another attempt to lock it down.
But anyways, I digress. An inventive 18 year old named Josef Průša and his brother has put the iPhone to work controlling a small RC car, and the results look quite handy.
The app uses five buttons, with four of them being a standard control mechanism. Hit the fifth button, and the iPhone’s accelerometer becomes the controller. As the video shows, it makes driving the car with the iPhone a simple thing. More info at the project site.
