Image-Based Remote Control Using FPGA Hilal Bingöl, Gizay Kısa, Tuğba Başayar, Fatih Genç Emre Yengel Department of Electronic and Communication Engineering Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering University of Cankaya University of Cankaya Yenimahalle 06810, Ankara Turkey Yenimahalle 06810, Ankara Turkey {c0914008 & c0914024 & c0914007, c1182604}@student.cankaya.edu.tr e.yengel@cankaya.edu.tr Abstract – Recent technological development in the last decades increases the need of controlling applications and systems remotely which arises the area of remote control systems. In this paper, as a special case of remote control systems, image- based remote controlling of vehicle on a defined area via Radio Frequency (RF) using Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is studied. In contrast to traditional hardware designs, using FPGA platform based hardware design have various advantages in terms of hardware and software such as extended flexibility, higher parallel processing, and high speed level. In the experimental setup, position of vehicle on a defined area is detected using the object corner detection techniques which are followed by controlling the vehicle using RF communication between the main FPGA and the vehicle FPGA. Index Terms – FPGA, Remote Vehicle Control, Corner Detection, Indoor Localization Özet – Son yıllarda uzaktan kontrol edilebilen sistemlere duyulan ihtiyaç giderek artmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, tanımlı bir alanda bulunan ve FPGA kart kullanılarak tasarlanan aracın Radyo Frekansı (RF) ile kontrolü sağlanmıştır. Mevcut kullanılan donanımsal sistemlerin aksine FPGA sistemler yüksek kapasiteli paralel işleme, yüksek hız seviyesi gibi donanımsal ve yazılımsal bir çok avantaja sahiptir. Hazırlanan sistemde köşe belirleme tekniği kullanılarak aracın konumu tespit edilerek, merkez ve araç FPGA kartları arasındaki haberleşme RF sinyalleri aracılığıyla sağlanmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler – FPGA, Uzaktan Araç Kontrolü, Köşe Belirleme, Bina İçi Konumlandırma I. INTRODUCTION In the last two decades, the role of the remote control systems has increased drastically in daily life along with the developments in technology. Due to this reason, remote control systems are used in various fields and applications such as medical, logistics, national defense, transportation, homeland security, education, manufacturing, agriculture, etc. due to providing numerous benefits [1-2]. Among these fields, indoor and outdoor localization started to gather more interest both in the research and industrial community day by day. Especially for outdoor localization, controlling systems remotely can be used to deal with damage caused by earthquakes, fire etc.[3], and to explore dangerous environments e.g. coal mine detection [4] etc. In addition to the outdoor localization applications; intelligent building systems [5], burglar alarm and monitoring systems, remote controlling of electronics boards [6] are some of the indoor localization applications. In this paper, an image-based remote control system is studied as an example of this field where low cost, autonomous vehicle is remotely communicating by RF (Radio Frequency) communication. In the design of this system, Xilinx FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) is programmed using VHDL (VHSIC Hardware Description Language) for the implementation. Other platforms such as microcontrollers as PIC, ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) which have been introduced to design remote controlling systems [7-11], these systems’ technical drawbacks in hardware and software design were the limiting factors for an applicable solution. In addition to the technical problems, the initial cost and speed were the other limitations of these platforms especially high masking process of ASICs’ [12]. Therefore, FPGA platform provides various benefits based on having customized hardware such as extended flexibility, higher parallel processing, high speed level and lower latencies as well as cost reduction [13]. Considering all these facts, FPGA based hardware implementation for these types of applications becomes more preferable and leads to design more sophisticated software and hardware platforms in remote controlled vehicle design. In terms of wireless communication technology, many methods can be used for data transmission. Literally, Infrared (IR) has generally been the first choice for most indoor remote control systems due to cost efficient solution for controlling many kinds of electronic devices such as home entertainment, air condition, home lighting [14]. However, there are some limitations and disadvantages such as distance (~ 10 m), low data rate etc. when IR light is the medium. For these reasons, in this study we used Radio Frequency (RF) communication method. RF communication uses electromagnetic waves as transmission medium, and RF signal propagation properties allow connections of extremely high distances [14]. Besides, electromagnetic waves pass through non‐shielding materials to some extent (e.g. concrete walls) [14]. For remote control applications, output power limited and license free bands are available, the so called ISM band (Industrial Scientific Medical Band). In Turkey, the most used ISM band frequency ranges are 433.05 Mhz – 434.79 Mhz and 2400 – 2483.5 Mhz. RF remote controlling in this system uses 434 MHz as RF carrier frequency. In general, localization of remote control systems can be achieved using GPS (Global Positioning Systems) technology. The actual location of the device is obtained from the GPS itself easily. Thus, this technology gives directions as to where to go [15]. Since GPS signals will be attenuated and scattered