Remote Control

remote control

See remote control software, IR remote control and RF remote control.

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remote control

control of a system or activity by a person at a different place, usually by means of radio or ultrasonic signals or by electrical signals transmitted by wire

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remote control [ri′mōt kən′trōl]

(control systems)

Control of a quantity which is separated by an appreciable distance from the controlling quantity; examples include master-slave manipulators, telemetering, telephone, and television.

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Remote Control 

(Russian, teleupravlenie), control at a distance achieved through telemechanic means (see). Remote control is the branch of telemechanics that deals with the transmission, over a distance, of control information (commands) and the conversion of the control information into control actions applied to the controlled system. (In English, the term “remote control” in its broadest sense is similar in meaning to the term “telemechanics” used here; the present article discusses “remote control” in a narrower sense.)

In telemechanic systems, every controlled system is usually characterized by two states, or conditions, for example, open-closed or on-off. For this reason, the number of words per command in the control information is generally one or two; greater numbers of words are encountered relatively rarely. In most remote-control systems, signals are transmitted in two steps: first the address of the controlled system is transmitted, and then, usually after the correctness of the address is confirmed, the control information is transmitted. The control information transmitted in remote-control systems may be discrete or continuous in nature. In the latter case, the remote-control systems are referred to as remote-regulation systems (sistemy teleregulirovaniia).

Because it is difficult to carry out remote control without monitoring the state of the controlled system, remote control is usually supplemented by remote signaling (telesignalizatsiia). In a number of cases, control is performed in accordance with a certain inflexible program. If such programs are few and simple, the remote-control system is supplemented by special automatic devices that implement the programs. The operator’s tasks are thus eased, since he has only to select the required program and start the control system at the proper time. The control information is usually transmitted by a combined remote-control and remote-signaling system or by a more complex telemechanic system.

When remote control is carried out by means of radio channels, we speak of radio control (see).

G. A. SHASTOVA