The Principles of Remote-Controlled Cars—We Can Definitely Make One

"Teacher, I want to make a remote-controlled car."

"A remote-controlled car?"

"Simply put..." Xiao Changge finally explained what a remote-controlled car was.

A remote-controlled car was, simply put, a model vehicle operated by radio control without anyone sitting inside to drive it.

It was different from the Soul Tool vehicles created through Soul Tools.

It could move forward, turn, and accelerate according to commands within a range of several dozen to several hundred meters.

"That's quite a novel idea."

An RC car was a scaled-down model car. Commands were sent from a handheld remote controller, and the receiver system on the car carried out the actions. Common types included:

Recreational models: bought from toy stores, costing from several dozen to several hundred, suitable for children and beginners.

Hobby-grade models: professional model vehicles costing thousands to tens of thousands, modifiable for racing or climbing, with high precision and fast speeds.

They could also be divided by style of play: on-road touring cars, off-road vehicles, monster trucks, rock crawlers, drift cars, tracked tanks, and so on.

The core principle of a remote-controlled car was:

"Remote controller sends a signal → onboard receiver receives the signal → electronic speed controller/servo executes it → motor/steering moves." The entire process relied on electric power and control circuits.

A detailed breakdown of how it worked:

The control end—the remote controller in one's hand.

When the throttle was moved or the steering wheel was turned, the encoding circuit inside the controller converted those actions into digital or analog signals.

Those signals were transmitted by radio waves, commonly at 2.4 GHz, much like a miniature walkie-talkie.

The onboard receiving system:

The receiver on the vehicle received the radio signal, decoded it, and sent commands to the corresponding components:

Forward/reverse → sent to the ESC.

Turn left/right → sent to the steering servo.

The executing components:

ESC + brushless/brushed motor: controlled wheel speed and forward or reverse rotation, determining speed and direction.

Steering servo: pulled the steering linkage, causing the front wheels to turn left or right.

Higher-end vehicles also had differential locks, lighting controls, steering gyroscopes, and so on.

The power supply system:

Lithium batteries supplied power, commonly at 7.4V or 11.1V, determining the upper limit of performance.

Battery → ESC → motor + receiver + servo.

A simple analogy:

Think of a remote-controlled car as the smallest version of wirelessly controlling a real car with a game controller—the controller was the remote, the onboard computer was the receiver, and the wheels and steering wheel used motors and servos in place of a real engine and steering column.

Of course, there were also many common misconceptions:

Remote control did not mean automatic: it relied entirely on real-time human control and had no autonomous driving.

More expensive did not mean faster: speed depended on the motor's KV rating, battery voltage, vehicle weight, and transmission efficiency.

"This thing really is quite good."

"And it has many uses. For example, if we install a Soul Tool capable of generating power inside the remote-controlled car, as well as a Soul Tool mirror that can record video, we could use it to explore dangerous caves or hazardous areas. That way, people wouldn't need to go in themselves. Using these remote-controlled cars for exploration could also ensure greater safety."

In his previous life, Xiao Changge had seen many mountain explorers prepare modified remote-controlled cars like these. Some scientific expedition teams had also used professional exploration tools based on remote-controlled cars when investigating ruins. It was all to prevent people from entering places that were too dangerous, letting remote-controlled cars take on the risk instead.

They could be used to protect people's safety.

Many cave exploration teams used toy remote-controlled cars + phone WiFi cameras + small flashlights: they could enter shallow caves, cave entrances, and gently sloping collapse zones. WiFi remote-controlled cars generally had a range of around thirty meters in open areas, but after turning a corner inside a cave, the signal dropped drastically. They were basically only good enough to "send in and take a look."

Hobby-grade RC chassis models—off-road or tracked—combined with 2.4G controls, 5.8G FPV cameras, powerful LED lights, or infrared fill lights were proper cave reconnaissance vehicles. Some hobbyists had modified RC tanks with headlights, side lights, and 360-degree action cameras to explore wombat burrows and underground cavities. They were viable in real use.

Professional survey vehicles used tracked chassis, infrared cameras, temperature and humidity sensors, toxic gas sensors, ultrasonic sensors, and one-kilometer data transmission. Those were rescue and survey devices, not ordinary remote-controlled cars.

The real limitations inside caves were more important than whether they were dark.

Lighting: ordinary white LEDs reflected harshly off pitch-black rock walls, overexposing nearby areas while leaving distant areas completely dark. A reliable setup used powerful white LEDs as the main illumination, supplemented by 850nm infrared lights and paired with low-light or starlight-grade FPV cameras. The image had far more depth than a simple flashlight.

Video transmission: WiFi, controlled through a phone, was extremely prone to disconnecting in caves. 5.8G analog video transmission with goggles or monitors had low latency and better obstruction resistance than WiFi, though it still weakened when passing through rock layers. For key sections of a cave, it was advisable to tie a thin Kevlar cord or fishing line to the vehicle so it could be pulled back if it disappeared from sight.

Control range: 2.4G remotes claimed ranges of dozens to hundreds of meters, but cave turns and wet rock walls severely reduced that distance. Do not trust sellers who advertised "one hundred meters"; the reliable distance in actual use was often cut in half.

Battery life: lights, video transmission, and motors all consumed power together. Factory AA batteries did not last long. Modifying it with 18650 batteries or 2S LiPo batteries to independently power the lights and video transmission, separate from the drive battery, allowed it to run longer.

Passability: ordinary road RC cars easily got stuck on loose rocks, mud, puddles, and broken stalactites inside caves. Four-wheel-drive off-road vehicles or monster trucks were preferable, while tracked chassis were best. They had high ground clearance and were less likely to flip over.

Safety red line: caves might contain oxygen deficiency, carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide buildup, falling rocks, underground rivers, or vertical shafts. A remote-controlled car was a reconnaissance tool, not a guarantee of safety while scouting ahead—people absolutely must not follow it into unexplored caves. If the vehicle got stuck, abandon it. Do not go in to retrieve it.

On the Douluo Continent, something like a remote-controlled car did not count as black technology. Although remote-controlled cars did not yet exist in the timeline of The Unrivaled Tang Clan, they were not difficult to make.

Soul Tool drive: rare metals engraved with core formations and infused with Soul Power created a power source, equivalent to a "Soul Power motor."

There were already precedents: after The Unrivaled Tang Clan, Soul Tool bicycles, Soul Tool motorcycles, Soul Tool trains, Soul Tool cars, flying Soul Tools, Steam Magpie mechanical birds, and Dragon Abyss Boats all appeared.

Control method: Soul Engineers could use spiritual power to control humanoid Soul Tools and mecha. Putting "spiritual power signals + core formations" into a small vehicle to create wireless control was entirely sound in principle.

Therefore, creating a remote-controlled Soul Tool car would not be difficult. Although the concept did not yet exist, it would still not be hard to make.

Making such a thing in The Unrivaled Tang Clan and beyond would be easy.

After the Sun

Moon Empire arrived, Soul Tool technology took off. By Huo Yuhao's generation, they had even made humanoid Soul Tools. Creating a "Soul Island remote-controlled car" with Soul Tool thrusters, steering formations, and a spiritual power receiver would only be the level of a class assignment.

"In any case, I'll first see whether I can make one. If I do, it should count as showing some talent in Soul Tools. Then I should be able to obtain more resources and training. After all, the Japan Empire places even greater importance on cultivating Soul Engineers."