Editing Remote control (section)

==Usage==

===Industry===
A remote control is used for controlling substations, pump storage power stations and [[High-voltage direct current|HVDC]]-plants. For these systems often PLC-systems working in the longwave range are used.

===Power line remote control===
A subset of [[Power-line communication|Power-Line communication]] that sends remote control signals over energized AC power lines. This was used to remotely control home automation before the invention of WIFI connected smart switches. 

===Garage and gate===
Garage and gate remote controls, also called clickers or openers, are very common especially in some countries such as the US, Australia, and the UK, where garage doors, gates and barriers are widely used. Such a remote is very simple by design, usually only one button, and some with more buttons to control several gates from one control. Such remotes can be divided into two categories by the encoder type used: fixed code and [[rolling code]]. If you find dip-switches in the remote, it is likely to be fixed code, an older technology which was widely used. However, fixed codes have been criticized for their (lack of) security, thus rolling code has been more and more widely used in later installations.

===Military===
[[File:Brennan torpedo launching.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Brennan torpedo]], one of the earliest "guided missiles"]]
Remotely operated torpedoes were demonstrated in the late 19th century in the form of several types of remotely controlled [[torpedo]]es. The early 1870s saw remotely controlled [[torpedo]]es by [[John Ericsson]] ([[Pneumatics|pneumatic]]), [[John Louis Lay]] (electric wire guided), and Victor von Scheliha (electric wire guided).<ref name="EdwynGray">Edwyn Gray, Nineteenth-century torpedoes and their inventors, page 18</ref>

The [[Brennan torpedo]], invented by [[Louis Brennan]] in 1877 was powered by two contra-rotating propellers that were spun by rapidly pulling out wires from drums wound inside the [[torpedo]]. Differential speed on the wires connected to the shore station allowed the torpedo to be guided to its target, making it "the world's first ''practical'' guided missile".<ref name=gray>{{cite book | last = Gray | first = Edwyn | title = Nineteenth-Century Torpedoes and Their Inventors | publisher = Naval Institute Press | year = 2004 | isbn = 978-1-59114-341-3}}</ref> In 1898 [[Nikola Tesla]] publicly demonstrated a "wireless" radio-controlled [[torpedo]] that he hoped to sell to the [[U.S. Navy]].<ref>{{cite patent|country=US|number=613809|pubdate=1898-11-08|title=Method of and apparatus for controlling mechanism of moving vessels or vehicles|inventor1-last=Tesla|inventor1-first=Nikola}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=PBS.org |url=https://www.pbs.org/tesla |title=Tesla – Master of Lightning |access-date=2008-09-24}}</ref>

[[Archibald Low]] was known as the "father of radio guidance systems" for his pioneering work on guided rockets and planes during the [[First World War]]. In 1917, he demonstrated a remote-controlled aircraft to the [[Royal Flying Corps]] and in the same year built the first wire-guided rocket. As head of the secret [[Royal Flying Corps|RFC]] experimental works at [[Feltham]], A. M. Low was the first person to use radio control successfully on an aircraft, an [[British unmanned aerial vehicles of World War I#1917 Aerial Target|"Aerial Target"]]. It was "piloted" from the ground by future world aerial speed record holder [[Henry Segrave]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/a-brief-history-of-drones|title = A Brief History of Drones}}</ref> Low's systems encoded the command transmissions as a countermeasure to prevent enemy intervention.<ref>"The Dawn of the Drone" Steve Mills 2019 Casemate Publishers. Page 189 "In order further to safeguard against outside interference I may have a number of inertia wheels of variable speed, only one being correctly adjusted to pick up the timed signals and actuate the mechanism."</ref> By 1918 the secret [[British unmanned aerial vehicles of World War I#The Royal Navy's D.C.B. Section|D.C.B. Section of the Royal Navy's Signals School, Portsmouth]] under the command of [[Eric Gascoigne Robinson|Eric Robinson V.C.]] used a variant of the Aerial Target's radio control system to control from ‘mother’ aircraft different types of naval vessels including a submarine.<ref name=adm253>UK National Archives ADM 1/8539/253 Capabilities of distantly controlled boats. Reports of trials at Dover 28–31 May 1918</ref>

The military also developed several early remote control vehicles. In [[World War I]], the [[Imperial German Navy]] employed [[FL-boat]]s (Fernlenkboote) against coastal shipping. These were driven by [[internal combustion]] engines and controlled remotely from a shore station through several miles of wire wound on a spool on the boat. An aircraft was used to signal directions to the shore station. EMBs carried a high explosive charge in the bow and traveled at speeds of thirty knots.<ref>Lightoller, Charles Herbert (1935). ''Titanic and Other Ships''. I. Nicholson and Watson.</ref> The Soviet [[Red Army]] used remotely controlled [[teletank]]s during the 1930s in the [[Winter War]] against [[Finland]] and the early stages of [[World War II]]. A teletank is controlled by radio from a control tank at a distance of 500 to 1,500 meters, the two constituting a ''telemechanical group''. The Red Army fielded at least two teletank battalions at the beginning of the [[Great Patriotic War]]. There were also remotely controlled cutters and experimental remotely controlled planes in the Red Army.

Remote controls in military usage employ [[Radar jamming and deception|jamming]] and countermeasures against jamming. Jammers are used to disable or sabotage the enemy's use of remote controls. The distances for military remote controls also tend to be much longer, up to intercontinental distance satellite-linked remote controls used by the U.S. for their [[unmanned airplanes]] (drones) in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan. Remote controls are used by insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan to attack coalition and government troops with roadside [[improvised explosive device]]s, and terrorists in Iraq are reported in the media to use modified TV remote controls to detonate bombs.<ref>Enders, David (October 2008). "Mahdi Army Bides its Time". ''[[The Progressive]]''.</ref>

===Space===
[[File:AERCam Sprint Columbia.jpg|thumb|left|Remote controlled free-flying television camera [[AERCam Sprint]]]]
In the winter of 1971, the Soviet Union explored the surface of the Moon with the lunar vehicle [[Lunokhod 1]], the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another celestial body. Remote control technology is also used in space travel, for instance, the Soviet [[Lunokhod programme|Lunokhod]] vehicles were remote-controlled from the ground. Many [[Rover (space exploration)|space exploration rovers]] can be remotely controlled, though vast distance to a vehicle results in a long time delay between transmission and receipt of a command.

===PC control===
Existing infrared remote controls can be used to control [[Personal computer|PC]] applications.<ref>{{cite web |title=IR T.V REMOTE BASED COMPUTER AND LAPTOP OPERATING |url=https://www.iaeme.com/MasterAdmin/uploadfolder/IR%20TV%20REMOTE%20BASED%20COMPUTER%20AND%20LAPTOP%20OPERATING/IR%20TV%20REMOTE%20BASED%20COMPUTER%20AND%20LAPTOP%20OPERATING.pdf |publisher=International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology |access-date=February 24, 2021 |archive-date=December 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203110244/http://www.iaeme.com/MasterAdmin/UploadFolder/IR%20TV%20REMOTE%20BASED%20COMPUTER%20AND%20LAPTOP%20OPERATING/IR%20TV%20REMOTE%20BASED%20COMPUTER%20AND%20LAPTOP%20OPERATING.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Any application that supports shortcut keys can be controlled via infrared remote controls from other home devices (TV, VCR, AC).<ref>{{cite journal|title=Wireless Infrared Remote Controller for Multiple Home Appliances |url=https://www.academia.edu/10500059|publisher=International Journal of Electrical and Electronics Research |access-date=February 24, 2021|volume=2|issue=1|date=January–March 2014|first1=Santosh M.|last1=Nekajar}}</ref> This is widely used{{citation needed|date=January 2012}} with multimedia applications for PC based home theater systems. For this to work, one needs a device that decodes IR remote control data signals and a PC application that communicates to this device connected to PC. A connection can be made via serial port, USB port or motherboard [[Infrared Data Association|IrDA]] connector. Such devices are commercially available but can be homemade using low-cost microcontrollers.{{citation needed|date=January 2012}} [[LIRC]] (Linux IR Remote control) and WinLIRC (for Windows) are software packages developed for the purpose of controlling PC using TV remote and can be also used for homebrew remote with lesser modification.

===Photography===
[[File:CanonRC-1.JPG|thumb|Infrared remote control for the analog [[SLR camera]] [[Canon EOS 100]] from 1991]] 
Remote controls are used in photography, in particular to take long-exposure shots. Many action cameras such as the GoPros<ref>{{cite web|url=https://shop.gopro.com/cameras?device=desktop|title=GoPro - Cameras|website=shop.gopro.com}}</ref> as well as standard DSLRs including Sony's Alpha series <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sony.com/electronics/interchangeable-lens-cameras/ilce-6000-body-kit#product_details_default|title=Sony α6000 E-mount camera with APS-C Sensor|website=Sony}}</ref> incorporate Wi-Fi based remote control systems. These can often be accessed and even controlled via cell-phones and other mobile devices.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lombardi|first=Gianluca|title=By the Light of the Moon|url=http://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1124a/ |work=Picture of the Week|publisher=ESO |access-date=June 15, 2011}}</ref>

===Video games===
[[File:Wii Remote Image.jpg|thumb|[[Wii Remote]]]]
Video game consoles had not used wireless controllers until recently,{{When|date=April 2024}} mainly because of the difficulty involved in playing the game while keeping the infrared transmitter pointed at the console. Early wireless controllers were cumbersome and when powered on alkaline batteries, lasted only a few hours before they needed replacement. Some wireless controllers were produced by third parties, in most cases using a radio link instead of infrared. Even these were very inconsistent, and in some cases, had transmission delays, making them virtually useless. Some examples include the Double Player for [[Nintendo Entertainment System|NES]], the Master System Remote Control System and the Wireless Dual Shot for the [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]].

The first official wireless game controller made by a first party manufacturer was the CX-42 for [[Atari 2600]]. The [[Philips CD-i]] 400 series also came with a remote control, the [[WaveBird Wireless Controller|WaveBird]] was also produced for the [[GameCube]]. In the [[History of video game consoles (seventh generation)|seventh generation]] of gaming consoles, wireless controllers became standard. Some wireless controllers, such as those of the [[PlayStation 3]] and [[Wii]], use [[Bluetooth]]. Others, like the [[Xbox 360]], use proprietary wireless protocols.