REMOTE CONTROL
TELEOPERATION
SYSTEMS
Custom RF transceivers with FHSS and AES-256 command encryption; fail-safe state machines defined before any RF architecture; sub-30ms H.264 video downlink; PLd Category 3 dual-channel safety stop per EN 13557 and ISO 13849; IECEx Zone 1 and ATEX certified transmitters; and end-to-end latency validated from joystick to actuator.
The Engineering Problem
A Remote Control System Is a Safety-Critical Communication and Control System — Not a Radio with a Timeout
A RC transmitter that loses link at 500m when spec claims 2km range will produce a machine runaway event when the operator steps behind a steel column. A 2-second fail-safe timeout is inadequate for a crane with a suspended load. A system without command encryption can be hijacked with a radio scanner. Getting remote control right requires simultaneous expertise in RF engineering, safety function design, latency optimisation, and the operational physics of the machine.
EN 13557 and ISO 13849 PLd requirements are becoming mandatory in more jurisdictions — demanding remote control hardware designed to PLd integrity from the outset. Teleoperation adoption across mining, construction, and defence is creating demand for custom electronics tailored to specific machine dynamics and video situational awareness. Regulatory spectrum pressure and command injection threats are driving demand for frequency-agile, encrypted remote control hardware.
We design from the operational requirement and fail-safe requirement outward — machine type, environment, acceptable latency, and the defined machine response to every communication failure scenario first, then the RF architecture, link budget, safety function design, and latency validation. Industrial RC OEMs, UAV manufacturers, defence programs, mining equipment companies, marine and ROV technology companies, and nuclear operators all need this engineering depth.
Remote Control & Teleoperation System Categories We Build
From EN 13557-compliant crane transmitters to encrypted BVLOS UAV datalinks to IECEx underground mining remote control — custom remote control and teleoperation electronics across every application domain.
Industrial Equipment Remote Control
UAV & Drone Ground Control Station Electronics
Defence, Military & UGV Teleoperation
Marine, ROV & Subsea Teleoperation
Mining & Underground Remote Operation
Oil, Gas & Energy Remote Control
Construction & Demolition Remote Operation
Research, Prosumer & Consumer Remote Control
RF Design & Link Budget Engineering
Custom RF transceiver PCB design from 433MHz through 5.8GHz ISM and licensed UHF/VHF bands; FHSS firmware with 50–160 hop channels for interference immunity; DSSS for multipath rejection in metal-structure environments. Link budgets are calculated from path loss, antenna gain, and minimum SNR requirements — then validated by field measurement in a representative deployment environment before production.
Fail-Safe & Safety Function Design
Fail-safe state machine firmware defining machine response to link degradation, intermittent loss, complete loss, operator release, and emergency stop — each scenario handled independently; watchdog timer hardware that commands fail-safe state independent of application firmware. PLd Category 3 dual-channel safety stop with 1oo2 voting, validated response time, and full ISO 13849 FMEA documentation.
Encrypted Command Architecture
AES-128 and AES-256 command encryption with ECDH session key establishment between transmitter and receiver; HMAC-SHA256 command authentication to detect injection; rolling code and challenge-response anti-replay protection. Hardware security element-backed device identity certificates with key rotation and revocation firmware for deployed fleets.
Low-Latency Control Electronics
End-to-end command latency measured from joystick input through RF transmission to machine actuation — not estimated from spec sheets. Custom radio protocol with reduced frame overhead; interrupt-driven input sampling below 1 ms; command prioritisation for safety commands over telemetry in shared bandwidth; and latency compensation firmware for high-latency satellite teleoperation.
Video & Situational Awareness
H.264 and H.265 hardware encoder electronics targeting sub-30ms end-to-end video latency for FPV and precision teleoperation; multi-channel video capture and switching with MIPI CSI-2 and analogue input; OSD telemetry overlay for machine status annotation; thermal and night vision camera interface; and AR overlay for machine proximity annotation.
Haptic & Multi-Sensory Feedback
Force feedback joystick electronics with brushless or linear actuator drive; vibration feedback via LRA and ERM actuators for terrain and collision cues; dual-channel force-torque sensor interface at the remote machine for haptic rendering. Audio feedback for engine load and alarm states transmitted alongside video and telemetry; custom ergonomic control interface co-designed to the specific teleoperation task.
Autonomous System Integration
Autonomous mode engagement and disengagement electronics with defined handover sequences; shared autonomy implementing variable automation levels from full manual through progressive autonomous assistance; MAVLink and DroneCAN waypoint and mission command transmission with geofence enforcement. Return-to-home and safe mode command electronics for emergency recovery, with GCS telemetry aggregation for autonomous system health monitoring.
Environmental Qualification & Certification
IP65–IP68 enclosure design with IK08/IK09 impact resistance for industrial transmitters; IECEx Zone 1 Ex ia and ATEX Zone 1/2 certification for explosive atmosphere environments; MIL-STD-810 shock, vibration, and drop qualification for military and field applications. FCC Part 15 and Part 90 for US markets; CE RED for European markets.
Chipsets & Platforms
Platforms, Protocols & Standards
Tested silicon and proven stacks — no experimental platform dependencies.
Industrial Equipment & Safety-Rated Remote Control
EN 13557. ISO 13849 PLd. IECEx Zone 1. ATEX Zone 2. Dual-Channel Safety Stop.
EN 13557 requires safety stop function integrity, transmitter-receiver unique identification, and automatic stop on operator release — demands that go far beyond commercial RC systems. Meeting this standard requires the safety stop to be designed as a PLd function per ISO 13849 with dual-channel output, Category 3 hardware fault tolerance, and a documented response time validated from E-stop actuation to machine actuator de-energisation. Ankh delivers PLd Category 3 dual-channel electronics with 1oo2 voting, deadman, cryptographic transmitter-receiver pairing, IP67/68 housings, IECEx/ATEX certification, and full ISO 13849 FMEA documentation targeting PFH ≤ 3×10⁻⁸/hr.
UAV, Military & Long-Range Teleoperation Electronics
BVLOS. AES-256. MAVLink. 12 km+ Datalink Range. Sub-30ms Video.
BVLOS UAV, military UGV teleoperation, and long-range industrial RC share a common challenge: the link must remain reliable and latency-controlled over distances and obstacles that exceed commercial RC systems, in spectrum environments that cannot be predicted. This requires genuine RF systems engineering — link budget from first principles, antenna design for the specific geometry, and fail-safe design for every BVLOS failure scenario. At 868MHz, free-space path loss at 10 km is approximately 120 dB; at 2.4GHz it is 130 dB — the difference between a viable and a marginal link budget given EIRP limits. Ankh calculates this before selecting the radio and validates against field measurement before production.
Marine, Subsea & Hazardous Environment Teleoperation
ROV Tether. Acoustic Modem. IECEx Zone 1. Radiation-Hardened. 900MHz Mine Drive.
Controlling through seawater, rock strata, or concrete radiation shielding requires fundamentally different approaches from air-based remote control. Seawater absorbs 2.4GHz RF within ~1 cm skin depth, making acoustic modems the only viable option for deep subsea ROV and AUV teleoperation. Mine drives allow 900MHz to propagate around corners through diffraction at 6–8 dB per bend, while 2.4GHz incurs 20–25 dB additional loss — making 900MHz the correct choice underground. Radiation environment electronics require explicit treatment of TID, SEU, and SEL with radiation-tolerant process selection and error correction coding.
Why Remote Control Engineering Teams Choose Ankh
Fail-Safe as a System Architecture, Not a Timer
A fail-safe that stops the machine after a 2-second timeout has not been designed for the machine — it has a timer. A properly engineered fail-safe state machine defines the machine response to link degradation, intermittent loss, complete loss, deadman release, and emergency stop — each determined by the machine's dynamic behaviour and hazard profile, implemented in electronics that operate independently of application firmware and the radio link. Ankh designs fail-safe as the first engineering deliverable, before the radio link is designed.
Link Budget Engineering Before Antenna Selection
Reliable operating range is not the claimed range of the radio module — it is determined by path loss, antenna gain, receiver sensitivity, and fade margin for the specific deployment geometry. Ankh calculates the link budget before selecting the radio, before choosing the antenna, and before committing to any range specification — then validates against field measurement in a representative environment. A 2.4GHz FHSS system rated at 2 km in open field achieves 50 m in a steel-framed plant with motor drive RF interference.
Latency from Operator Input to Machine Actuation, Not Specification Sheet
End-to-end latency is not the air time of a radio frame — it is the sum of input sampling, encoding, queue wait, over-the-air time, receiver decoding, and machine actuator response. For video-based teleoperation, the full video pipeline latency determines whether the operator's view is current enough for safe operation at speed. Approximately 30 ms allows effective vehicle control; 150 ms does not, for anything faster than a slow walk. Ankh measures and optimises every stage of this pipeline from the first prototype.
RF Architecture for the Deployment Environment, Not the Product Datasheet
A 915MHz FHSS system optimised for rural USA is not usable in Europe. An unlicensed band remote control that works today degrades severely when a high-density Wi-Fi network is installed nearby. A 2.4GHz system in a steel plant faces welding and motor drive interference that reduces effective range to a fraction of free-space performance. Ankh designs RF architecture for the specific deployment environment — frequency band, interference sources, regulatory geography, and facility structure — not the best-case scenario the datasheet assumes.
EN 13557-Compliant Crane Remote Control System for a Crane Equipment Manufacturer
A gantry and overhead crane OEM needed a custom wireless remote control meeting EN 13557 PLd Category 3, IECEx Zone 2 certification for classified crane hall areas, and FCC Part 90 / CE RED — with reliable link performance in a steel-structure environment.
869MHz FHSS with 80 hop channels; AES-128 encryption with rolling code anti-replay; PLd Category 3 dual-channel safety stop with 87ms E-stop response; deadman electronics; IP67 transmitter with 1.5m drop validation; proportional joystick control; IECEx Zone 2 certified receiver; and full ISO 13849 FMEA achieving PLd at PFH 2.3×10⁻⁸/hr.
- 98.4% packet reception at 300m in steel-structure industrial environment
- 87ms emergency stop response time — validated against EN 13557 requirement
- PLd Category 3 safety function with PFH 2.3×10⁻⁸/hr per ISO 13849 FMEA
- FCC Part 90 and CE RED certified — 28 weeks from design inputs to production
Long-Range Encrypted UAV Datalink and GCS Electronics for a BVLOS Surveillance UAV
A defence technology company needed a custom BVLOS UAV datalink with AES-256 / HMAC-authenticated command links, sub-30ms H.264 video latency within a 250kbps budget, and a MIL-STD-810G ruggedised GCS with 8-hour battery life.
870MHz FHSS with 160 hop channels; AES-256 encryption with ECDH session key and HMAC-SHA256 authentication; H.264 video encoder at 25fps SD within 250kbps; MAVLink integration with return-to-home fail-safe; and ruggedised GCS with 7-inch display, ADS-B receiver, 8-hour battery, and satellite fallback.
- 99.7% command reception reliability at 12km — link budget validated
- 28ms end-to-end H.264 video latency within 250kbps datalink allocation
- AES-256 / ECDH encrypted link with HMAC-SHA256 command authentication
- MIL-STD-810G qualified GCS — 8-hour field battery operation
Building a remote control or teleoperation system? Let's engineer the link.
Fail-safe architecture as the first engineering deliverable. Link budget engineering for the deployment environment. Full-stack delivery from RF design through safety function certification through video situational awareness.
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