Remote Control (RC) Toys - a Simple History

The Remote control technology that has lead to our popular remote control toys has been around for over one hundred years. Much work was done by scientist Nikola Tesla. Tesla, in 1898 demonstrated a remote control boat in 1898 at Madison Square Gardens to the delight of the attendee of the electrical exhibition.

The first practical remote control vehicles came out of wartime necessity. In World War I the German used remote controlled boats to hit into enemy ships. By World War II technology had continued to race along and bombs and other weaponry could be directed by remote control.

For home entertainment use technology didn't really boom until the 1960s. At this time transistors allowed development of remote control toys. These toys became more sophisticated in the 1970s when integrated circuits allowed parts to become much smaller and lightweight. The cost of manufacturing these circuits was also cheaper and good for the toy makers.

From then on the developments in remote control technology mirror those of computers. Parts became smaller and more powerful, reliability increased and the cost of production dropped. Today even the most inexpensive toys can afford to have remote control technology in them.

Today every remote control toy has four things in common. They need a transmitter, a receiver, a motor and a source of power. Beyond that the shy is the limit. There are boats, planes, spaceships and movie figures that delight kids and adults alike.

The transmitter is the control mechanism and it can come in the form of a joystick, a wheel a trigger or a dial. The receiver is on the unit itself and it interprets the signals sent from the transmitter. The motor is needed to move the wheels or wings and the power usually takes the form of batteries.

Future developments in remote control toys are anyone's guess. All we can expect is that they will go further, move faster and last longer. And for that, many a small (or big) boy will be very happy.