NORMAL RC DRIVING · MEASURED IMPLEMENT ASSISTANCE
You drive the model. Grade Core helps control the grade.
Grade Core is not a special transmitter and it does not replace your radio. You operate travel, steering, and the machine normally. A Raspberry Pi 5 gateway reads supported sensors and provides a secure bridge between the 1/14-scale model and Grade Core’s surface-and-grade engine.
THE SIMPLE VERSION
Measure. Compare. Correct. Repeat.
The operator keeps driving. Grade Core repeatedly determines where the working edge is, where the design says it should be, and whether a small bounded implement correction is allowed.
The normal radio stays primary. Grade Core’s intended first use is assistance for mapped implements such as a dozer blade, grader moldboard, paver screed, or compactor control—not taking away ordinary operator control of the model.
EXAMPLE · ONE DOZER PASS
What actually happens while you grade.
This example uses a dozer, but the same measurement chain can be adapted to graders, pavers, mills, compactors, and custom RC equipment through machine-specific geometry and output profiles.
01
You select a project and target
In Grade Core, choose the private yard project, the active design surface, the dozer profile, and the intended mode. The target might be a flat pad at a specified elevation, a percentage slope, a crown, or a more complex imported surface.
Nothing moves merely because a project is opened.02
You drive with your regular transmitter
Use your existing RC radio for throttle, steering, and ordinary operation. Grade Core is transmitter-independent in concept; it does not require a Paladin or another specific radio as long as the model has a safe integration path for the mapped implement functions.
Travel and steering remain operator-controlled.03
Onboard sensors report real measurements
The Pi gateway receives supported data: RTK position and fix state, dual-heading or orientation, IMU pitch and roll, LiDAR ranges or point clouds, sonic distance, servo position, and machine state. Each source is timestamped and checked against its configured capability.
A 2D LiDAR remains a 2D source; Grade Core does not pretend it produced a 3D scan.04
The gateway places the blade in the project frame
Calibration tells the system where the antennas, IMU, LiDAR, pivots, and blade cutting edge sit relative to the chassis. Using those offsets and the live pose, the system can estimate the real working-edge position instead of treating the GPS antenna as the blade.
Correct calibration is essential for millimeter- and centimeter-scale work.05
Secure telemetry reaches the Grade Core workspace
The enrolled gateway uses its tenant-scoped device identity to send normalized telemetry over the configured Wi-Fi or internet connection. The service checks account entitlement, device status, project scope, timestamp age, sequence, and message validity.
A device cannot simply claim another user’s project or machine.06
The grade engine calculates cut, fill, and correction
The proprietary backend compares the measured tool geometry with the design surface at that location. It evaluates vertical error, cross slope, heading, tolerance, tool limits, operating mode, data confidence, and configured interlocks.
Heavy surface and point-cloud work stays off the small onboard computer.07
A bounded command returns to the Pi
If the request is valid, Grade Core returns a small implement target or correction with a short expiry, permitted range, and command identity. The Pi checks it again against local direction, limits, watchdogs, operator override, and emergency-stop state before mapped output can reach a servo or controller.
Late, duplicated, out-of-range, or disarmed commands are rejected.08
The loop repeats while you continue the pass
As the dozer moves, new measurements update the tool position and error. The live dashboard can show target versus actual grade, RTK status, pose, latency, command state, and the developing as-built surface.
You can return to manual implement control whenever the configured override is used.WHAT LIVES WHERE
Three layers with different jobs.
Separating operator control, local safety, and cloud computation prevents the website from becoming the only thing standing between a model and a safe stop.
YOUR RADIO
Primary operation
Throttle, steering, normal driving, human judgment, and immediate manual action. The radio must remain usable independently of the Grade Core website.
RASPBERRY PI 5 GATEWAY
Real hardware bridge
Sensor drivers, timestamps, capability reporting, calibration transforms, local command limits, servo or IO mapping, watchdogs, loss-of-link behavior, and physical inhibit state.
GRADE CORE SERVICE
Private grade intelligence
Accounts, projects, design surfaces, LiDAR datasets, heavy processing, tool-to-surface calculations, telemetry display, expiring corrections, audit records, storage, and planned fleet coordination.
CONTROL RESPONSIBILITIES
Who controls each part.
| Function | Normal RC radio | Pi 5 gateway | Grade Core service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travel and steering | Operator primary | Observe or locally inhibit if configured | No normal driving command required |
| Implement movement | Manual input and override | Mapped output with local limits | Bounded, expiring target or correction |
| Physical emergency stop | Independent local path | Immediate local inhibit input | May request a stop, but is not the only stop |
| Sensor acquisition | — | Real device drivers and timestamps | Validation, fusion, display, and storage |
| Project and design surface | — | Receives only the required operating context | Private project source of truth |
| Grade calculation | — | Local validation and fallback | Proprietary grade engine |
| LiDAR surface processing | — | Capture and frame normalization | Point-cloud processing and derived surfaces |
WHEN SOMETHING GOES WRONG
Loss of data means loss of assistance—not loss of normal RC control.
Internet or Wi-Fi drops
Unrefreshed commands expire. The Pi inhibits cloud assistance according to the configured watchdog. The operator’s independent radio and physical stop remain local.
RTK loses its fixed solution
Modes that require fixed RTK are held or disarmed. The dashboard reports the degraded fix instead of presenting estimated data as millimeter-grade truth.
LiDAR stops or becomes stale
LiDAR-dependent processing and guidance are held. Other capabilities remain available only if their own profiles and interlocks permit them.
A command is unsafe or too old
The gateway rejects commands that are expired, duplicated, outside configured bounds, for the wrong device, or received while automatic output is disarmed.
The operator overrides
Configured manual input takes priority and returns the implement to operator control. Assisted output must never trap the model in an uncontrollable mode.
The cloud is unavailable
Projects and advanced grade computation may be temporarily unavailable, but the model must still be capable of safe local shutdown and ordinary manual RC operation.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Direct answers before you build.
Does Grade Core drive the RC machine for me?
You normally drive the model yourself. Initial grade-control workflows are intended to assist mapped implement functions. Planned fleet or semi-autonomous features would require separate modes, permissions, interlocks, and testing.
Do I need a specific transmitter?
No specific transmitter is intended to be mandatory. Your radio remains the normal control system. The machine needs a safe way for the Pi gateway to observe or control only the mapped functions selected for Grade Core assistance.
Is the website directly connected to a servo?
Not directly. The Grade Core service communicates with an authenticated Pi gateway. The gateway validates and converts a permitted short-lived command into the local output appropriate for that machine profile.
Why not calculate everything on the Raspberry Pi?
The Pi handles local hardware, validation, and safety timing. The cloud is planned to provide larger surface storage, stronger compute pools, centralized project revisions, and proprietary geometry processing without placing the complete engine on every machine.
Does Grade Core require internet?
Live cloud calculation and synchronized dashboards require a working network path. A local-yard Wi-Fi design may still use an internet-hosted service. Normal radio driving and the independent emergency stop must not depend on that connection.
Can I use an RPLIDAR C1?
The planned RPLIDAR C1 profile uses its real 2D angle, range, quality, and scan-rate data. It can support raw scans and compatible profile or edge workflows, but it cannot provide the same 3D surface capabilities as a validated 3D LiDAR.
Do users receive the proprietary engine?
No. Users receive account access and a connector or role-scoped client appropriate to their entitlement. The protected grade and surface engine remains on Grade Core-controlled infrastructure.
Can this be used on a full-size machine?
No. Grade Core is designed exclusively for 1/14-scale RC construction models and must not be connected or adapted to full-size machinery.