<![CDATA[Fuel-powered remote control (RC) boats are vulnerable to operational failure caused by wireless communication interruption between the transmitter and receiver. Unlike electric propulsion systems, fuel-engine RC boats may continue operating uncontrollably during signal loss conditions, creating potential safety hazards and increasing the risk of collision or hardware damage. This study proposes a real-time fail-safe system based on Arduino Nano for detecting PWM signal loss and automatically shutting down the engine ignition system using a relay-based cut-off mechanism. The proposed system continuously monitors the throttle PWM signal generated by the RC receiver and activates the ignition cut-off system when abnormal signal conditions are detected continuously beyond a predefined threshold. In addition, warning indicators consisting of a buzzer and LED are integrated to provide audible and visual notifications during fail-safe activation. Experimental testing was conducted under normal and signal-loss conditions at operating distances ranging from 10 m to 300 m. The results demonstrated that the proposed system successfully detected signal interruption and activated the engine shutdown mechanism with a detection success rate of 100% during all signal-loss testing scenarios. The proposed system improved operational safety by preventing uncontrolled engine operation during communication failure conditions. Therefore, the proposed design provides a compact, low-cost, and reliable safety solution for fuel-powered RC boats and unmanned surface vehicle applications.]]>
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