Controlling Analog RC Car Remote with Arduino

Question

I want to take my RC car remote, which uses a potentiometer to control throttle, and connect it to an arduino in order to control the cars speed. The ardunio fits perfectly in the base of the remote.

I want to retain original functionality, however, this can be changed.

I am fairly new to electrical engineering and arduino in general.

TLDR: What would be the best way to "emulate" a potentiometer signal using an arduino that would then get sent into into the part of the remote that transmits signals?

EDIT: This is for a project on self driving vehicles. I will have a desktop PC with Java software that is grabbing images from a camera mounted on the actual car and telling the car how to react. The arduino in the base of the remote will be connected via a USB port. The android / Java part of the software is complete and I just need to get the arduino code working to tell the car "Move Left this much" and "Go forward for x seconds". This is all figured out except for that analog control.

Answer 1

Don't emulate it. Just go digital. Use a Digital Potentiometer. Some use i2c some use spi, some have a serial input. Just pick one with the same resistance range (Say 50k or 100k), and try to pick one with a high number of steps (different positions between the high and low ends of the potentiometer range). You can also get them in Log or Linear version.