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Cellular modem with ArduPilot Mega

Posted by John F. Koeninger on October 18, 2010 at 2:00pm

Anyone out there have any experience with connecting a cellular modem to the ArduPilot Mega? My intent is to create greater/more reliable down/uplink range. If a radio modem has the capability, it doesn't seem too much of a stretch to think that a cell modem could.

JFK

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  • John Ryan October 19, 2010 at 5:11pm
    I couldn't find any reference to microdrones using gprs but if they've go cellular then thats great!

    I think there's probably enough literature available on the web to help throw something together. I'd probably give the Sparkfun shield its own controller and then run a twi between it and the Ardupilot. The shield has specific voltage requirements that I briefly skimmed through, but the jist I got is that it needs its own battery and a step-up for the controller. So I'd say that deal would be better off separated from the Mega with exception to a common GND, A4+A5, assuming they are available on the Ardupilot (I haven't played with one yet).

    Unfortunately I've got the money but not the time, not yet anyway.
  • Harris October 19, 2010 at 1:45am
    Very interesting idea.. I had almost the same plan a few weeks ago, but my budget was a little bit too low :) A arduino i/o board that supports fast HSDPA connection woud be great for (maybe) implementing wireless video. Would it be easy to connect the Sparkfun Cellular shield to the Ardupilot ?
  • geir October 18, 2010 at 11:11pm
    I've seen microdrones actually have this built in there controller :)
  • John Ryan October 18, 2010 at 7:26pm
    Here's another candidate.

    http://www.hwkitchen.com/products/gsm-playground/

    Comes with its own Arduino library too!

    http://www.hwkitchen.com/news/gsm-playground-software-library/
  • John Ryan October 18, 2010 at 6:58pm
    Not wanting to be limited to any specific range - I like it!

    This might be of interest to you if you are familiar with the Arduino.

    http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=9607

    Here's a real time gps to google map tracker project with 1 second updates using the cellular shield.

    http://jayeshprojects.blogspot.com/2010/04/real-time-mobile-gps-tra...

    Here's a GSM I/O controller project, also worth a read.

    http://sree.cc/electronics/arduino/testing-a-gsm-input-output-relay...

    Those boards are sold here:-

    http://www.rhydolabz.com/index.php?currency=USD&main_page=produ...

    You could build a custom hand held controller with an Arduino + cellular shield to send and receive commands from a second Arduino + cellular shield on a UAV. The baud is 9600 so it wouldn't be enough for video, but should be sufficient for gps tracking and control.

    I also like the idea of cellular control but I've never liked the thought of what calls might cost. The range would be pretty cool though.
  • Ed Stewart October 18, 2010 at 6:25pm
    There's quite a bit mentioned about it in various posts, it seems there's a reliablity issue with dropped calls causing delays and what not is one of the biggest complaints if your looking for real time two way communication.
  • Admin
    Thomas J Coyle III October 18, 2010 at 5:52pm
    John,

    I approved your blog post, but you might want to move it to the Wireless Communication Forum as this is more of a discussion topic than a blog post.

    Just a thought.

    Regards,
    TCIII
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