Found this on Hack-a-day and it made me wonder how much black magic (coding) it would take to interface this with my ArduPilotMega2.0 (APM2.0). I ask because I couldn't spell "computer coding" twice correctly even if I were paid to. I have seen the same question asked 50 different ways, "how can I have 2-way telemetry via my cellphone". And every time someone answers with the same links to some crazy RedBull induced novel written in C+-@$# or whatever you call it.
I have read a lot of info on the "DroneCell" and the android board "PhoneDrone" but none of those items allow for plug-and-play interface with the wonderful APM2.0, not to mention they are as rare as a smog-less day in China! If some wicked cool Matrix programmer has made it possible he/she isn't translating it for the rest of us nuckle-draggers... share the love if you are out there. It is 2000 and 12... we should be asking what is needed to control our quadracopters with our brain power.
So my question to you (the community) is will this be good enough to transport telemetry way-point data to my APM2.0? If the answer is "Of course you can, you just have to BlahblahblahC++blahblah" then that means *No*.
If the answer is "Of course you can, you just flash your APM2.0 with this here code" then I would make my nephew pray that 200 virgins make their way to your bed tonight.
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There are tons of GPRS modules out there. Lots of them in the $15-30 range.
They aren't transparent serial links though, so you'd need to write code for both the airborne firmware and the ground station.
I don't really see how well this will work though. You'd need a module and an internet connection or two modules. So you'd need to be paying monthly for two data plans. So you're looking at $30-60 in hardware and another $50-100 per month in cell phone bills.
On top of all that cell phone towers use pretty directional antennas which are pointed at a downward angle, especially in populated areas. I've read that several people have had a fair bit of difficulty getting signal in many areas at any decent altitude.
Example of a cheap GPRS module...
http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs/467595016-Free-shipping-new-an...