Hey Guys,Anyone considered using Google's open-source phone Android for a DIY drone?I've been trolling the Android dev. boards lately trying to find someone to team up with, but after seeing the piece on Boing I've realized this is the place to talk.In short: I'd like to piggy-back an Android phone onto the back of one of my RC car/plane/boat vehicles. Would mean your DIY drone is only limited by battery/fuel supply and cell phone coverage... and I suppose, one's willingness to attach their cellphone to a plane and risk loosing it. Minor detail ;)Any thoughts on the idea? Any cohorts in crime?Cheers,Colin
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Great question. Here are some quick thoughts on phone-based autopilots, having now had experience with developing or using three of them: HP iPaq Windows Mobile 2003, Various phones using Windows Mobile 6, and Symbian on a Nokia N95:
1) It's a nightmare adapting the code base to different phones and different OSs and OS versions
2) With phone hardware it's all or nothing. You may love the OS, the CPU, the GPS, the onboard accelerometer, the 3G wireless, the serial output, SMS and MMS APIs and camera resolution, but if you hate the lens there's nothing you can do about it.
3) Most of the OSs are still not really optimized for full-hardware access. I know the Pict'Earth guys struggled to get around bugs in the Symbian image storage APIs, and we've had to redo GPS code that worked on one Windows Mobile phone when we switched to a different model.
That said, the idea of a write once, run everywhere cellphone autopilot remains compelling. I'm just not sure Android is ready for it yet.
Replies
Great question. Here are some quick thoughts on phone-based autopilots, having now had experience with developing or using three of them: HP iPaq Windows Mobile 2003, Various phones using Windows Mobile 6, and Symbian on a Nokia N95:
1) It's a nightmare adapting the code base to different phones and different OSs and OS versions
2) With phone hardware it's all or nothing. You may love the OS, the CPU, the GPS, the onboard accelerometer, the 3G wireless, the serial output, SMS and MMS APIs and camera resolution, but if you hate the lens there's nothing you can do about it.
3) Most of the OSs are still not really optimized for full-hardware access. I know the Pict'Earth guys struggled to get around bugs in the Symbian image storage APIs, and we've had to redo GPS code that worked on one Windows Mobile phone when we switched to a different model.
That said, the idea of a write once, run everywhere cellphone autopilot remains compelling. I'm just not sure Android is ready for it yet.