Controlling multiple UAVs through MAVProxy and DroneAPI

I need a bit of technical direction in how to go about controlling multiple (let’s say 2 in this case) UAVs from a central script.

Project overview:


I currently have multiple quadcopters powered by Pixhawks running ArduCopter firmware with a pair of 3DR radios for telemetry. The drones themselves and the telemetry are working fine individually through RC control. I am also able to control a single drone using MAVProxy and the DroneAPI (http://dev.ardupilot.com/wiki/droneapi-tutorial/).

First goal:


The first goal, and what I need help with, is to have two quadcopters on the ground, have them take off and go to different coordinates, and then land autonomously without using predetermined waypoints. The script running on the computer would put the drones in guided mode and then give them coordinates to control where they go. The script would also handle the landing. We can also assume all failsafes are properly handled (loss of signal, GPS, etc,).

Question:


So far I am able to do all that control to a single drone through the setup I have described above. What I need to know is how can I modify MAVProxy and DroneAPI so that I can control two quads from the same script.

Essentially I want to know how I can communicate with two com ports using MAVProxy and DroneAPI — or even just pyMAVLink if it comes down to it. I can connect to a single port using MAVProxy and then run a DroneAPI script but I want to know how I can connect to multiple ports and then have access to those in a single DroneAPI script.

Does anyone have any experience in doing that or point me in how I can modify MAVProxy and DroneAPI? 

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Replies

  • Hi Paul,

    From what I saw in our later post, you managed to sort this out? Did you manage to control several drones through MAVProxy / DroneAPI, or did you have to build a custom solution (the streamlined one you hint at in your post) ?

    Any possibility of releasing your code?

    Thanks in advance!

    François.

  • Hello,

    I am very much working on this same issue and also would like to know if you were able to communicate with 2 ports from the same python script? any insight on how you approached this matter would be greatly appreciated 

    thank you.

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