I'm looking for help in getting the Dronecell integrated with APM 2.12 so that I can use it for two-way telemetry. I assume the biggest issue is getting the IP address and then setting up a virtual COM port to connect to it... If possible, I'd like to have this done by Friday.
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Hi Avalerion, I've just got a DroneCell for use in my UAV. I was primarily planning on making it talk to my in-plane pandaboard, setting up a ppp link and then running OpenVPN, so I can ssh into the plane. I can use MAVProxy to talk to the APM over FTDI from there.
Unfortunately I just discovered that the pandaboard UART4 (the only TTL UART available on the panda it seems) is 1.8v, whereas the DroneCell is 3.3v/5v. I've ordered a level converter, but it won't arrive for a few days.
So if I have time tomorrow I'll see if I can connect the DroneCell straight to the APM over the serial port normally used for an Xbee. No promises, but if I get it to work I'll let you know. I'll probably create APM EEPROM parameters for the dial strings, then use the builtin UDP code in the DroneCell to send/receive MAVLink packets. You could then point any ground station at it and you should have a full link.
Not as useful as a full PPP link, but still will give you effectively a very long range Xbee :-)
I'm willing to purchase you a test Dronecell to get this going... now for the VCOM port, there are many third party tools that convert IP to a local port. That would be convenient down the line to integrate.
So we need to get APM to contact dyndns (for example), update the IP, and it appears that HKGCS already supports IP protocol. That's been my preferred ground station any way.
This isn't currently possible as there a few things that need to be done.
Firstly we need to write some APM code to initialise the Dronecell and tell it how to connect to a cell network.
Secondly we need to write some APM code to register the device with a dynamic DNS provider so you can contact the APM from your GSC software. Thirdly, we need to modify the GSC to support IP connections (they currently only talk serial).
Unfortunately I don't think all this is going to happen by friday :) I'm keen to see this done, but need some help with the code as I'm not a serial guru and only have limited coding skills.
Having looked at the code I don't think its going to be too difficult, but I'd like to work on it with one or two others to ensure its done elegantly and efficiently.
I also don't have a dronecell yet (and live in NZ) but if there are one or two people who have the skills and are willing to help work on this then I'll order one and dedicate some time to it.
There are no laws about using GPRS to control a plane here so its a good option for medium to long range. Certainly much better than Xbee so I'm also keen to see support for the dronecell added to the core APM code.
Replies
Hi Avalerion, I've just got a DroneCell for use in my UAV. I was primarily planning on making it talk to my in-plane pandaboard, setting up a ppp link and then running OpenVPN, so I can ssh into the plane. I can use MAVProxy to talk to the APM over FTDI from there.
Unfortunately I just discovered that the pandaboard UART4 (the only TTL UART available on the panda it seems) is 1.8v, whereas the DroneCell is 3.3v/5v. I've ordered a level converter, but it won't arrive for a few days.
So if I have time tomorrow I'll see if I can connect the DroneCell straight to the APM over the serial port normally used for an Xbee. No promises, but if I get it to work I'll let you know. I'll probably create APM EEPROM parameters for the dial strings, then use the builtin UDP code in the DroneCell to send/receive MAVLink packets. You could then point any ground station at it and you should have a full link.
Not as useful as a full PPP link, but still will give you effectively a very long range Xbee :-)
Cheers, Tridge
I'm willing to purchase you a test Dronecell to get this going... now for the VCOM port, there are many third party tools that convert IP to a local port. That would be convenient down the line to integrate.
So we need to get APM to contact dyndns (for example), update the IP, and it appears that HKGCS already supports IP protocol. That's been my preferred ground station any way.
This isn't currently possible as there a few things that need to be done.
Firstly we need to write some APM code to initialise the Dronecell and tell it how to connect to a cell network.
Secondly we need to write some APM code to register the device with a dynamic DNS provider so you can contact the APM from your GSC software.
Thirdly, we need to modify the GSC to support IP connections (they currently only talk serial).
Unfortunately I don't think all this is going to happen by friday :)
I'm keen to see this done, but need some help with the code as I'm not a serial guru and only have limited coding skills.
Having looked at the code I don't think its going to be too difficult, but I'd like to work on it with one or two others to ensure its done elegantly and efficiently.
I
also don't have a dronecell yet (and live in NZ) but if there are one or two people who have the skills and are willing to help work on this then I'll order one and dedicate some time to it.
There are no laws about using GPRS to control a plane here so its a good option for medium to long range. Certainly much better than Xbee so I'm also keen to see support for the dronecell added to the core APM code.
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