Discussions

Flight with Telemetry Only

Posted by Dylan Eave on October 18, 2014 at 2:21am

Hi there guys...

I have run into a stituation which calls for operation of a multicopter with no long-distance radio transmission at all!

No FPV no RC control.

I seek to use a short range bluetooth telemetry to arm the muticopter and have it complete its mission autonomously. Video footage captured by an oboard DVR.

Unfortunately, despite being well versed with APM and Pixhawk, I have never needed to use telemetry beyond RSSI.

Would somone experienced give me an idea as to whether this is possible without extensive software modifications? (The bluetooth telemetry link to Mission Planner I can organise)

Many thanks

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Replies

  • Moderator
    Graham Dyer October 18, 2014 at 2:50am

    In the failsafe settings you can set the Pixhawk to continue with the mission no matter what, ie continue despite telemetry or Tx loss.

    • Dylan Eave > Graham Dyer October 18, 2014 at 3:11am

      Many thanks for the Reply! :)

      This will be useful for sure.. However... How would one instruct the APM/Pixhawk to begin mission without using traditional RC controls? -- I.E. Arm in stabilize mode and switch to Auto mode...

      I see how disabling failsafe will be useful for when the bluetooth telemetry link is lost though... thanks :)

      • Moderator
        Graham Dyer > Dylan Eave October 18, 2014 at 3:53am

        You'll need the Mission Planner for at least the first part, to load the mission, arm the copter with the 'Arm' button and change to Auto, (having set a takeoff command in your mission). Meticulous setup and exhaustive testing will be needed to ensure reliability. A Tx for safety would be a requirement at first.

        We do this all the time with APM:Plane, the motor starts when going into Auto (takeoff command) and the flight is autonomous from there.

        I trust APM:Plane, it's super reliable and am hoping the new copter firmware will restore my trust in Copters, don't know if I would trust it for a valuable mission just yet or until it's proven.

        • Dylan Eave > Graham Dyer October 18, 2014 at 4:05am

          Fantastic! So the entire process can be started from within Mission Planner! That is what I was querying :)

          Many thanks for your replies.

          Testing will begin soon (with backup RC as suggested). Perhaps also just OpenLRS for long range telemetry as well.... Eventually planning to whittle it down to just bluetooth telemetry :)

          • Hugo Ferreira > Dylan Eave February 4, 2015 at 3:43pm

            I think you can use DroidPlanner 2 with your tablet, first hook your 900 Mhz or 433 Mhz telemetry radio using USB to the tablet, it should ask what program to associate which will be DroidPlanner. This will then bind with the radio on the Pixihawk. You can then have on sceen joystick to fly, or do a mission from tablet no need for a big transmitter.

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