Posted by Adam Carter on March 18, 2009 at 11:31am
I am currently studying Aerospace Engineering at the University of Manchester, England,UK. One of my final year projects is to implement and integrate the communication systems onboard a rotary wing UAV (tumbleweed if you want to google it) (2kg payload on a 18kg structure). My main requirement is to send HD video with a minimum bit rate of 20Mbit/s as well as other information for flying the vehicle and information from other sensors e.g. IR imagery. Would this mean that the connection would have to operate for this 20Mbit/s, because that leaves 802.11. or is there a better method for sending HD Video? What other communications do i need to consider? And what are the other main components that are generic to each UAV? i am at the beginning of the project so any information would be great.
You need to be a member of diydrones to add comments!
Thanks for all the advice, as it would be difficult to transmit for the required distance(2km), I had to go back to the customer and change the requirements slightly.
-20kg with 2kg payload, of which we need a HD camera, IR camera, and other instruments aswell as autopilot
-instead of streaming full HD can send reduced framerate e.g. 5 fps of HD video
-i have decided upon
-Three communication systems onboard
TR423-1 – 250mW Wireless Digital Link
400MHz
giving 5.4Km line of sight
For Telemetry and control
Would require relay drone
35MHz FM transmitter
To kill UAV in emergency
42x27.1x13.4mm
13g
IP922-OEM 100mW-1000mW – 1.9Mbit/s
902 - 928 MHz
For HD video communication
Reduce the number of frames limited by bandwidth
Giving a required bandwidth of 1.8Mbit/s.
126.5mm x 88.9mm x 22.1mm
142g
would these be ok and would they integrate? i have a PDR on thursday and feel under prepared so any help would be great.
The elphel camera is open source, cheaper than the Axis stuff, has several compression schemes, can stream via WiFi to an open web client they provide, and is capable of capturing 30fps at 1920x1088. Up to 8 SD cards can be used for offline storage too. If you use this, just be sure to post your results back - since I am interested in using this system too : )
Still working on my flight assembly before I focus on video
One of the Lunar X prize teams is using it as their video platform
The linuxdevices articles and wiki are really good for understanding the system
Since you're working in academia and doing this as a project, it can be really helpful to have access to the underlying source too
ian
There are also stand alone encoders available from AXIS (M7001) which start at around $350 (without camera).
This encoder is can deliver two simultaneous video streams; one in M.264 and the other in Motion JPEG, at full frame rate and in all resolutions up to 720x480 NTSC. It is also extremely small & lightweight (1.5" x 1.2" x 4" at 82g) with BNC connector at one end so you can attach your own camera. Can also be ordered as a Surveillance Kit which includes a mini camera.
i dont think any modem will be able to suite your needs. you would need to compress the video onboard.....etc. use a HD digital camcorder with a video out, and send a lower quality video to the ground by wireless video. you will have the HD video recorded on the camera when you land.
Replies
Hello , I have to ask you about the price of IP922-OEM, how much is it ?
Best Regards,
Amir .
-20kg with 2kg payload, of which we need a HD camera, IR camera, and other instruments aswell as autopilot
-instead of streaming full HD can send reduced framerate e.g. 5 fps of HD video
-i have decided upon
-Three communication systems onboard
TR423-1 – 250mW Wireless Digital Link
400MHz
giving 5.4Km line of sight
For Telemetry and control
Would require relay drone
35MHz FM transmitter
To kill UAV in emergency
42x27.1x13.4mm
13g
IP922-OEM 100mW-1000mW – 1.9Mbit/s
902 - 928 MHz
For HD video communication
Reduce the number of frames limited by bandwidth
Giving a required bandwidth of 1.8Mbit/s.
126.5mm x 88.9mm x 22.1mm
142g
would these be ok and would they integrate? i have a PDR on thursday and feel under prepared so any help would be great.
Still working on my flight assembly before I focus on video
One of the Lunar X prize teams is using it as their video platform
The linuxdevices articles and wiki are really good for understanding the system
Since you're working in academia and doing this as a project, it can be really helpful to have access to the underlying source too
ian
This encoder is can deliver two simultaneous video streams; one in M.264 and the other in Motion JPEG, at full frame rate and in all resolutions up to 720x480 NTSC. It is also extremely small & lightweight (1.5" x 1.2" x 4" at 82g) with BNC connector at one end so you can attach your own camera. Can also be ordered as a Surveillance Kit which includes a mini camera.
Check out: http://www.axis.com/products/cam_m7001/index.htm
Marc