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Interested in UAVs but want unconventional setup

Posted by McCarthy Wynkoop on November 19, 2012 at 9:18pm

Hey guys, I found out about the UAV scene and want to get involved, and was hoping that everyone could answer some questions. My queries are as follows:

(1) Is using a Wi-Fi signal and on-plane access point a possible way of telemetry using the Arduino Ethernet shield?

(2) How do you set up the Ardupilot to make use of the "Point Camera Here" function on Mission Planner?

(3) And finally, what are some ideas for a non-Xbee-based antenna tracker? I am hoping for some long range flying, and omnidirectional antennas wont cut it.

Thanks in advance for any help I receive.

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Tags: antenna, auto-track, autotrack, hardware, help, new, newbie, software, tracker, wi-fi
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Replies

  • Zeng November 28, 2016 at 12:40am

    WOWWWWW..$4000 ????

    Bill Bonney said:

    That's cheap at just shy of $4000 :-o. I'm pretty sure that it's exceeding permissible power levels for civilian use. Even with a Radio Am license you are probably restricted to 1W (30dB), and less in some countries depending on selection of 433Mhz, 900Mhz, 2.4Ghz and 5.8Ghz bands

  • Zeng November 15, 2016 at 12:27am
    CFODM transmitter !
  • Zeng November 15, 2016 at 12:26am
    CFODM transmitter !
  • McCarthy Wynkoop November 30, 2012 at 2:40pm
    Well, that probably won't be good enough for video streaming, so what about an interface straight to an Android phone using the Android interface board? Would that support actual 3G speeds?
  • McCarthy Wynkoop November 30, 2012 at 1:00pm
    Regarding cell towers only being by the highway, at altitude (I have friends with private planes that can attest to this) cell reception is excellent, and encompasses a good portion of the Kenai Penisula. I've decided on using Dronecell with a sim card from my smartphone, which has a 5 Gigabyte limit. Plenty faqst
  • Patch Thompson November 30, 2012 at 5:08am

    COFDM Transmitter

  • Developer
    Andrew Tridgell November 29, 2012 at 10:40pm

    How long range do you want? The best long range telemetry radio I know of is the RFD900. With omnis you should get between 60 and 100km with a pair of those, especially if you configure them with a low air rate (say 19200).

    Beyond that, if you want direct communications you need to start getting into gear that needs a HAM license.

    Cheers, Tridge

  • Tim Wilkin November 29, 2012 at 9:29pm

    The operating constraints are starting to lead you into the area of something like this: High bandwidth satellite modem. Alternatively, you might be able to use a UHF radio modem (could probably handle the trees, but wouldn't handle mountains/buildings as LOS obstacles).

    Either solution though is getting away from a hobby system and the limiting factor will be cost. Solutions are out there and available within the civilian space... they just aren't comparatively cheap to the system you've been considering.

  • Miles Smith November 29, 2012 at 3:27pm

    Wait, as far as I know, all "WiFi" is, is the 802.11a/b/g/n protocols implemented over the standard 2.4/5.8Ghz frequencies. We put 2.4/5.8Ghz transmitters on our drones all the time, for FPV flight. What's stopping you from using the same antenna setups that FPV users use? 

  • Søren Kuula November 23, 2012 at 11:46am

    Hi,

    A wireless LAN is probably not the best medium to remote control a drone. The best thing you could use it for would be digital video downlink or similar.

    You can use any wireless link that will connect to serial IO and has sufficient bit rate. One can turn down update rates and still have  a nice and reassuring tracking with less than 10k bits / sec.

    You can connect directional antennas to XBees. I had an XBee connection at 15 km range using a quad biquad antenna on the ground and a simple 1/4 wave on the plane (similar to the typical little WLan plastic antenna). But there must be direct line of sight, and I had to fly high at that range!

    Another alternative is GPRS / cellular data. Then you have practically unlimited range but quite a lot of latency.

    Regards

    Soren

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