Do any members have experience of using a Sentera sensor for NIR mapping linked with Pixhawk on an Iris+ or similar? I am interested to hear of any issues experienced or whether it is as simple as plug n play into the Pixhawk for triggering and metadata logging?
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I'm the engineer at Sentera responsible for MAVLink compatibility of our sensors. I'm also part of the MAVLink Camera Control Working Group under the Dronecode project, so we are committed to compatibility with open source platforms. We have flown with pixhawk autopilots on a handful of platforms. Both the Sentera single (RGB or NIR) and the Sentera double (RGB and NIR) speak MAVLink. They accept standard trigger commands from the autopilot and log metadata from the autopilot (Pixhawk or any MAVLink speaking autopilot). As an example, to use our sensor with Mission Planner, draw a polygon, select Survey Grid, and choose CAM_TRIGG_DIST (the default) or DO_DIGICAM_CONTROL in the camera config tab. Any ground station that supports CAM_TRIGG_DIST or DO_DIGICAM_CONTROL can plan a mission that will trigger images from our sensors.
We offer an interface board which performs level translation and power regulation, and is required for operation with a pixhawk autopilot. One connector takes main battery power (5V-40V in). One connector goes to the pixhawk autopilot's TELEM2 port. Another connector goes to the sensor itself. This interface board is deployed on a handful of internal and customer systems, but isn't available for sale on our website yet. It will be soon.
We are in the process of releasing documentation on our website for integrating our sensors with Pixhawk systems. The docs will include cable drawings and examples of how to plan a mission for aerial mapping. The technology is ready, we just need to polish the instructions. In the meantime, anyone who orders a sensor will get the unpolished docs directly, so you'll still be able to integrate our sensors.
Eddie W > Andrew MuehlfeldJanuary 25, 2016 at 4:35am
Thanks for the reply Andrew. Can I contact you directly?
Yes, you can certainly send me a message directly. However, if your questions are applicable to others, it would be great to make the information available here on the forum.
Eddie sent me a few questions via private message, and agreed to let me share the answers here for the benefit of others.
Our AgVault software is evolving quickly, and is currently in a state of transition. Anyone who purchases a sensor gets a basic version of AgVault for free (well, included in the cost of the sensor). The full version of AgVault is a paid monthly subscription ($99/mo as of January 2016, USD). The capabilities of the full version of AgVault are listed here, along with an extensive FAQ:
AgVault does not stitch in the traditional sense. We are developing a QuickTile feature, which will perform a direct geo-reference renderning of images (roughly three minutes for a 160 acre field). Images are tiled based on location and attitude information provided by the autopilot. You can see an example of a QuickTile image at the link above. You will see discrete lines between images, and you will see slight misalignments between images as a result of metadata imperfections. However, it only takes a few minutes, doesn't require an internet connection, and gives a powerful overview of the field. Although not as pretty as a stitched image, you will learn the same useful information about your field. QuickTile will be part of the paid subscription version of AgVault.
AgVault processes images to prepare them for traditional stitching tools, if you determine QuickTile is not for you. We recommend Pix4D for stitching, especially of NDVI imagery. AgVault also processes imagery from our NIR single sensor to convert it from raw format to NDVI data (quantitative values sometimes preferred by researchers and scientists) and NDVI color mapped imagery. Although these individual images are useful to view and analyze individually, it is always best to stitch the raw imagery, and convert the full mosaic to NDVI. The base version of AgVault exists to provide these capabilities to those who purchase our sensors. These features are available in both the basic version of AgVault and the paid subscription to the full version AgVault.
Full disclosure: the "free" version of AgVault currently includes some features of the paid version. Eventually, those features will be removed from the "free" version, but the ability to prepare imagery for stitching tools, and convert raw imagery to NDVI data and color mapped NDVI will remain.
AgVault is available in the UK, though everything is in US English. If you choose the paid subscription, it will be charged in USD.
I am not familiar with the Lehmann fixed wing UAV. Any aircraft with a Pixhawk autopilot, and an open TELEM2 port, will require our interface board. The interface board will connect to the camera, and to the aircraft's battery power and Pixhakw TELEM2 port. Note also that the aircraft must be flown with a GCS that supports MAVlink based camera triggering (all mainstream Pixhawk GCS's that I know of. I can't guarantee anything on a proprietary GCS).
Here's a photo of the interface board. It's roughly one inch by one inch. Again, polished docs coming soon.
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We offer an interface board which performs level translation and power regulation, and is required for operation with a pixhawk autopilot. One connector takes main battery power (5V-40V in). One connector goes to the pixhawk autopilot's TELEM2 port. Another connector goes to the sensor itself. This interface board is deployed on a handful of internal and customer systems, but isn't available for sale on our website yet. It will be soon.
We are in the process of releasing documentation on our website for integrating our sensors with Pixhawk systems. The docs will include cable drawings and examples of how to plan a mission for aerial mapping. The technology is ready, we just need to polish the instructions. In the meantime, anyone who orders a sensor will get the unpolished docs directly, so you'll still be able to integrate our sensors.
Yes, you can certainly send me a message directly. However, if your questions are applicable to others, it would be great to make the information available here on the forum.
Eddie sent me a few questions via private message, and agreed to let me share the answers here for the benefit of others.
Our AgVault software is evolving quickly, and is currently in a state of transition. Anyone who purchases a sensor gets a basic version of AgVault for free (well, included in the cost of the sensor). The full version of AgVault is a paid monthly subscription ($99/mo as of January 2016, USD). The capabilities of the full version of AgVault are listed here, along with an extensive FAQ:
https://sentera.com/agriculture-solutions/#agvault
AgVault does not stitch in the traditional sense. We are developing a QuickTile feature, which will perform a direct geo-reference renderning of images (roughly three minutes for a 160 acre field). Images are tiled based on location and attitude information provided by the autopilot. You can see an example of a QuickTile image at the link above. You will see discrete lines between images, and you will see slight misalignments between images as a result of metadata imperfections. However, it only takes a few minutes, doesn't require an internet connection, and gives a powerful overview of the field. Although not as pretty as a stitched image, you will learn the same useful information about your field. QuickTile will be part of the paid subscription version of AgVault.
AgVault processes images to prepare them for traditional stitching tools, if you determine QuickTile is not for you. We recommend Pix4D for stitching, especially of NDVI imagery. AgVault also processes imagery from our NIR single sensor to convert it from raw format to NDVI data (quantitative values sometimes preferred by researchers and scientists) and NDVI color mapped imagery. Although these individual images are useful to view and analyze individually, it is always best to stitch the raw imagery, and convert the full mosaic to NDVI. The base version of AgVault exists to provide these capabilities to those who purchase our sensors. These features are available in both the basic version of AgVault and the paid subscription to the full version AgVault.
Full disclosure: the "free" version of AgVault currently includes some features of the paid version. Eventually, those features will be removed from the "free" version, but the ability to prepare imagery for stitching tools, and convert raw imagery to NDVI data and color mapped NDVI will remain.