Discussions

Hello everyone.

I have yet no experience in piloting a multicopter, and I was wondering if it would be possible to use a space navigator to control one.

A space navigator is a quite straightforward device : designed for CAD operation, you hold a pad in your hand, and you can move it with 6 degrees of freedom (basically every possible direction and rotations).

it is extremely handy to move the camera in a 3D software because it is very natural, it feels like you actually hold the camera in your hand.

So I want to implement this somehow and pilot a drone with it.

the product : http://www.3dconnexion.com/products/spacemouse/spacenavigator.html

I suppose there is a few method to do it.

I can program an arduino, but I am clearly not a genius coder.

I was thinking about connect the space navigator via USB to an USB arduino shield, then output the processed data via a trainer cable into a regular radio transmitter like the taranis x9d  or the stock IRIS+ transmitter (they do have this kind of input for teachers, yeah?)

Arduino sield : https://www.circuitsathome.com/products-page/arduino-shields/usb-host-shield-2-0-for-arduino

what I found so far:

arduino as input for a transmitter: http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=8755.0

I also found a code (not tested yet) to decode the raw data from the spacenavigator with an arduino, here: https://www.3dconnexion.jp/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=5642

Is my approach correct? Or should I get rid of the regular radio transmitter and emit the radio signal directly from the arduino (seems hard to code for me...)?

If I succeed, I plan to write a detailed step by step guide on instructable, because I think that this way of controlling a drone is very simple, natural, and can help a lot of people.