I've been trying to figure out exactly what I need to make the evolution from visual flying a simple RC system to a system with FPV to a system with FPV + Autopilot capabilities. I think I've got the jump from visual to FPV down as it's a relatively simple jump as you're just adding the camera system and a transmitter to the plane ( to put it quite simply), but still just using a basic RC system to steer it. However, the jump to autopilot has me a bit more confused, and I'm hoping that it's just some terminology that I'm getting stuck on.
What do people mean when they talk about telemetry systems (example: DIY Drones Telemetry kit) and what exactly does this thing do for me? Out of everything I've read on DIY Drones, this is the only thing that has really got me absolutely confused
Any explanation will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
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RC is just control. Telemetry is a digital two-way data stream, which can both send data about the flight down to a ground station (in our case, the Mission Planner) and send command up to the autopilot. There are other ways to get telemetry data, such as embedding it in the video stream of your FPV system (called On-Screen Display) and, confusingly, some RC gear offer a limited telemetry downlink, but by doing it with its own radio link like the 3DR Telemetry kit, it arrives in a full digital form that can be displayed, logged and analyzed by the Mission Planner.
Although it's possible to control the aircraft via the telemetry stream, most people use RC for that due to the superior reliability of that dedicated radio link and controller (as well as the need for a second control system for safety).
Nice info Chris.
So Telemetry is used to Collect Data regarding the drone or Data collected by the drone via its sensors