During a sunday picnic, I was thinking about new design of ArcuCopter.And I asked myself:"Why shall we continue to use RC transmitter consoles? Couldn't we use a computer, or an iphone in the ISM band? We will have all-in-one architecture: FPV,commands,telemetry".
And in fact, I think we can think about that.
I am designing a new architecture for Arduino, with WiFi module. All the data (telemtry, commands, and video) will be on WiFi channel. On the ground, a singolo laptotp or a smarphone, with a tracking antenna, will handle everything: FPV, commands and telemetry data.
In this regard, I have a question. What kind of signals the RC receiver outputs? Or, doing from another side, which kind signal we have to put in the Arduino ?
I think the choice is wide. I mean, we can do whatever we want. The problem maybe is the protocol.
If I would re-use the current code, which kind of signal I must send to APM for commands (e.g. throttle, pitch,yaw, and so on)? Are they PWM values? Does the APM have PWM decoder in software or hardware?
Regards
Replies
giu: we've already implemented that. You don't need RC with ArduCopter--you can use the Xbees with a joystick via the Mission Planner.
A robust control channel with integrated telemetry and video would be nice. It would have to be very low latency though, and bulletproof. Sending control signals over WiFi possibly introduces some additional delay compared to traditional RC control, not to mention being more complicated (expensive). Some people have replaced the RC transmitter with XBee before, but reliability is an issue.