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Copter-GCS: Android ground station for ArduCopter

Posted by Bart on June 8, 2011 at 6:00pm

GPSSample.png?width=420Hello all,

After some field testing, i'm finally ready to release a copy of the Android based, bluetooth GCS for ArduCopter into the wild.

For all the details go to the site.

Its available in 3 ways:

  • Install from Android Market ($5, largely to offset publishing costs/support development) Copter-GCS
  • Install the APK from the download section (Free)
  • Build from source, following these instuctions.

The reason for the market version is for those who would like to just install in the easiest way possible / receive automatic updates or would like to support development costs (thanks you) such as the fee required to publish on the market.

connected.png?width=200gpsModeStatus.png?width=200offsets.png?width=200

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current features:

  • GPS plotting of phone and GPS, quad path rendering and logging of the track to the SD card.
  • Sensor graphing
  • Status display, such as current mode and GPS state
  • Setup
    • PID Tuning
    • Accelerometer Offsets, both traditional and using the drift direction
    • Transmitter Calibration

Let me know how it works for those that try :)

Bart.

 

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Comments

  • Scott Plunkett June 9, 2011 at 8:05am
    Hey guys - I have been working on a Bluetooth to XBee bridge for quite some time, and am finally posting a Kickstarter project for it - so for the hardware side of this connection check it out - should be posted by later today and I will post a link. And just to stay completely on topic, AWESOME job Bart! I tried working on similar software (plane version) and yours is WAY cleaner than mine!!
  • Bart June 9, 2011 at 7:29am
    @Ken
    As for the WIFI, that is also possible, but would require more work, as the background service is written with bluetooth in mind. With some effort though, it would be possible to switch to WIFI. However, I will focus on features not requiring a laptop to be present for now.
  • Bart June 9, 2011 at 7:25am
    @Mauro Its completely written for copters, as I don't have a plane. However, once it has MAVLink support, it may become more useful/easily ported for planes.

    @Chris At the moment it is only older protocol, but I've written it with selectable protocol in mind. As soon as I load the AC2 code, I will add MAVLink support (likely will get started on that today, but will have to test first).

    @Ken/Ethan Yes, the idea was to remove the laptop altogether. It is certainly possible to have it connect to a laptop instead, as long as it sends the same protocol/you add your own protocol. As Ethan said though, I didn't want to add any hardware on the phone or bring a laptop with me. However, the suggestion to mount it to the transmitter is good, certainly would make it easier to use, as right now I set in on a bench/pocket
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson June 9, 2011 at 7:19am
    Bart, does this support ArduCopter 2.0 (MAVLink) or just the older ArduCopter and ArduPirates 1.0 code?
  • Mauro Rodriguez June 9, 2011 at 7:18am
    Nice!!!!! does it works for planes too??
  • ken June 9, 2011 at 7:04am
    I was thinking more about being able to mount the phone to a RC transmitter and being able to walk around while leaving the laptop station, well, stationary. Also it would provide a way to use the android app without buying extra hardware. If I felt that it was enough to drop the laptop altogether, then I would consider spending the extra money on hardware. Still I think that what you have is really good, and because you opened it up, I can add my own ideas easily. Thanks again.
  • Ethan Ferrell June 9, 2011 at 6:52am
    @Ken
    I think the idea was to take the laptop out of the picture entirely. If you're going to have a laptop on site to act as your bridge between the UAV and your phone, you might as well just use the laptop. You can probably get an Xbee linked to the Android OS directly, but that would require a physical attachment to the phone. I really like the idea of the Xbee > BlueTooth bridge--I think it's the most sound choice if you want to run a GCS on an Android Phone. Going this route will also allow for an iPhone port.
  • ken June 9, 2011 at 6:34am
    @healthfatboy, it looks like he has a custome xbee to bluetooth box. The google-code page shows the hardware and links to buy the same.

    @Bart, I really like the idea and want to use it. What about getting the info from a hosted laptop using either wifi or bluetooth? It might be really easy to emulate the xbee bluetooth bridge with some simple script. Or any plans to use an android phone to host a usb xbee module? I would be very interested these alternatives.
  • Ethan Ferrell June 9, 2011 at 6:18am
    http://code.google.com/p/copter-gcs/wiki/MainPage?tm=6
    Says he made a 900 MHz XBee to BlueTooth bridge.
  • Bart June 9, 2011 at 6:16am
    Oops, I should have added a link to the site: http://code.google.com/p/copter-gcs

    Since phones dont support the XBee modules directly I needed some way to connect a phone to the APM. As a solution, the app assumes there is a bluetooth modem connected in some way to the telemetry port on the APM (the modem could be on the quad if desired). However, since bluetooth is short range, I have made a bluetooth <-> xbee bridge, which you can see on the site also, with some details on how to make one. All it does is to connect phone -> bluetooth modem -> Xbee -> APM, giving you the convenience of bluetooth with the range of XBee. This way you can be in the field, without a computer, and just use your phone to tune / monitor your quad.
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