Hi, guys,
As some of you who follow us may know, for some time now already we have been offering an extension to UgCS mission planning software - UgCS DDC (Drone Dance Controller). UgCS DDC has been crafted from the ground-up with drone shows in mind and offers users the ability to simultaneously control dozens of drones in a synchronised manner.
Despite UgCS DDC (https://www.ugcs.com/en/page/ddc) being commercial software, it relies on ArduCopter platform and almost all of the ArduPilot ecosystem.
For UgCS DDC testing purposes we are operating a small fleet of 25 "show" drones running ArduCopter - all equipped with RTK GPS units, RGB LED modules and a Wi-Fi adapter. We have made everything required to replicate our drones public on GitHub. This includes assembly instructions, specifications, schematics as well as information on setting up Wi-Fi modules and even an ArduCopter 3.5 fork, optimised for RTK GPS receivers.
We hope it will be useful to those of you interested in formation/swarm flights or drone shows.
Here are the GitHub links:
https://github.com/ugcs/ddc/tree/master/DDC - contains manuals regarding the setup and use of UgCS DDC software
https://github.com/ugcs/ddc/tree/master/Drone - guidelines for drone assembly, including mounting and setup of RTK GPS units
https://github.com/ugcs/ddc/tree/master/LED - contains the schematics and bill of materials for building LED modules that are used in drone shows
https://github.com/ugcs/ddc/tree/master/WiFi - information regarding setting up Wi-Fi modules which enable simultaneous communication between the drones and the ground station
https://github.com/ugcs/Ardupilot - ArduCopter 3.5 fork, optimised for working with RTK GPS receivers
https://github.com/ugcs/MissionPlanner - Mission Planner with slight modifications - added RTCM messages Broadcast over UDP function for RTK GPS. We will use this until we integrate the same functionality inside of DDC.
If you have any questions or ideas for improvement, please do not hesitate to reach out to us either here on DIY Drones or via our e-mail - ugcs@ugcs.com
Good luck and safe flights,
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