This blog is a continuation of my previous post.
How to build a High-Definition FPV UAV using a Rasperry PI with HD camera, using a high speed WiFi link
This post will discuss how to use GStreamer and Mission Planner together to display the HD video with a HUD (Head-Up-Display).
Note: I have only tested this feature on Windows so the instructions given here are for Windows only.
To give proper credit, the HUD created here was borrowed from APM Planner, a Qt-Based app similar to Mission Planner. The HUD part was created from the Qt codebase QML HUD created by Bill Bonney who is on the APM Planner development team. To make the HUD work with the background video, I used a GStreamer library called "QtGStreamer" which integrates GStreamer plugins with painting on a Qt widget. This library is available on the GStreamer website.
The end-result is dynamically added to Mission Planner using the plug-in architecture.
In the previous posts I discussed used a Raspberry PI and a High-speed WiFi link using GStreamer on the PI and the ground station PC. To get the HUD to work, you need to already have a successful link with the video on your ground station.
Here are the steps to follow to install the plugin:
1) Install Mission Planner.
2) Download and install GStreamer from this link. Use the x86 version, the x86_64 version will NOT work. (Use the default path 'C:\GStreamer' when installing). When installing GStreamer, select 'Custom' install and select ALL plugins to be installed.
3) Follow the steps in the previous blog noted above to get your video stream working.
4) Download and the MSI installer from this link. and run the installer.
If all went well, you should have the plugin installed.
Open Mission Planner and navigate to the "Flight Data" page and right-click on the map. You should see a menu item called "GStreamer HUD" as shown below:
Select this menu item and the following screen should appear:
In the upper-left corner is a context menu. Here is where you enter your GStreamer Pipeline string. If you had the video displaying without the HUD using a valid pipeline, enter it here.
Note: The GStreamer Pipeline string should be exactly the same as the string you used before, but WITHOUT the final video sink element. The video sink is the QtGStreamer element which will be added automatically by the plugin. The GStreamer pipe should therefore be the same, except remove the last element for the video sink.
Here is an example string I used on my setup:
udpsrc port=9000 buffer-size=60000 ! application/x-rtp,encoding-name=H264,payload=96 ! rtph264depay ! h264parse ! queue ! avdec_h264
If all is well, you can connect to your UAV and see the HUD elements moving. To change the HUD, right click on the display and select which elements you want to display. The default is to display everything shown here.
If anybody has problems, please post back and I'll update the blog in case I missed something, and you cannot get it to work.
Happy Flying!
Comments
Yeah, I didn't fully grasp how what they were doing is much different than using UDP?
I'm about to try a setup with a base station using helical antenna and Engenius 5.8. On the hex will be a plain ole 5.8 Alfa usb dongle on the RPI. I am still learning about antennas so not sure if I can replace the dual band stock antennas with some CP versions but I was gonna just test it and see. I have a ubiquity wispstation 5 on my hex now but the power requirements for it made for a complicated setup and was never happy with the mounting options. It works great though! I'll probably move that to a GoDiscover this summer.
@Kevin, very interesting post. A couple of the assumptions they make are not quite correct. Like this one:
"Therefore, you would need equally strong transmitters and antennas both on the aircraft and on the ground station"
You don't need equally strong transmitters. The GCS needs a high-gain antenna and a tracker, and you can have a much weaker transmitter on the UAV and it works. On my system, I have reached 2 full miles with an ordinary WiFi dongle purchased at frys electronics. I replaced the antennas with circularly polarized versions but made no other mods. On the ground, I have two high-gain spirals, mounted on a tracker.
However, the idea is good, and I may experiment with it. The only drawback is that you cannot use other equipment, such as the Ubiquity Rocket series and take advantage of MIMO / Airmax protocols.
Posting this here as there are attempts at finding alternative ways to send video streams via WiFI hardware. This might be interesting to some of those in this thread. https://befinitiv.wordpress.com/wifibroadcast-analog-like-transmiss...
@Kyomo Jung, Yes I have tried the RPi 2. I have one in my hexicopter and it works great. Unfortunately, you can't just plug in a PI 1 image, but you have to upgrade. There is a way to change the boot loader to make it work, but I opted to just download the latest from the repository. The PI2 is much faster, and it boots in about 1/4th the time. I am using it to for FPV with a Logitec C920, and to control a GoPro camera at the same time. You need 3 usb ports to do this, so the PI2 works great. I highly recommend it.
Hi Patrik, have you ever tried Rpi 2? I put Rpi 1 image into Rpi 2 but it even didn't boot ^^;
Hi Patrick , now VR Pad Station support low latency gstreamer lib :) This is first test reciving streaming directly by 3G network :)
@Ben, i have tested my setup to 1.5 miles and still had good RSSI with no drops. I have not actually found the limit of the 2-rocket M setup yet. I just received a new battery that I want to test on my hexicopter that should give me nearly 20 minutes of flight time so I can try finding the limit of the range before the battery dies.
You might be able to get 2+ miles using the Nano M5 with the internal antennas instead of the setup I am using with helicals to save you time and money using your own antennas.
@Patrick, Great! Thank you so much. So with an antenna tracker should I be able to see video out to a mile using a Rocket with the Netis? I'd like the max range to be at least a mile
@Ben. I have this one mounted on my hexicopter:
http://www.amazon.com/Amped-Wireless-Power-Adapter-ACA1/dp/B00DKX0N...
And this one on the quad:
http://www.amazon.com/Netis-WF2561-Wireless-Supports-Antennas/dp/B0...
Both of these seem to work very well, but the netis model is smaller.
@Patrick, That makes a lot of sense! I get it now. What dongles would be the most dependable for signal strength, range, and compact size? What one do you use on your quad?
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