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3D Robotics

PhoneDrone Android board finally in production!

Posted by Chris Anderson on September 29, 2011 at 9:57am

3689426428?profile=originalThe 3D Robotics PhoneDrone Android/RC interface board is finally in production! Pre-orders are starting now and it will ship on Oct 17th. From the product listing:

 

It's a way to connect any Android device (2.3.4 or higher) to the world of RC and UAVs.The board has 8 channels of RC in and out, with PWM-to-PPM conversion and multiplexing between RC and Android control. You just plug the Android's phone USB connector into the board and you have two-way communications with RC gear and any other board, such as APM.

 That means that you can switch between RC control and Android control or mix the two. An example would be "fly/drive by wire". You steer your vehicle via RC, but an Android phone does the actual control using its onboard IMU. On a car, that would allow every turn to be a high-speed controlled drift, for instance (we may show something like that at Maker Faire).

Or, with a UAV, you might have the Android phone doing high-level image processing and object tracking, sending mission commands to an autopilot board such as APM. You might also want to use the phone's long-distance wireless instead of an Xbee for two-way telemetry.

 This can either replace APM if you've got equivalent code running on Android, or compliment it with the Android device doing image processing or long-distance wireless comms.

 

It took a while to get a pick-and-place smart feeder for one of the components on this board, so apols for the delay. We're good now ;-)

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Comments

  • deadfalkon February 21, 2012 at 11:54pm

    Hello there, I just got my PhoneDrone board and couldn´t find any documentation yet. I created a google group and invte you all to join. Maybe some of the diydrones/3dRobotics people join as well ans support us.

    If you have any suggestions, contact me in the group.

    Cheers from Berlin

  • Yan in Paris November 30, 2011 at 9:05am

    Same here as Enrico, why is it making buzz while never in stock?

  • EnricoDVN November 30, 2011 at 7:45am

    I am really looking foward to buying it too, but it never gets availiable. :/

  • Moderator
    Ruwan November 28, 2011 at 5:11pm

    When would this available to buy again please?

  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson October 24, 2011 at 10:07pm

    Enrico: The files are on the product page now:

    http://store.diydrones.com/PhoneDrone_Board_p/br-phonedrone.htm

  • EnricoDVN October 24, 2011 at 9:00am

    Dear Mr. Anderson, could you please publish the eagle schematics files on the product page? I can't find it anymore. Thank you.

  • Chivar Maximillan Pilones October 4, 2011 at 12:26pm

    would this run on any chinese knockoffs android tablet?  :) just wondering it would be great to have a gcs on a tablet

  • Mr. Santos October 1, 2011 at 5:28pm

    /me claps

  • CleveR October 1, 2011 at 9:46am

    Dear Chris Anderson, Thank You for your quick reply. Where can I find additional information about how to make two-sided link with DroneCell? Anybody may already have working examples (compatibility code is written or not) ? 

  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson October 1, 2011 at 9:40am

    CleverR: We already offer a GPRS/3G wireless module called the DroneCell that will be easier to integrate. 

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