Drone Control

plau45

I am building a drone and originally wanted to use two activity boards with xbees to control the drone but now I would like to see if I can use the LG g3 as a controller with an app. The only thi g is that I would like to connect to the drone via xbee since I already have those but I don't know if I could connect my phone to a second xbee and use it to send and receive signals to and from the drone.

JonnyMac

I'm not sure it would be very effcient, but you could connect your phone to a "base station" via Bluetooth (SPP), then your base station could send flight commands via XBee. Bluetooth SPP (supported on most Android phones) is easy to use. I've been playing with it a lot lately, mostly fun lighting control. The attached images show an $8 Bluetooth module hacked onto my DC22 badge and the little app I created to control the WS2812 LEDs on my badge. I used MIT App Inventor to build the phone app.

plau45

Ok well I have a Windows surface that I wanted to eventually run a video receiver and a xbee through to control a larger drone for airsoft milsims. I was just wanting to use my phone to control a drone from about a mile away. I also have a Bluetooth usb module I use for my computer but I don't think it has the range and I'm not sure how I'd hack it to connect to the controller. I would assume it would be serially since I think that is how usb drives communicates.

StefanL38

hm - do you want to fly outdoor?

For outdoor I guess a 1mW xbee is a bit weak. Of course there are xbee-modules up to a 40 km range.
What would be so bad about using a classical model-remote control?

Will your drone be a quadrocopter or a fixed-wing plane?
controlling it via smartphone will not be very comfortable.

I know there are some drones and small helicopters than can be flown via smartphone but I guess it is difficult.

I have a real small quadrocopter Horizon Nano QX (just 18g weight and size 20cm). And I have aeroplanes with 1-2m wings.
motor and motor sailing.

Flying them with a smartphone would be a great challenge as it is much more difficult than with a classical rc.
I guess from time to time you have to look on the display to get your findertips on the right place and in the meantime
your drone is still moving.

best regards

Stefan

Heater.

Do you have a license for this?

Most places I know require that model aircraft be in sight at all times. A mile away is pushing it.

I would also worry about reliability. Data comms over the phone is incredibly unreliable in all countries I have used it. When that copter get's lost a mile away you may never find it!

xanadu

I would like to experiment with XBee as well. Lots of people use them for telemetry. Remote control via XBee is 100% possible, but it's a long term goal and nothing you will accomplish without the aforementioned experience in working with it for telemetry.

A one mile flight is also another long term goal, you can get there and many people have. How you go about it is up to you, as Heater said there are licenses, etc.

You can limit your project to shorter ranges while the code and wiring remains the same.

What air frame are you using?

What other freqs are in use for remote control/fpv/etc?

About the tablet, unless you're writing your own software it will depend on your drones flight controller. You wouldn't be able to use joysticks over the XBee (you could but it would be ugly) instead you would be commanding autopilot way points and flight routines. Usually that is done through Ground Control Software (GCS). If the flight controller's GCS is compatible with your tablet, and you can connect your tablet to the XBee, you're all set.

I think it would be more fun to build a Propeller based portable ground station. It would have a Propeller and some kind of telemetry display, and maybe an EMIC2. Pelican cases are great for that. You could use it to talk to a Propeller on the drone which could relay info to the flight controller.

Duane Degn

xanadu wrote: »

You wouldn't be able to use joysticks over the XBee (you could but it would be ugly) instead you would be commanding autopilot way points and flight routines.

I'm not sure if this was with respect to using using the XBees with a tablet of a general comment about using joysticks with XBees.

I don't have experience using tablets but I'm sure it's very possible (and pretty) to use joysticks with a XBee.

I'm pretty sure Paul K. and others have controlled quadcopters with a XBee using his Q2 remote.

BTW, The Spektrum RC gear uses a serial data link to send the joystick commands. It's possible to tap into this serial stream on both the receiving end and the transmitting end to make custom transmitters and receivers using the Spektrum modules.

I pulled the transmitting unit from a small Blade mCX remote and used it with a Propeller. I added a wired Wii Nunchuck and flew my helicopter using the Nunchuck. I had the throttle and yaw controlled with the accelerometer and pitch and roll controlled with the joystick. I was able to fly my RC helicopter one-handed. (Yes, I think it's cool too.) It didn't make flying a RC heli any easier though. I was glad to switch back to two joysticks.

I never figured out how to bind the modules together with my custom setup. I had to plug the TX module back into the smale controller and use the original controller to bind the tx and rx. Once the pair were bound I could use the TX unit in my custom remote. One of the (many) things on my robotics todo list is to figure out how to make my own custom receiver and transmitter using the Spectrum modules. I'm pretty sure the Arduino world has the receiver side of things figured out. I believe the binding protocol has been documented, I think it would be great to get these recent advancements in hacking the Spektrum gear converted for use with the Propeller.