Joshua Bardwell, YouTube FPV drone builder
Ground station
Note. There may be two compass/magnetometers, one on the flight controller, and another on the GPS. You must configure the fc, the fc firmware, and inav, so that everyone knows which compass we're using.
The GPS is installed on the top of the vehicle so it's antenna is open to the satellites.
The compass/magnetometer must be installed at a distance from metal and electronics which can interfere with it's operation.
Jumper T16 multiprotocol radio transmitter.
Open TX - the software OS that runs on the radio transmitter.
TX Companion software runs on a PC. You can plug your radio transmitter into your PC and change settings from the PC.
Setup model. Can fly multiple aircraft with one controller. Setup a model for each drone.
Taranis, made by FrSky, used by, but Not recommended by, Mr. Steele.
The transmitter is often a separate add-on board within the RC.
2.4 GHz, most common frequency. 900 MHz is used by Mr. Steele as it has longer range and less susceptible to obstacles.
Crossfire made by TBS, the current state-of-the-art transmitter, because of its long range. 900MHz.
You have to buy a receiver for each drone specific to the RC. Companies sell the RC cheap and make profit on the receivers.
TBS Tango II, $160, Crossfire built-in, battery built in, USB-C charging, recommended by Mr Steele.
Velocidrone, $20, windows
Game simulators, with moon gravity.
Firmware to flash on to the flight controller, using a PC.
inav configurator software runs on PC, Mac, or Linux. Allows you to flash the flight controller and then change the settings.
A serial port, similar to USB port on a laptop
The flight controller has multiple UARTs. The pins of a UART can be a jack, or solder pads, or both.
We use the UARTs to connect the GPS module, the radio receiver, and other components.
The UART is a serial port. It has 5 pins:
TX on the periperal connects to RX on the host, and vice-versa.
GCS ground control station
What is the difference between GCS and RC transmitter?
Camera vs sensor. Camera includes a sensor plus image processing hardware/software. That's why a sensor image is black and white; the color correction is image processing that happens in the camera.
Mounting size
Mounting hardware. Sticky tape or stack mountable.
They get hot. Sometimes equipped with heat sensor and automatic shut-off.
Input voltage capability. 5v or more. Wire to the battery correctly so as not to smoke the vtx with too much voltage.
Power output in milliwatts. 25 to 800. Lower can be better. For racing, lower power reduces interference. In an area with trees, building, and obstacles, a “multipath” environment, the high power signal gets bounced around, interfering with itself. Otherwise greater power gives more range. Switchable (choose this) between 25 and 800.
Connectors: power, antenna, wiring.
Antenna connector.
Wiring connector. From FC or camera. Plug or solder pads.
Power connector. Take power from FC or direct from battery.
Frequencies.
Smart audio or tram protocol. Allows you to change the channel from your RC. Without it the vtx will have button and LEDs.
Antenna.
Recommended. Matek Sys. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0AKBNyJ4dTg
Diversity. Use two receivers and let a microprocessor flip back and forth to the one with the best signal at any moment. Often one receiver will have an omni-directional antenna and the other will have a uni-directional antenna.
Auto-Scan, an increasingly common feature on VRx units that allows the user to scan through available channels to find ones that are in use.
Camera, TX, RX bought separately, used together: https://youtu.be/PrQYdr8GgLY
=== Flight Controller (FC) Hardware
History of ArduPilot hardware.
| Arduino | 2007 |
| ArduPilot | 2009 |
| APM 1 | 2010 |
| APM 2 | 2011 |
| APM 2.5/2.6 | 2012 |
| Pixhawk | 2013 |
Eventually Arduino was made to run on the Pixhawk board, and the Arduino hardware line was discontinued.
Pixhawk Navio2
=== Flight Controlleer (FC) Firmware
Arduino - made by the Arduino team PX4 - made by the Pixhawk team
Both ArduPilot and PX4
=== Companion Computer
Mission Planner
MAVProxy - send MAVLink packets over IP, no, evidently MAVProxy is a command-line GCS software package developed by CanberraUAV in 2012, written for Python 2.6
QGroundControl
=== Middleware Communications Protocol
MAVLink - used by both ArduPilot and PX4
python wrapper around MAVLink http://mavsdk-python-docs.s3-website.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/plugins/camera.html
Sky-Drones SmartLink
connect to ip addr and port
but,
a port is a socket
sockets programming, all languages, all os's
example python opening sockets
Each drone will have three ports, one for each type of data.
Ways to use video
Four pieces of video equipment for FPV:
In 2015, the systems were analog, and the video receiver was sold separately,
and would attach to and plug into your choice of goggles.
2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrQYdr8GgLY
2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBmkRtDM_Yc&t=0s
In 2022, new digital systems are available from DJI and from FatShark/Walksnail.
These come with integrated receiver/goggles. You cannot buy the receiver sseparately.