In last months virtualrobotix lab work hard on a "secret alter ego project" our target was add low cost companion computer and add advanced functionality to our Flight Conrol .
During last fair in Milan spoke with Michele about the problem of analogic trasmission during the FPV Racing because the indoor situation create a lot of rf iusse . During our development work a lot on low latency and redundace system. So that was a good application where understand if our work was good or not for control the drone in fpv mode and with digital control channel.
Actually we are not already update vr pad station with last update but we are work in progress so decide to do a test with PC connected to the drone.
In this demo we use
a VR uBrain : http://www.virtualrobotix.it/index.php/en/shop/autopilot/vrbrainmicro51-detail
a VR GPS : http://www.virtualrobotix.it/index.php/en/shop/accessories/gps-ublox-8-detail
as companion computer i use a :
Raspberry PI 2 with a prototype of custom HDMI digital input , a standard RPI camera or usb h264 cam.
A Wifi AC dongle.
The micro brain is connected to companion computer by usb port and we developed a custom application that transport mavlink protocol and support a custom API functionality , but is possible to use mavproxy or drone kit ,too. I prefer c/c++ or java app not python.
By our api is possible to activate by ground station video and remote control on mavlink for control the drone with very low latency so is possible to control the drone in stable mode.
During the test we are incredible surprised we don't have any artifact and don't lost the video link ... we did some test on outdoor until 400 m without big problem. :)
This is only the begin of the project for update your "old" vrbrain technology with new advanced digital functionality to your drone :)
In our api is already implemented the API for control sony camera and GO Pro 3/4 cam with preview trasmission to ground station :)
If you need more info about our tecnology contact me at r.navoni@virtualrobotix.com we have a secret group in fb of developer that are join at early version of our development :)
best
Roberto Navoni
