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Laptop as Controller
#1
Hello.

I'm new to hobby and am looking for advice on the following application. If this is answered in another thread, I missed it and apologize in advance. Thanks for your patience.

(Because I'm new, I may not use appropriate terminology. Please consider the concept, versus the specific language. I do appreciate your correcting my syntax, however. Again, thanks in advance.)

I've seen references to controlling a quad by laptop but haven't seen anything that makes me think there's an elegant or completely executed solution to flying a quad by laptop (antenna/ transmitter hooked to USB port and control by USB game pad or joystick or whatever...)

I do not want to fly a predetermined series of map plots, I'd rather "fly live" if that phrase makes sense.

Ultimately, I have an interest in taking telemetry and whatever the camera "sees" and pushing that content to a website for remote viewing by a third party (think remote inspection, similar to ROVs on structural inspection). I could record it (video and telemetry) for playback but I'd rather push it "live". A few seconds of latency won't affect the remote viewing application (obviously, I don't want latency at the operators' perspective...).

Thinking over the application, it seems like a screen capture is the way to go because I can nest a map with fpv feed (which would likely include telemetry). If I have a laptop sitting there, I'm wondering if I can use it to fly the device (otherwise, it seems like a lot of redundancy for RC controller, fpv goggles, base station with DVR capability and this laptop...).

Again, thanks for your advice.
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#2
hmmm... how are you going to send precise commands ?
on computer you have either button up or down... while on the controller you have a spectrum of answers...
unless you want to control via onscreen sliders... then i'd say it will be not precise nor safe.

if your goal is to stream image, then simply do that. stream video output from vrx to the web.
All the best
Grzesiek (Grisha/ Greg)

Curently flyable: Nox 5, Minimalist 112
Bench / in progres: fixing Nox 3,  Scrap
thinking about building: 450


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#3
Hey, I'm not sure what you mean by on-screen sliders and up/ down buttons (A W S D...like a video game?). I agree, that's not a very precise way to control anything that flies...

I was thinking I would use a USB game pad (two gimbles and a bunch of buttons...). If a button push, or a gimble move closes a contact, and that closed contact induces a pulse from an IC chip, which then sends a series of predetermined pulses at a specific frequency, does it matter if the radio signal comes from a laptop versus a handheld transmitter?
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#4
in that case you will have a regular controller so what would be the point for the whole computer in the middle? this part isnt clear to me..
All the best
Grzesiek (Grisha/ Greg)

Curently flyable: Nox 5, Minimalist 112
Bench / in progres: fixing Nox 3,  Scrap
thinking about building: 450


Reply
#5
I'm not sure what happened to my reply... again, I appreciate your comments -- I'm very inexperienced with flying RCs and need all the advice I can get.

I agree that flying a quad with friends using a 6+ channel controller is a blast. I haven't invested in fpv but I'm looking forward to trying it out.

I'm thinking about something else.

I want to have an operator fly around a structure and push video from the flyover to a third party in as close to real time as I can get... (think marine ROV)

I mined Google and YouTube (arguably the same source) and there are a lot of adhok systems out there assembled from DVRs, laptops, controllers, goggles and a ton of wire and batteries... Following your line of thought, I thought it would be wise to eliminate some of this stuff. I think I can tile a map, telemetry and video and push all that in a single stream to a third party for "live" view (a delay of a couple of seconds on the third party view would still meet the assignment. I agree that the operator needs real time video).

Looking at Libreflight, it looks like there's some capability in monitoring the quad in real time, although I'm not sure how this is accomplished.

I'm wondering why I can't eliminate the flight controller by plugging a game pad into the laptop and controlling it from there and I'm wondering if anyone on this forum has experience in that context...?

I don't oppose operating a quad on a RC controller if this is 'the only way one can fly a quad' however I'm certain that there are other options... (BTW, I'm not using a quad, but design debates would be on a separate thread...?)

Again, thanks for your time and advice.
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#6
I don't have experience, but there is this device: http://www.endurance-rc.com/pctx.php
Looks like it can be made to work with a transmitter module (like a JR-compatible module for example) with some effort.
Would also probably take some programming to interface with a game pad.

You will still need a Video Rx to also attach to the computer, but those are readily available. (Something similar reviewed in this forum: http://intofpv.com/t-usv-5-8-otg-receiver-rx-usb-otg )

I suspect an operator viewing the computer screen would still have to deal with latency issues, but depending on how the vehicle is to be flown/manuevered this might not be a problem.

Good luck!

EDIT: There are small commercial quads that can be flown via wifi, but the range is very limited - if limited range is not an issue, you could check out that technology.
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#7
Friend of mine had an old parrot which he could control by his tablet (many on-screen "flight instruments", touch-screen buttons to initiate landing etc pp) - not really worth mentioning by itself as it was nothing but gimmicky toy-grade, but the fun part was that the tablet (in fact any android device) accepts a playstation joypad as external controller, so that's what he did which was funny to watch, and i see your point.

However i'd have no clue how to wrap a normal game controller to a transmission module, which brings me to the next point: For reliable flight operation you need a proper transmission technology as sloscotty said. Even if it's possible to hook a transmitter module to your laptop, I would still say that using a real, proven rc transmitter would be best. Every additional piece of technology in between is a link that can break... you don't want that once there's a few hundred bucks in the air.

Regarding video transmission: When flying beyond a certain speed you certainly need a latency-free low-resolution system like we use on our quads. For HD video transmission there's other systems like DJI lightbridge - expensive - and a while ago there was something announced called Connex HD, supposedly cheap if i remember right, but no clue what it turned out like. No doubt you could capture something like that with a video card and stream it anywhere if you get enough bandwidth out in the field. Or ocean. Or whereever. Smile
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#8
These are good points. I definitely agree with your points that a separate control device (RC flight controller) makes sense -- no matter what happens with the laptop, I still retain functional control of the quad.

If I come up with something worth sharing, I'll post it.

Thanks again.
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#9
These are good points. I definitely agree with your points that a separate control device (RC flight controller) makes sense -- no matter what happens with the laptop, I still retain functional control of the quad.

If I come up with something worth sharing, I'll post it.

Thanks again.
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#10
Best double post i seen so far... Wink

Anyway just wanted to add, about the HD transmission stuff, that's info that i gathered along the way while never being interested in it at all, so there might be much more to find out about.
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