GPRS data network

[caseih]

Is anyone using cell networks' GPRS data network for any kind of telemetry/control on their UAVs? I was just thinking about the possibilities the other day, since cell coverage is pretty good in a lot of areas. I'm sure you could hack and iPhone and stick it in a plane! :)

[zlite]

Yes, we did. Used a Windows Mobile smartphone with GPS as a navigation autopilot, and did telemetry, imagery and dynamic in-flight commands via text message. Code and details here (http://diydrones.com/profiles/blog/show?id=705844%3ABlogPost%3A729). A number of are now updating this approach to 3G phones, including the Nokia N95, newer Windows Mobile phones and Android.

[matttay]

Some details on my approach here: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=843174

I started with a server in between the ground station and airplane because I thought it would solve the problem where you can't address an airplane unless you know its IP address. Where I am today is that I'm carrying two data accounts on my families cell service. Then, I enter the phone # of hte ground station on the airplane, send it an SMS with the airplane's IP address, and from there I have about a 500 mS latency between the airplane and ground station via UDP.

Primarily it's just telemetry flowing from the airplane down to the ground station (another PDA). But with text-to-speech on the ground PDA, I can hear the distance, voltage, altitude waypoint, etc. being spoken while I watch the airplane fly. It's a huge help.

I'm on tmobile, and UDP flows readily from each device inside the network. However, be aware that on most data plans you cannot send a UDP packet from the internet to the cellular device. And on some networks you MIGHT have a problem sending UDP between cellular devices. Pretty much the only thing that is guaranteed to work on all cellular networks throughout the world is an http get on port 80