loserdave

OK bear with me for a minute,,, and help me reason this out.
I have had this IDEA popping in and out of my head but its vague, so im just blogging it here in hopes someone can help .

Subject: Satellite Internet Controlled RC plane.

Ok you know how we now have palm PCs that have Satellite internet GPS capabilities ,,,
so i started thinking the other day,,,
if we can send and receive commands through the internet (remote desktop control) via satellite ,, why couldn't we do the same with RC commands..[sm=idea.gif]

If one could figure out how to put the palm pc in the plane and connect and control the filght-pack by means of USB and custom software,,, then,,
theoretically ,, one should be able to control their plane using a controller connected to a laptop via a SIM cable. or even a joystick for that matter...
They would be able to track it using the GPS function on the palm PC

If someone could figure out how to do it ,,, then distance and altitude would be limited only by battery life.
And if the batteries could be solar charged,,,,, them were talking long flight times

help me out guys,,, clear my thinking up on this ,
or would the government be all over someone who tried that?[sm=confused_smile.gif]

DaveFlynn

Latency would prevent direct RC control. The UAV in your jpg has a lot more computer power than a palmtop computer, it knows where it is and where it's going by gps and imu. You could build one with common parts, but getting it below 10lbs is difficult(expensive).

BeanerECMO

My Feedback: (1)

From where and how do they fly Predator and Global Hawk? Hmmm!!

Ken6PPC

I certainly HOPE it would be nearly impossible to accomplish what you are describing!

If we could do that easily, Homeland Security would probably start exerting pressure to eliminate our entire hobby.

jzrf6c

Predator and Global Hawk are sent commands to "fly" to a specific location and preform a certain "function". This is NOT controlling the flight to said location. These units have "on-board" flight sensors and calculators.

ZX11

What would the internet connection to the aircraft be? Our neighbors satillite internet has a big dish antenna. They have good downlink bandwidth but uplink is dialup speeds. Besides the whole UAV autopilot/computer problem, you have to solve the remote contol beyond line of sight problem. If you can provide wideband internet connections cheaply to a distant aircraft, the airlines want to talk to you

simmo8

good idea but what if the internet goes down while you are flying lol

BeanerECMO

My Feedback: (1)

Why concern yourself with the internet; just rent a channel on the satellite(s) for ~$30K a month.

DaveFlynn

You don't need to rent a whole channel, you don't need that much bandwidth. But, it still has over half a second latency round trip, switching plus 4 x 22,300 miles.

loserdave

There is new technology coming out that uses a GPS like hardware to access the internet. and GPS and video links would resolve the "line of sight" issue.

My dad is a retired Aeronautical Engineer. he says that there is a system already up and running on some planes and it is used as a backup to the autopilot system.

BeanerECMO

My Feedback: (1)

Fedex was doing testing for remote control of their jets (if they were hijacked) about 4 years ago.

cyclops2

A cellphone held on does the same thing with analog tones & bandpass filters or PWM of a tone.

It is completly doable right now if you have a good electronic backround.

Nothing " new " is needed.

Big question is, WHY ? Not many legal things to do with such a hookup.

Rich

simmo8

yea but um what if ya dont have $30 k a month lol wish i did

ozrcboy

Satellite only has very high latency for geo stationary orbits. Networks like iridium are low orbit and hence latency are like what you would expect over terrestrial internet.

However, getting enough telemetry back from the aircraft to fly it If you were within 2.4Ghz range you could use one of those First person Point of View systems (like the famous youtube vid), but uploading that many images onto the Internet - that will require a big pipe.

I'm far more interested in the idea of an semi-autonomous aircraft which could fly itself between waypoints using GPS - now that would be groovy, and doesn't require any telemetary back to a remote "Pilot".

As for the person saying if it was possible homeland security would be all over it - it is possible - in fact over 5 years ago a guy in NZ started a project to demonstrate that a "cruise missle" could be built, for less than $10,000 (assuming you have free expertise), which could be programed to carry a payload autonomously to a "target" and deliver the payload. He kept most of the details secret except to people who contributed to the project (who he claims he screened). All the technology to do this is staring you in the face - just takes a person (or team perhaps) with the knowledge to glue all the bits and pieces together.

For example, I would imagine if you had the know how you could probably build a plane which could navigate itself, using GPS waypoints, in fine weather, with a small onboard computer, for maybe $2000 for the avionics (maybe less) - and that's assuming you are after "light" stuff. If you were happy to settle on a larger airframe and hence could carry heavier avionics you might drop down to a $1000.

Are homeland security all over this stuff - I doubt it -although it's hard to know whether that is because of incompetence or competence. The expertise is the kicker - people with the knowledge to do this aren't exactly rare, but they aren't exactly common, and aren't often persuaded by arguments about how many virgins await them past the pearly gates. Sure you could hire them for a price, but let's face it, a van packed full of fertilizer driven by a religious nut (which we seem to have a glut of at the moment) is much cheaper, and will deliver a far greater payload, and cause much more fear/confusion.

You use a cruise missle to penetrate a country's air defences and hit a target without risking an aircraft/aircrew. Terrorists rely on hiding in civilian traffic streams - getting close to the target is rarely the problem - running the operation without being detected by their own community, who are the ones most likely to tip off FBI/MI5/Police/dept of furher and the fatherland etc, is the real challenge.

pilotpete2

This is exactly how Maynard Hill flew the Atlantic a few years back. R/C link for take off to cruise, then turned over to on board system, then re-acquire R/C link at destination. The AMA was able to get the cooperation of the international authorities involved to do this, as there was no risk of conflicting with traffic over the Atlantic with a model (not a lot of low altitude traffic over the oceans)
What loserdave must understand is that what he would like to do, can only be done with the cooperation of the FAA and ATC. You cannot fly an RPV through controlled airspace without clearance, Clarence Roger that?
Pete

ozrcboy

Yes, at the moment you turn off your radio and let if fly itself you are no longer remotely controlling the plane - hence a different set of rules and regs.

DomPotvin

Hi all !

What you need is a ardumegapilot (www.diydrones.com) its an autopilot system made by amateur especially for rc plane, car, chopper or boat. Its affordable (arround 550$) this include the GPS, IMU board (giroscope sensor) air density sensor (speed) and x-bee transmitter, cause the autopilot is controlled via a computer, its really like teh real thing ! and it support 8 channel so its pretty cool

If someone know how i could use satellite transmission instead of x-bee feel free to contact me.

By the way, there's some amateur satelite over there that you can use free, you just need a license that is also free.

Have fun !

perfecttreeservice

I have had a similar idea for years and have alot of technical details "theoretically" solved.
My name is Jeremy [email protected]

thorsbackhand

I have been thinking the same thing lately. I am an IT Specialist and Aeronautical Enthusiast. This would be very possible with a combination of a Cellular Air-card, qGroundControl on a laptop with it's own internet connection, a raspberry pi on board the aircraft, and a little bit of configuration. You will of course need sensors and a GPS device. My thought was somehow adapting the Ar.Drone 2.0's flight computer and GPS addon with flight sensors in an aircraft. The combination with the raspberry pi and an air card would not allow it to fly exceedingly high but with the right power source and power generation it could fly indefinitely over areas with cellular coverage and be given remote commands just as a military aircraft functions. It would be also possible with a 4G air-card and equivalent or better internet connection on the laptop to control the aircraft live. If you would like to discuss this matter more you can email me at [email protected]. Please forgive the odd email. It is a automated forwarding system and disposable email generator to help me prevent spam. Thanks. Have a great day. -RP