Was reading that the i2 got the option to be controlled via 4G. This would be a real big step if it works reliable with redundancy on the 2.Ghz band. However, I still couldn't figure out details on the 4G control(or is it only main camera video downlink?). Also I'm confused now what frequency bands and channels the i2 can operate in and how to adjust channels for the two cameras?
control and downlink frequency+4G control
- Thread starter Bob IBV
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I believe you stick a usb 4g dongle into the controller, and i saw something about needing dji sdk
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I was reading in the SDK there is an API for development so it will need a third party to develop. The development will need to use a 4G dongle to insert into the I2 USB port and development of code using the SDK to make the function work in various modes.
It is in fact one of the development areas my team is working on but its only for commercial applications where the drone will not be in line of site as required by CAA but there is strong 4G service available. It simply means an employee can take the drone to a distant location activate power up and link to the base station and a qualified pilot will execute the mission. Very much like airforce fly drones in Middle East whilst the pilot is based in the USA. Im sure your all familiarly with this. Mine is associated with survey work where the expert can remain at head office and control the survey remotely whilst deploying a lower cost technician to the site.
It is in fact one of the development areas my team is working on but its only for commercial applications where the drone will not be in line of site as required by CAA but there is strong 4G service available. It simply means an employee can take the drone to a distant location activate power up and link to the base station and a qualified pilot will execute the mission. Very much like airforce fly drones in Middle East whilst the pilot is based in the USA. Im sure your all familiarly with this. Mine is associated with survey work where the expert can remain at head office and control the survey remotely whilst deploying a lower cost technician to the site.
This sounds interesting. There are countries where there are such permissions or exceptions of the rules is possible. However, as you cannot rely fully on 4g in many areas we want to use the 4g as a backup. In other words, when flying the drone behind a mountain it will use Rc signal. That's where it should be able to switch to 4g. Should be working technically. The question is what app will support this? Or will it be a module for dji go?
This brings flying drone to a different level. Not so much the distance in our case but obstacles in between and thus penetration.
Keep us updated!;-)
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Intended to be a plugin to DJI GO switching between RC control local and RC remote is possible. This will then require the 4G dongle currently being developed. The plugin dongle will be propriety as it will need to with be able to switch frequencies to consider other operators overlapping spectrums. But the SIM could be replaced with a standard 4G one from your local operator.
The 4G strength wont be an issue as the APP is associated with 4G spectrum and Radio towers. (location, power output etc) The APP provides an overlay of geography of strength and tower locations for optimum deployment. This is currently done by a guy driving around the area with a handset but with a drone i can do a significant area in as little as 20 minutes. It will produce a map similar to a 3D map but with density instead.
When we looked at the SDK it didn't look difficult to make the drone respond to information received from the dongle. What it doesn't have is logic to switch between controlling devices. I will ask the team to see if an APP could be developed just to do this using a standard dongle and SIM.
Standard Sim card seems flexible. The logic to switch between controlling devices is a core issue and it would be great if users can define certain parameters like giving priority or "Rc take-over thresholds".
In general it seems logic to make use of 4G infrastructure instead of boosting 2.4Ghz signals with huge efforts of using amplifiers, high end cables and antennas. Actually, I wonder why this is not standard already. With 5G the latency issues will be minimal as well. 2,4GHz would then only be the fallback safety.. Curious to follow your progress on it.
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Today was first flight using a 4G dongle to control the I2 we learnt a lot about the existing DJI code from the experience. Found some limitation DJI have built in code to restrict what the drone will do which I'm sure you already know about and a few still never discussed before. We consider the first flight was successful of 15 minutes airtime and successful handover between 3 GSM base stations with no errors. Transmission delays of 500ms was worst we found but most in range of 50 ms. So we have more to do before next outing
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sounds like progress. I'm not familiar with dji SDKs but sure there are limitations. 500ms delay on open flight is acceptable. Would not use the GSM to fly in tight areas. More for survey missions above forest and similar. It would be great to have some advanced logic built in what to do in case of bad signal. ( priority for RC control, stop immideatly and hover until further input and if battery below preadjusted treshold trigger RTH,etc..
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Yes thats work in progress. An interesting "feature" is DJI can brick your device once you connect to an internet. Don't know what you have to do to be a bad boy to get that to happen 
GSM has a higher penetration than WiFi frequencies and 4G is particularly strong in comparison to the "voice" GSM, but as you mention in open areas there are limits to the existing R/C but also 4G is not available in the outback. We have been looking at Satellite phones but that will be a future (if ever)
GSM has a higher penetration than WiFi frequencies and 4G is particularly strong in comparison to the "voice" GSM, but as you mention in open areas there are limits to the existing R/C but also 4G is not available in the outback. We have been looking at Satellite phones but that will be a future (if ever)
Interesting reading! I use an Inspire 1 for surveys of mobile masts and line of sight surveys for microwave links, flying too close to an active mast can swamp the RF and cause a loss of control. Going forward we tend to isolate the antennas before flying.
With BVLOS permission and 4g coverage we could potentially fly an entire microwave hop in one hit, battery life permitting.
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With BVLOS permission and 4g coverage we could potentially fly an entire microwave hop in one hit, battery life permitting.
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Today the team did a test with only 4G but followed by a car just in case!! We configured the I2 to hover if signal was lost for more than 2 seconds.
Distance flown before batteries got down to 24 % was 15 km...!! Chose 60 metre high as there was a few overhead things like telegraph poles along the route. A new record i think
Okay i know there are rules and we did obey by following in a car and we did choose a road that was good for this. We did use the "spot light pro" as the road wasn't perfectly straight. And we did do a full survey before to test the 4G strength along the route.
Team was very happy last night and we celebrated with a few glasses!!!
Distance flown before batteries got down to 24 % was 15 km...!! Chose 60 metre high as there was a few overhead things like telegraph poles along the route. A new record i think
Okay i know there are rules and we did obey by following in a car and we did choose a road that was good for this. We did use the "spot light pro" as the road wasn't perfectly straight. And we did do a full survey before to test the 4G strength along the route.
Team was very happy last night and we celebrated with a few glasses!!!
15km? really? That's over 9 miles. Over 49,000 ft. are you pulling our legs? Were you following in a car with the RC?
Were you following in a car with the RC?
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No I'm using a bespoke 4G dongle in both R/C and the I2. R/C was back at start point. If single was lost the drone was set to hover. If battery was low instructed to land. We was close if anything like that happened, We also had tracker fitted and was constantly getting GPS signals back at start point and tracking on a Google map.
Im current developing the Application and Dongle (4G) as a commercial add on...
Im current developing the Application and Dongle (4G) as a commercial add on...
That's great. Exactly what we would need as 4G coverage is better than Rc signals. Dji never planned long range,high penetration missions otherwise they would have chosen another frequency band. Interesting though is that the Japanese dji drones seem to use 900MHZ band. Have never heard any feedback from some Japanese guys. Would be interesting to hear..
Bob,
According to: DJI (company) - Wikipedia -
Dà-Jiāng Innovations Science and Technology Co., Ltd (Chinese: 大疆创新科技有限公司; doing business as DJI) is a Chinese technology company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong. It manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), also known as drones, for aerial photography and videography, gimbals, flight platforms, cameras, propulsion systems, camera stabilizers, and flight controllers.
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