Call For Project
Cloud Control Station
Web based drone control
A video mockup of a Cloud based Control Station for a fleet of remotely launched drones.
Related project: Providence – Drone system to support Search and Rescue
How might we enable our eventual fleet of ready-to-launch SAR drones to be persistently connected? How might we let any one of a number of operators be able to quickly take control from whatever device they might be using?
There are a number of things I would like this setup to be able to do:
- Every drone always connected and ready
- Every drone constantly reporting it’s status – hopefully a lot of happy green dots on a map!
- Any operator with right credentials able to take control, preferably from any internet connected device (iPad, PC, …)
- Secure enough that no-one else can take control or bleed of data
- Third party data sources into GCS views, i.e.: Airspace maps, specialty maps, transponder data (from different sources like Flightradar24, local MLAT),…
- Ability to stream video to operator and to other recipients
- Ability to save video streams to other services
- Ability to output/expose realtime data to other systems (I.e. http://www.surtsey.org/projects/relayed-ais-transponder/)
I can envision a number of ways to accomplish this. My favourite solution would be a fully server/web-based system that would allow control from any browser.
On the way there I imaging you could also use current local GCS:s like QGroundControl, but instead of connecting directly, via VPN, to cell connected drones, as we do today, you would have a server based middle layer that would provide a persistent connection to the fleet of drones, and that could also be used for output/exposure of data to other systems.
Some further bits and pieces:
- Open source, please
- Compatible with MAVLink
- Maybe MAVProxy might be a starting point?
There are many solutions around that might be close to what I’m looking for, but nothing that quite fits the bill. Here’s an most certainly incomplete list:
Who is behind the project?
This is a project from the Innovation office at Swedish Sea Rescue Society, SSRS. The SSRS is a non-profit organization that performs the majority of sea rescues in Sweden thanks to some 2000 volunteers . Our constitution says that we are to:
- Further the interest in sea rescue matters
- Propose ways to improve sea rescue
- Perform sea rescue operations
The person proposing this project is me, Fredrik Falkman. I’m an industrial designer by training working for the SSRS with development projects and general innovation. Beside my work at the SSRS, I run a design consultancy: Fredrik Falkman Design AB, FFD.
Contact
If you have any questions about this project, you can send the project owner a message from here.
Comments
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