Development of a portable, low-cost system for ground control station for drones

Abstract

This paper aims the development of a portable, low-cost software and hardware environment to control the flight of a drone (aircraft up to 5 kg). The project uses the Android operating system of a tablet, what gives the user the benefits of the mobility, ergonomics and ease of field work that are characteristics of this device. The project focuses on portability. To achieve that, the chosen components are generally lighter and easier to transport rather than those traditionally used in a ground control station (GCS). In addition, the components and tools that were used in the project are low-cost, what increases the feasibility of its implementation. The RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) flight control is performed through the communication between the Paparazzi UAV system and the PPRZonDroid application. It is convenient to say that the Paparazzi UAV and the PPRZonDroid application must be previously installed in a Raspberry Pi board and in a tablet, respectively. The use of projected ground control station has a wide area of utilization, since it can be used in various scenarios, both military and civilian.