An essential accessory of unmanned vehicles is a ground station that ensures a safe and stable connection of the UAV with the software equipment of the UAS operator. The ground station can perform a number of other tasks, such as the control of the automatic starting platform or collecting and processing data in the TF-ATMON system.
The ground station consists of several parts:
- A computing unit that takes care of logging data from the flight and manages individual software tasks
- Network IP interface (at least two Ethernet interfaces, WiFi connection)
- Data-link modem providing data transfers from the drone. Support MIMO 2x2, based on SIK firmware
- Data storage
- A pair of high-quality telemetry antennas
- Backup power supply for temporary operation without external power supply.
- Power source for power from on-board car voltage
- Compactness
Configure mavlink-router to forward packets to the specific IP address of the UAV operator's terminal by adding another UDP target or editing an existing one. For connection, both WiFi and Ethernet interfaces could be used to ssh connection:
ssh tf@TF-GCS.lan