ArduPilot Control from script

ArduCopter Copter 3.4
1

Hi,
We are a group of developers and we are trying to develop an app to remote control a ArduCopter based drone. In the end, the app should be run on a portable device like an iPad or an Android tablet but firstly we are trying to figure out how remote control the drone from a laptop with a custom application written in Python, C++ or Java, basically overwriting the RC controller input.

We have already made some tests using the dronekit library with python just for testing purpose and we actually achieved to connect to the our flight controller (PXFmini) and armed the motor, but we couldn’t make the drone taking off.

Have anyone out there already done something like this? Could you please help me to find a solution?

Thank you so much,
Simone

2

yes, we use dronekit to do what you want an it does work. Please try to see if the flight node is armable. And check if the arming checks are ok.

3

@amilcarlucas thanks a lot for the quick answer.
I actually don’t use the GPS with the controller because I’m flying the drone indoor and for this reason the is_armable parameter is always False but I can arm the motors anyway. Is this the problem? Should I disable the GPS check (or at least change the parameters) in order to fly it properly?
Thank you for the help

4

yes, disable GPS arming check.