Controlling drone using PC keyboard

ArduCopter Copter 4.6
1

Hello,

I am looking for advice for flying my drone using the keyboard on a PC connected via WiFi to the drone which will have an ESP32 with dronebridge. For context, it is supposed to be an autonomous drone but I would like to have some manual control override using the PC groundstation in case something goes wrong as I may not have an RC TX always handy.

I just want to make sure I have all failsafes set up correctly and have stuff like emergency land or something in case the drone goes haywire.

Thanks

2

you could use Vjoy - create a virtual game controller and then map that to the drone in mission planner.

Joystick/Gamepad — Copter documentation

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3

Is there an alternative for Linux?

4

QGC runs on Linux and has a virtual joystick.

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5

Will I be able to use it as an emergency override in case my autonomous mavlink script malfunctions?

6

I don’t know. Sounds easy enough to test.

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7

Seems like that is only available on the mobile version or for PX4 autopilots.

EDIT: Sorry, I found it

8

For now I am using Remote Gamepad app with which you can use your phone as a gamepad connected to your PC. The problem with the virtual joystick on QGC’s Android version is that you can’t use both sticks at the same time as QGC thinks its a zoom in/out command on the map. But I guess it can be used for quick overrides in an emergency situation where you only use one stick to avoid a crash into a wall or something.

9

Both sticks work if you switch to the video view. Please report the bug to the QGC team (GitHub issue).

10

Have to check this out. Does video view work without a camera?

11

Yes. Just tested that on my phone.

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