In some cases, I need to connect to a flyer while it is in the air and the signal strength is marginal. I have considered using MavProxy, but why can’t MP allow for connecting without downloading all parameters? Couldn’t MP store the parameters for a given ID in a disk file and load them locally just before connecting? I realize the danger, but I would rather have this option than not being able to connect at all. Would someone be willing to modify the code to work this way?
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Use CTRL+T for blind connect.
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You can search for “download params in background” which will allow you to get telemetry right away while the params trickle in
Thanks, I’ll try that. But my dream would be if Ardupilot calculated a checksum across the parameter list and the resulting value was sent in the first few bytes after connecting. MP would do an equivalent calculation against a locally stored copy of the parameter list and if the checksums matched, no list would need to be downloaded. Safe and fast.
There are a lot of parameters that change all the time. It’s not that simple
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I’m simply trying to decrease the number of bytes downloaded after connection.
For a given flyer, only a dozen or so parameters change between connections. Things like number of missions etc. I think it would be great if everything that did not change (settings, PID values), etc. were saved locally in a file on the GCS where it could be loaded very quickly and with virtually no radio bandwidth. The normal telemetry stream would then start almost immediately.
Again, I think that a Checksum or CRC could be calculated across the normally unchanging parameters both by MP and the Flight Controller. After connection, the CRCs would be compared. The changeable items (Total Missions, for example), and possibly the SYSID would then be downloaded. This should be only a few hundred bytes. If - and only if the CRCs were different, the full parameter list would be downloaded. Doing things this way would guarantee that there was always a match between the ground station and the flyer, and would greatly decrease the communications overhead when connecting. The SYSID could be used to store several different flyers in the GCS. I sometimes need to make connection when a flyer is in the air and the signal strength is not optimum. Downloading in the background helps, but doesn’t solve the problem. My method would also allow more seamless changeovers between two different GCS.