Introducing the Piexplorer

So it’s about time I started a new project, and I decided I wanted to do something different, I want to innovate! So I have decided to create the PIexplorer 😀

The reason I’ve called it the Piexplorer is because it is a TBS explorer frame (or at least a clone of it) with a Rasberry Pi linux computer.

Here it is:

Okay so it’s not quite done… I’m sure you can tell as it’s missing a motor, fear not, I simply ran out of bolts!

So as you can see it has a pixhawk, and a mysterious box at the box which is housing my raspberry pi. I have connected my pi to the pixhawk using maxlink, and the raspberries TX and RX pins.  The is also a couple more wires for something special I’ll be implementing in the future!

Notice that there is a pi camera! This is where the cutting edge comes in, instead of using an old analog FPV system, this quad will be a running HD digital downlink!

There is an Open sourced project known as WiFibroadcast. The purpose of which is to create a more “analog like” connecting than wifi, it allows lots of cool stuff such as multiple viewers at once! Details can be found at Befinitive’s blog:

Wifibroadcast – Analog-like transmission of live video data

Here is the back, you can see the Pi’s rear ports there. Also the V antennas are my LR9 Long range 2.4ghz RC receiver. So what am I running the downlink on? 5.8ghz. Why? Here in the uk 5.8 ghz has a ten times more powerful transmission limit, which is 1000mw, I would really link to keep thinks legal, so this is great. Also 5.8ghz is a less used frequency, and i can still use my standard 2.4ghz system without investing in uhf or doing some crazy mods. I will also be having a 433mhz standard telemetry link which I’ll use for my two way communication.

Sorry for the blurry photo here, but what you can see here with the blue antenna is a wifi card, it is actually a 1 x Alfa AWUS051NH V2. I’ve taken the bulky case off of it though and put some shrink wrap and a bit of shielding around the PCB. On the receiver end I’ll be using CSL 300mbit cards.

Here is the front, and that’s my pi camera, I’ve got the wide angle version, which will allow me to change the lenses if I want also. Wide angle I feel is vital for FPV.

So this is a work in progress. I have a hobbyking order hopefully coming tomorrow, which has all the bolts etc, then I should hopefully be able to do another update showing some flight testing etc. I’ll also time some nicer photos 🙂

Anyway, subscribe for more updates on the build. Also I’m going to be putting up some “curated” information which I think you readers might find interesting.

Thanks,