Development of an iPhone-controlled UAV

Abstract

Inexpensive components that can be used to create an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) are becoming increasingly available. This accessibility opens up exciting applications: from automated resource transportation in developing countries to the scale testing of integrated airspace systems. We present a novel UAV system in which guidance, navigation, and control were performed on an onboard iPhone 4 and a desired trajectory was supplied through a ground based laptop. Additional UAVs can be modularly integrated to cooperatively interact within the airspace. The iPhone 4 bundles much of the essential hardware required for UAV control and communication and offers additional capabilities such as a audio and video recording. The integrated UAV system was flight tested and its efficacy verified.

Flight Testing a UAV in Simulated Controlled Airspace

“…These taken together with the other referenced work 22 shows exactly how to make and program our UAS. These flight controls are shown in order to explain the reasoning behind our design and also give a glimpse into the rationale behind our entire simulated airspace.…”

“…The iPhone has an accessible and clear user interface (UI) through which an untrained user may communicate desired actions. 22 Specifically the iPhone and Arduino coding environments are vastly ubiquitous throughout the programming community. Creating a link to control or download its information and flight plan is as simple as setting up a laptop communicating with the correct wireless internet protocol address.…”

Capturing Gas Fluxes on Your Phone: An iOS‐ and Android‐based Data‐Logging Setup for EGM‐4 Environmental Gas Monitoring Systems

“…These handheld devices have considerable computing power and a range of sensors that have the potential to be exploited for scientific purposes (Teacher et al, 2013). The number of innovative solutions that take advantage of the abilities of mobile devices is increasing; examples include real‐time GPS data provided by a smartphone (Lwin and Murayama, 2011), control of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by a smartphone app (Dixit et al, 2013), mobile device–based rice leaf color measurement systems to estimate nitrogen levels in crops (Intaravanne and Sumriddetchkajorn, 2012), and apps such as eBird developed to record and help identify species during ecological surveys (Wood et al, 2011). …”