Sky Drone FPV 3 User manual

Sky Drone
c/o Skylab Mobilesystems Ltd.
1104 Crawford House, 0 Queen’s Road Central, Central
Hong Kong
Sky Drone FPV 3
Manual
Revision: 2020-08-10
Copyright © 2020 Sky Drone. All Rights reserved.
Sky Drone
c/o Skylab Mobilesystems Ltd.
1104 Crawford House
0 Queen’s Road Central, Central
Hong Kong
© Sky Drone Sky Drone FPV 3 – Manual Page 1/42

Sky Drone
c/o Skylab Mobilesystems Ltd.
1104 Crawford House, 0 Queen’s Road Central, Central
Hong Kong
Table of Contents (EN English) | Inhaltsver eichnis (DE Deutsch)
EN English..............................................................3
I. Overview............................................................3
II. Component List.................................................3
III. Setup................................................................4
1. Download Client Software........................4
2. Create a user account..............................4
3. Confirm your user account.......................5
4. Setup the hardware..................................6
5. Connect to the FPV 3 unit via WiFi..........
6. Configure your cellular internet connection
....................................................................8
. Optional: Configure your telemetry /
command & control link................................9
8. Pairing / Claim your device....................10
IV. Remotely Control your Drone using a GCS....11
1. Using Sky Drone FPV with
QGroundControl / Mission Planner............11
2. Controlling a drone through your own
DroneKit application...................................14
V. Firmware pdates..........................................15
1. Flash Firmware using Linux...................15
2. Flash Firmware using Mac.....................15
3. Flash Firmware using Windows.............16
VI. Troubleshoo&ng............................................19
Issues pairing / claiming the device...........19
Device is not connected to the mobile
network......................................................19
WiFi network “skydrone-config” does not
show..........................................................19
Device tab shows in client of one computer,
but not in client on another computer.........20
Issues connecting a GCS..........................20
Connection shows high latency (>100ms)..20
VII. Cer&(ca&on, Compliance and Markings.......21
CE Compliance..........................................21
FCC Certification.......................................21
WEEE Compliance....................................21
RoHS Compliance.....................................21
Recycling Statements................................22
DE Deutsch..........................................................23
I. Überblick..........................................................23
II. Komponentenliste..........................................23
III. Setup..............................................................24
1. Client Software herunterladen................24
2. Nutzerkonto anlegen..............................24
3. Nutzerkonto bestätigen..........................25
4. Hardware Einrichten..............................26
5. Zum FPV 3 über WiFi verbinden............2
6. Mobile Internetverbindung konfigurieren 28
. Optional: Konfigurieren der Telemetrie /
Daten / Command & Control Verbindung...29
8. Das Gerät koppeln.................................30
IV. Fernsteuern der Drohne mit einem GCS........31
1. Sky Drone FPV mit QGroundControl /
Mission Planner nutzen..............................31
2. Die Drohne mit einer DroneKit Applikation
steuern.......................................................34
V. Firmware Aktualisierungen.............................35
1. Flashen der Firmware mit Linux.............35
2. Flashen der Firmware mit Mac...............36
3. Flashen der Firmware mit Windows.......36
VI. Problembehebung.........................................39
Probleme mit der Gerätekopplung.............39
Gerät ist nicht mit dem Mobilfunknetz
verbunden..................................................39
WiFi Netzwerk “skydrone-config” wird nicht
angezeigt...................................................39
Gerätereiter taucht auf einem Computer,
aber nicht auf anderem auf........................40
Probleme mit GCS Verbindungsaufbau.....40
Verbindung zeigt hohe Latenz (>100ms).. .40
VII. Zer&(zierungen, Konformität und
Kennzeichnungen...............................................41
CE Konformität..........................................41
FCC Zertifizierung......................................41
WEEE Konformität.....................................41
RoHS Konformität......................................41
Recycling Deklaration................................42
© Sky Drone Sky Drone FPV 3 – Manual Page 2/42

Sky Drone
c/o Skylab Mobilesystems Ltd.
1104 Crawford House, 0 Queen’s Road Central, Central
Hong Kong
EN English
EN English
This section covers the Sky Drone FPV 3 manual in English. For other languages please refer to
table of contents.
I. Overview
Sky Drone FPV 3 is a HD camera system for drones that transmits over the 4G/LTE
network providing an unlimited range and a low latency video and data link. The data link
is bi-directional, which allows BVLOS flights by remotely controlling the drone using a
ground control system.
One part of the system is the Sky Drone FPV 3 device including the core unit and camera.
The other part is the client software, which receives the video and interfaces the
bidirectional command & control data channel.
II. Component List
The Sky Drone FPV 3 set consists of the following
parts:
•1x Sky Drone FPV 3 unit
•1x Camera with USB cable
•2x Antennas
•1x USB-C Adapter
•1x WiFi Dongle
•1x Micro SD-Card (placed in Sky Drone FPV 3
unit)
•1x Power Supply Adapter (incl. UBEC)
•1x JST-GH Data Cable
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Sky Drone
c/o Skylab Mobilesystems Ltd.
1104 Crawford House, 0 Queen’s Road Central, Central
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EN English
III. Setup
The initial setup of the Sky Drone FPV 3 system consists of the following steps:
1. Download Client Software
Windows: http://www.skydrone.aero/downloads/windows-client
Linux: http://www.skydrone.aero/downloads/linux-client
Download and install the software on your system.
2. Create a user account
Follow the instructions on the screen and enter the required details.
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Sky Drone
c/o Skylab Mobilesystems Ltd.
1104 Crawford House, 0 Queen’s Road Central, Central
Hong Kong
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3. Confirm your user account
You will receive a confirmation e-mail with a verification code after a few seconds that you
need to enter in the client software.
Once confirmed, your account is set up. Now let’s move on to the hardware part.
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Sky Drone
c/o Skylab Mobilesystems Ltd.
1104 Crawford House, 0 Queen’s Road Central, Central
Hong Kong
EN English
4. Setup the hardware
Unpack the hardware set and assemble the unit:
•Screw in the two antennas.
•Connect the power supply either via the supplied uBEC module that is connected to
a LiPo battery or via any other 5V power supply that delivers >2A*.
◦Alternatively, the system comes with a spare cable that you can cut and connect
to your power supply. It uses a JST-GH connector following the Dronecode
standard. See “Analog Power” on
https://wiki.dronecode.org/workgroup/connectors/start
•Connect the USB WiFi module via the USB-C cable to the unit. The camera does
not need to be connected for the setup procedure.
•Optional: connect your flight controller via the telemetry port. The system uses a
JST-GH connector following the Dronecode standard. See “Telemetry Port” on
https://wiki.dronecode.org/workgroup/connectors/start
•Insert a data-enabled nano SIM card. PIN protected SIM cards are currently not
supported. Please disable any PIN by temporary using it in a mobile phone to
disable.
* Note: It is essential to use a power supply with at least 2A of output. If in doubt, use a
fully charged LiPo battery.
© Sky Drone Sky Drone FPV 3 – Manual Page 6/42

Sky Drone
c/o Skylab Mobilesystems Ltd.
1104 Crawford House, 0 Queen’s Road Central, Central
Hong Kong
EN English
5. Connect to the FPV 3 unit via WiFi
For initial setup, a WiFi connection to the FPV device is used. You will need to connect the
provided USB WiFi module with the device. After the setup is completed, the wifi module is
not needed for normal operation of the system.
Login to it's WiFi network:
SSID: skydrone-config
Password: pairingmode
After you are connected, open your web browser and open http://192.168.89.1
On there you will find essential information for claiming your device:
•Device Setup
◦Device ID
◦Pairing State
◦Pairing ID
◦Firmware Version
◦Connection State
•Configuration
◦APN settings
◦Flight-Controller Baudrate
◦MAVLink Mode
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Sky Drone
c/o Skylab Mobilesystems Ltd.
1104 Crawford House, 0 Queen’s Road Central, Central
Hong Kong
EN English
6. Con igure your cellular internet connection
The system tries to autodetect your cellular carrier’s APN. Sometimes this is not possible
and you want to set it up manually. Enter the APN in the corresponding field and save it. It
will become active after the next device restart. Make sure to press the “update” button
and then restart the device.
Before continuing to the next step you need to make sure that the device cellular
connection status shows “CONNECTED”. Note: If the status shows anything but
“CONNECTED”, you will not be able to claim your de ice.
Possible status output states are listed below. The most common ones you may see
during setup are highlighted.
State Description
CONNECTED Connection is active. You may proceed with claiming your device.
CONNECTING The device is currently connecting to the network.
DISCONNECTING The device is currently disconnecting from the network.
REGISTERED The device is registered with mobile network, but if this state remains the
APN settings are most likely wrong. Double check your APN settings and
see section Troubleshooting.
SEARCHING The device is search for mobile network to connect to. If this remains,
perhaps your area is not covered by your mobile network?
ENABLED The modem is enabled and powered on but not registered with a network
provider and not available for data connections.
ENABLING The modem is enabling and will likely enter the ENABLED state soon.
DISABLING The modem is disabling and will likely enter the DISABLED state soon.
DISABLED The modem is not enabled and powered down.
LOCKED The modem needs to be unlocked. It is most likely locked by a PIN. PIN-
locked SIM cards are not supported at the moment. Please remove the PIN-
lock with a mobile phone.
INITIALIZING The modem is currently being initialized.
UNKNOWN State unknown or not reportable. Please reboot the device and contact us if
this state persists.
FAILED The modem is unusable. There may be an additional error message like
“SIM MISSING” or “SIM ERROR” shown. Please check your SIM card.
© Sky Drone Sky Drone FPV 3 – Manual Page 8/42

Sky Drone
c/o Skylab Mobilesystems Ltd.
1104 Crawford House, 0 Queen’s Road Central, Central
Hong Kong
EN English
7. Optional: Con igure your telemetry / command & control link
The system assumes a default baudrate for the telemetry / command & control link of
115200 baud. You can configure a different baudrate up to 209 152 baud. It will become
active after the next device restart. Make sure to press the “update” button and then restart
the device.
The physical link to your flight controller assumes a pinout according to the Dron ecode
standard. See “Telemetry Port” on https://wiki.dronecode.org/workgroup/connectors/start
While MAVLink connections work out-of-the-box, the bi-directional data channel is protocol
agnostic. This means that any data protocol can be transferred through this data channel.
It is a low latency, high speed, direct TCP connection from Sky Drone client software to the
Sky Drone FPV 3 device. This data connection is separate / independent from the real-
time UDP channel used for transmitting video.
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Sky Drone
c/o Skylab Mobilesystems Ltd.
1104 Crawford House, 0 Queen’s Road Central, Central
Hong Kong
EN English
8. Pairing / Claim your device
After logging in with your new user account. You have to “claim” your device i.e. proving
that you as the account holder own the Sky Drone FPV 3 device.
To pair the device you need the device's unique Device ID and the temporary Pairing ID.
The Pairing ID changes at every power cycle until the unit is paired.
The internal web server (http://192.168.89.1) will provide you your device's unique Device
ID and the temporary Pairing ID. You can copy and paste them to a note file.
Disconnect from the device WiFi network “skydrone-config” and re-connect to your main /
internet connection.
Now, use the Sky Drone FPV client to claim the device:
If you have trouble during this process, please refer to the Troubleshooting section.
Once you have claimed your device successfully, remove the WiFi dongle from the Sky
Drone FPV 3 device and plug in the camera. Now, power cycle the unit. Once the device
has powered up, you are ready to connect to your Sky Drone FPV 3 unit using the Sky
Drone FPV client application.
© Sky Drone Sky Drone FPV 3 – Manual Page 10/42

Sky Drone
c/o Skylab Mobilesystems Ltd.
1104 Crawford House, 0 Queen’s Road Central, Central
Hong Kong
EN English
IV. Remotely Control your Drone using a GCS
Sky Drone FPV 3 establishes a bi-directional data link between the Sky Drone FPV client
and the Sky Drone unit that is mounted on the drone. That Sky Drone unit is connected to
the drone’s autopilot. The Sky Drone FPV client acts as a “TCP server”. As such, it is open
for any third party to connect to it and send data to the client, which will then pass that
data on to the Sky Drone unit on the device, which will then pass on that data to the
drone’s autopilot – and vice versa.
1. Using Sky Drone FPV with QGroundControl / Mission Planner
With the Sky Drone FPV Client software you get low latency HD video over the 4G/LTE
network out of the box. To leverage the full potential of the system you want to connect a
Ground Control Station software to it, that allows you not only to visualize telemetry data
but also control the drone over the 4G/LTE network. This will make it a true unlimited-
range system. You can control a drone on the other side of the globe or a drone right next
to you.
Sky Drone FPV does not lock you in to a specific GCS solution but gives you the freedom
of choice. The following shows you how to use the popular and powerful solution
QGroundControl with it. Here is how all systems connect to each other:
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c/o Skylab Mobilesystems Ltd.
1104 Crawford House, 0 Queen’s Road Central, Central
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After you connected to your Sky Drone FPV unit using the Sky Drone FPV Client software,
it automatically exposes the MAVLink channel as a local TCP server on port 5235. All you
need to do in QGroundControl is to configure your connection setting:
Settings are:
Connection Type: TCP
Host Address: 127.0.0.1
TCP Port: 5235
Note: Use 12 .0.0.1. (localhost) if your ground control station runs on the same computer.
If it runs a different computer in your network, use the network IP address of the computer
you are running the Sky Drone FPV client on.
© Sky Drone Sky Drone FPV 3 – Manual Page 12/42

Sky Drone
c/o Skylab Mobilesystems Ltd.
1104 Crawford House, 0 Queen’s Road Central, Central
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After that you hit connect and that's it. Now you have full unlimited-range remote control of
your drone.
You can now plan a mission using the ground control station. Upload the mission and hit
the “START” button to execute the mission. You’ll see the mission data being transferred
to the drone and you’ll get real-time data updates from your drone (e.g. telemetry,
roll/pitch, etc).
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c/o Skylab Mobilesystems Ltd.
1104 Crawford House, 0 Queen’s Road Central, Central
Hong Kong
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2. Controlling a drone through your own DroneKit application
Sky Drone FPV supports the Dronekit framework out of the box and makes it easier than
ever for developers to create applications for autonomous drone control.
The Sky Drone FPV Client will automatically expose the MAVLink data of your drone via a
local TCP server that can be used by Dronekit.
Using Dronekit for Python, all you have to do is setting the connection parameter to the
localhost (12 .0.0.1) TCP server on port 5235:
vehicle = connect('tcp:127.0.0.1:52 5')
Now you can program and test your code directly from the Groundstation side instead of
running your Dronekit application on a companion computer on your drone. This makes
testing much easier and productive through shorter iteration cycles.
This is a simple hello world program which gets data from your 4G/LTE connected drone
on the groundstation side, even if your drone is thousands of kilometers away:
It really is that simple.
After you got your feet wet with status query commands, you can easily transition to
commands for autonomous takeoff and flying complicated manoeuvres. See the Dronekit
for Python Guide for more information.
© Sky Drone Sky Drone FPV 3 – Manual Page 14/42

Sky Drone
c/o Skylab Mobilesystems Ltd.
1104 Crawford House, 0 Queen’s Road Central, Central
Hong Kong
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V. Firmware Updates
The firmware for the Sky Drone unit is under constant development and new firmware
versions are being built regularly. Such updates include new features, better compatibility
as well as bug fixes.
The Sky Drone unit is equipped with a Micro-SD-Card. On that card is the Sky Drone
firmware. To update the firmware perform the following:
1. Download the latest firmware
(contact us via [email protected] if in doubt)
2. Power off the Sky Drone unit
3. Remove the SD-Card and put it into your computer using a card reader
4. Flash the SD-Card (see below)
5. Verify the SD-Card’s contents are readable on your computer
6. Place the SD-Card back into the Sky Drone unit
. Boot up the Sky Drone unit
8. (optional) Verify the new firmware version by booting up the device without a SIM
card, but with the WiFi dongle in it. Connect to the “skydrone-config” WiFi hotspot
and load up the http://192.168.89.1 website. You should see the firmware version of
the one you’ve just flashed onto the SD-Card listed there.
1. Flash Firmware using Linux
On your Linux system perform the following task in the shell to flash the firmware onto the
SD-Card:
dd if=skydrone-image.img of=/dev/sdc bs=1M; sync
Note: make sure to use the correct de ice (/de /sdc) for the sdcard, otherwise you might
o erwrite a different de ice which results in data loss.
2. Flash Firmware using Mac
On your Mac system perform the following task in the shell to flash the firmware onto the
SD-Card:
sudo dd if=skydrone-image.img of=/dev/disk4 bs=1m; sync
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c/o Skylab Mobilesystems Ltd.
1104 Crawford House, 0 Queen’s Road Central, Central
Hong Kong
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Note: make sure to use the correct de ice (/de /disk4) for the sdcard, otherwise you might
o erwrite a different de ice which results in data loss.
3. Flash Firmware using Windows
On your Windows system follow these steps to flash the firmware onto the SD-Card:
1. Download
“Win32 Disk Imager Utility” from https://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/
Some Windows users experience issues with that program. Alternatively, you may
download the “SD Imager” utility: https://sourceforge.net/projects/sdimager/
2. Start the application with Administrator privileges:
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3. Select the firmware image file by changing the filter mask to “*.*”:
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4. Make sure to select the correct device that holds the sd-card:
5. Press “Write” to flash the firmware on the sd card and wait for confirmation.
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c/o Skylab Mobilesystems Ltd.
1104 Crawford House, 0 Queen’s Road Central, Central
Hong Kong
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VI. Troubleshooting
While the vast majority of Sky Drone FPV users experience a smooth set up process, a
few customers may have more unique circumstances. The following is a collection of
common issues and solutions for them.
Issues pairing / claiming the device
If you receive an error while trying to pair your device (e.g. “Backend error”), the device is
most likely not connected to the mobile network. Therefore, please proceed to the next
point.
Device is not connected to the mobile network
The most common reason for this issue, is a wrong APN setting. Though, the device tries
to autodetect the APN setting, your mobile carrier might have changed it or applied a
different APN to your specific contract.
Ways to find out your correct APN setting:
1. Place the SIM card in your phone, check your phone’s settings and note down the
APN name, user and password.
2. Contact your mobile carrier and ask about your SIM card’s APN settings.
3. Search your mobile carrier’s APN settings on the Internet. Though, this is a rather
unreliable method, it allows for a quick turn around.
4. Try a different SIM card from a different mobile carrier.
WiFi network “skydrone-con ig” does not show
Not yet paired. Use a power supply with the provided UBEC and a fully charged LiPo
battery.
Paired. If the device has been paired successfully and if it can connect to the Sky Drone
backend network, the “skydrone-config” WiFi network does not appear anymore. This is to
ensure there is no interference with any systems onboard the drone.
If you want the “skydrone-config” WiFi to show up again, turn off the device, take the SIM
card out, connect the WiFi dongle and power up the device. Because the device can not
connect to the Sky Drone backend network now, the WiFi hotspot will remain active after
boot-up and you’ll be able to connect to http://192.168.89.1.
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1104 Crawford House, 0 Queen’s Road Central, Central
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Device tab shows in client o one computer, but not in client on another
computer
This case may happen if your computer does not have a correct time. To solve this, switch
on “auto sync” in your computer’s time settings to ensure it has a correct date and time
setting.
Issues connecting a GCS
Depending on your autopilot, the baudrate used in the GCS has to match the baudrate of
the autopilot. Make sure the baudrate of the flight controller / autopilot is the same as the
one set up in the Sky Drone FPV “skydrone-config” as well as at the GCS you are using.
Connection shows high latency (>100ms)
4G/LTE latency is usually below 50ms. If your latency is higher, you are most likely
connected to 3G rather than 4G/LTE. You can check the connection type in the Sky Drone
client software. The Sky Drone system will still work with higher latency as it automatically
adjusts to the available network conditions. Quality will be impacted though.
How to ensure low latency:
1. Double-check with your carrier that you have LTE enabled for your SIM card.
2. Double-check with your carrier that the APN you are using is for LTE use.
3. Double-check with your carrier that your are is covered by LTE.
4. Go outdoors: Our system is designed for drones, which usually fly outdoors. This
includes the supplied antennas, which also operate best in outdoor conditions.
Last resort:
We recommend to work through all topics above first. If none of them resolves your issue,
you may:
1. Contact us via email: [email protected], or
2. Contact us via Facebook chat for live support (during office hours):
www.facebook.com/skydrone.aero
In any case it is useful to send us photos of your setup as well as your Device ID and
even screenshots of the error message you are experiencing.
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