Hello all!
I just started to work at a new employer and we have a real fun project. It involves a drone which is run by a tethered power supply. We ordered a special tethering system from a supplier. The drone will be carrying a payload.
I am currently reading myself into the source code from the PX4 Autopilot to see, how I can modifiy this to fit my needs.
The system we ordered already has a built in emergency switch to a small battery. Now I need to detect the switch from the tethered power supply to the battery that I can tell the drone to automatically land.
Some technical details we are using in this project:
Controller: Pixhawk 6X
Tethered power supply: 23.5 ± 1.5 VDC / Max 2400 W
Tether length: 80 m
Communication over tether: ETH max 200 Mbit
Recommended emergecy battery: 6S 12Ah
The goal of the system is it, to rise up to 80 meters and stay in this position. While the drone stands still, the payload can do it’s work.
The whole system should be as easy to use as possible with various emergency shutoff/land features.
If you have any input I’d be glad to receive it, I only just started to read myself into the source code and it is a lot. Any help for this project is appreciated.
The Pixhawk 6X has two power ports, so you could use one power module on each to connect to the two power sources. Then you will have to implement your failsafe logic somewhere to trigger a mode change when one is low/disconnected. My guess would be that you can change the low battery checks in commander.
May I know where is the built-in emergency switch to a small battery located?
one approach when I was working on a Hydrogen fuel cell stack, I propose to the team to mimic only the power (low ampere) to the flight controller by dropping it to a specific voltage to trigger the low voltage failsafe landing. Not sure is it helpful.
Hey Jai!
The switch is implemented on the air unit. The company has two XT90 connectors on the module, one female, one male. One is to connect the battery to and the other is supplying either the power from the tether or the battery.
As this is a completly custom thing we ordered, they are also giving us the option to add an output IO to signal when the air unit is running of the tether or battery.
Hey Julian!
Thanks so much for the help on that part! I already have written my first code which needs to be tested with the real hardware first.
Sadly I haven’t gotten my work PC to compile the project so my own linux machine will do the compiling and it works like a charm!
I am now looking into using one of the available outputs on the Pixhawk 6x to shut off the payload as well. Our payload needs to be remotely controlable, this includes a shutoff. If you have any help on that, it is highly appreciated! Thanks again for your help! I’ll try to keep you all up to date as much as possible!
