New Volta companion computer for Pixhawk brings computer vision, 4G Internet and more

super

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This new companion computer from Volta costs just $299 but brings a huge amount of power to Pixhawk-based drones. It's designed to compete with the DJI Manifold at a lower price, and it's open source. OpenCV-based computer vision, streaming HD video, 4G wireless and a 30-second installation with Pixhawk.

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Sinamics

This is awesome. Great progress Silvio.
My next flight will probably be with a 4Gmetry device. The future is plug and play boards.

itsfishi

Hi recently received this unit and i know it says plug and play, but im just totally lost on the whole thing. looking for a little more info re setup before i plug it in, would hate to f it up.
Looks like it requires 5v for power, could see that printed on the board, can this be confirmed.
Also not sure which usb ports are for pixhawk/4g dongle etc
Also not sure where/how does setup work after connecting it all up to pixhawk
Keen to get into it
Cheers for any info

Sinamics

Hi
Im sure Super can support you. I will also buy 4Gmetry device, but until then i cant really help you.

itsfishi

thanks hoping super will post here it may help others too.
i will post my progress

Sinamics

Great.
Looking forward to read your progress and solutions, as i will need this information myself.. wink
I think super will comment as soon as he can.

itsfishi

Still looking for some help with this unit. Cant find anything googling.
am i the only one 🙁

Sinamics

Hi itsfishi.
I will try to get in touch with Super later today, I know he has a installation procedure on hand.
I`ll keep you posted.

itsfishi

well wish me luck im just gonna plug it in and turn it on and see what happens.
got the 4gmetry unit plugged into pixhawk telemetry port 2 power to the 4gmetry unit from 5v bec
then computer plugged in to pixhawk.

itsfishi

well that was a non event.
even though they say you just have to plug it in and run through the wizard it would be good to know what to plug in and where to make that happen

Sinamics

it would be good to know what to plug in and where to make that happen

Agree.
Please keep us informed if you get this up and running. I was hoping Super could give us some instructions..
What does the wizzard tells you? Is there a desktop icon to run? or do you need to run everything form command line?

itsfishi

i dont even know how to get the wizard to run.

do i plug the unit straight into the computer using which usb port? does it need to be connected to the pixhawk at the same time?

im guessing it should be pretty straightforward as stated in the promo material, but that is all i can find for info on it, a little more info would go a long way i think

super

Hello Itsfishi!
Sorry we've missed this post in the last week - however full support, included with your 4Gmetry purchase, at 4gmetry@voltarobots.com.
So it's about the very first step; you don't even need the command line!

Get prepared

forget about Pixhawk for a while and connect 4Gmetry to a monitor via HDMI + mouse/keyboard.
the very first step is to connect it to the internet, so put your 4G dongle in a USB port
verify that you're connected to the Internet (e.g.: open a webpage in the browser).

Tip : Unless you get the Internet connection, 4Gmetry is set to reboot and tries to connect again. You may want to disable the PIN prompt of your SIM card - this depends on your 4G dongle / carrier; in this way 4Gmetry automatically connect to 4G Internett on boot.

Basic setup On your 4Gmetry's desktop you'll find a configuration file; simply comment/uncomment lines of your interest, then save. No need to use the console for all the basic setup. To quickly bootstrap just type your GCS IP address. Done! On every boot your 4Gmetry connects to internet and forwards the telemetry - from Pixhawk's Telemetry 2 port to your GCS.

Troubleshooting
We've received some questions about the IP address of the GCS, so I'll write here some FAQs.

Do I need a M2M SIM card in the 4Gmetry dongle? Or a public IP? No, you don't need it. 4Gmetry actively opens a connection to your GCS, so your carrier will perform automatically a "UDP punch". So the only thing you need is an Internet-reachable GCS.
Can I use my home router's IP for the GCS? Yes. Simply assure that the router knows where to forward the telemetry. Creating a DMZ or a port forwarding is the simplest way.
What if my GCS's IP is dynamic? You may want to use a dynamic DNS (e.g: http://www.noip.com/) or a VPN (e.g.: https://openvpn.net/).
Can I use a WiFi dongle instead of a 4G/LTE one? Yes. If the GCS is also in your local net, simply put the local IP of the GCS (e.g.: 192.168.1.25).
I hope this could help to quickly setup your 4Gmetry and covers the most common problems. For community help, please continue to use UAV Matrix. For dedicated support, all customers can write us at 4gmetry@voltarobots.com

At your service,
S.

itsfishi

Thank you, hope to get to it today.

will keep you posted. and im sure i will have more questions 🙂

itsfishi

Ive had chance to look at it and seems to be ok as ive followed through the instructions and got net connection and did the part with the ip address of gcs etc

Now i need to get it connected with mission planner, i have tried but no luck. I have no idea when connecting MP if i should be using tcp udp or udpci. also MP asks for an ip and port. am i right in assuming the ip for the dongle on the plane is what we put in here

internet for the gcs is from a huawei e5377 wifi dongle, on the plane it is a huawei e8372

Hoping you will see this Super and offer instruction. i would have emailed but that is not working either lol, what chance have i got if i cant get email working. incoming mail only.lol.

Cheers

Sinamics

hehe, You must be frustrated.

Check your SMTP (Outgoing server) settings are correct. Use a server provided by your domain.

My assumption to your MP issue
I think you should use UDP in mission planner. Just type the port defined in 4Gmetry. Default 14550.
You should be able to retrieve stream starting 4Gmetry using your GCS ip. Super has to correct me if wrong.

itsfishi

Thanks Bernt

Will keep at it.

Im not really frustrated because i dont know what the hell im doing, if i thought i knew what i was doing then id be very frustrated. Very big learning curve coming at it with no computer skills, but luckily i have some smart people around to help.

Emails now working so thats one issue solved 🙂

Sinamics

Emails now working so thats one issue solved 🙂

Something working at least.
Keep us updated if you get any feedback from Silvio.

Al_B

From a hardware standpoint, what is exactly the difference between the Volta and the standard ODROID-XU4 ?

The Volta doesn't even include the 5V/4A power supply included with the ODROID-XU4, but it costs $200 more.

The only thing that the Volta includes which it doesn't come with standard ODROID-XU4, it's the modified Chinese USB cable with a DF13 connector to connect to the Pixhawk. I hope I'm missing something here because I don't think that crappy cable justifies the extra $200.

BTW, the Volta documentation is pretty terrible.