Air Commander Overview
Overview of the Air Commander system
Sony and Phase One integrations implemented by IFT are controlled via the Air Commander System. This system relies on the Entire R3 for all camera communication, control, geotagging, and extended gimbal control.
Air Commander, Flight Controller, Mavlink Connection
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The Entire R3 is connected to the flight controller via Mavlink. Communication between the pilot and camera goes through the MavCam app installed on the Herelink Ground Station to the Herelink Air Unit, which is then sent to through the flight controller.
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Next, data goes through the Air Commander geotagging interconnect board, to the Air Commander Extension Box, where it is multiplexed from up to 4 separate data streams down to one 4 wire cable.
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Finally, it goes through the Aux port on the Gremsy quick connect, through the gimbal to the lower Aux port on the Gremsy gimbal, to the Entire R3 mounted on the underside of the gimbal.
With those connections, the Entire R3 receives a constant GPS signal and the digital communication interface necessary for all desired functionality.
The Entire R3 connects to the camera with the following interfaces:
Used for read/write access to camera storage, allows geotagging GPS and position data directly to photos EXIF. Also used for basic photo and video triggering and autofocus.
Additionally, the cameras are integrated with a dummy battery powered via the drone's battery through the gimbal. This saves weight and complexity, eliminating the need for battery charging or removing the camera between missions.
The following Sony camera integrations utilize the following Entire R3 connections and has their associated capabilities:
Multiport USB, IR LED, WiFi, Hotshoe Sensor
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