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For the autopilot package, Ardupilot, PX4 and INAV are the most popular. All three support MAVLink, and Ardupilot (supports onboard Lua scripting)[https://drones.stackexchange.com/a/894/272]supports onboard Lua scripting in addition to that. There are others as well which you might want to research, but I'd suggest sticking with one of these.

For the autopilot package, Ardupilot, PX4 and INAV are the most popular. All three support MAVLink, and Ardupilot (supports onboard Lua scripting)[https://drones.stackexchange.com/a/894/272] in addition to that. There are others as well which you might want to research, but I'd suggest sticking with one of these.

For the autopilot package, Ardupilot, PX4 and INAV are the most popular. All three support MAVLink, and Ardupilot supports onboard Lua scripting in addition to that. There are others as well which you might want to research, but I'd suggest sticking with one of these.

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For the autopilot package, Ardupilot, PX4 and INAV are the most popular. All three support MAVLink, and thereArdupilot (supports onboard Lua scripting)[https://drones.stackexchange.com/a/894/272] in addition to that. There are others as well which you might want to research, but I'd suggest sticking with one of these.

I think it would be very beneficial to browse the forums forof all of those autopilot packages describing how to performfor threads on mapping missions. The relevant threadsMost of the information will likely be mostly about photographic mapping in particular, and thus usediscuss way sparser patterns and bigger altitudes than what you need, but the principles are exactly the same.

YouConsidering the required spatial resolution of your measurements, especially at shorter wavelengths, you should probably look into DGPS and RTK, and maybe set up a local reference station at the antennaof your own, which would allow you to improve the positionalpositioning accuracy of the mapdramatically (from ±5m to single centimeters or less).

Also you should mind the polarization of your receiving antenna, otherwise your resulting radiation map may be altered significantly by cross-polarization attenuation. Maybe you could use a circular-polarized antenna, set up several linear antennae on the same drone, or make several passes with the receiving antenna in different orientations relative to the transmitting antenna under test to account for that.

For the autopilot package, Ardupilot, PX4 and INAV are the most popular, and there are others as well.

I think it would be very beneficial to browse the forums for all of those autopilot packages describing how to perform mapping missions. The relevant threads will likely be mostly about photographic mapping, and thus use way sparser patterns and bigger altitudes, but the principles are exactly the same.

You should probably look into DGPS and RTK, and set up a reference station at the antenna to improve the positional accuracy of the map.

Also you should mind the polarization of your receiving antenna, otherwise your resulting radiation map may be altered significantly by cross-polarization attenuation. Maybe you could use a circular-polarized antenna, set up several linear antennae on the same drone, or make several passes with the receiving antenna in different orientations relative to the transmitting antenna under test.

For the autopilot package, Ardupilot, PX4 and INAV are the most popular. All three support MAVLink, and Ardupilot (supports onboard Lua scripting)[https://drones.stackexchange.com/a/894/272] in addition to that. There are others as well which you might want to research, but I'd suggest sticking with one of these.

I think it would be very beneficial to browse the forums of all of those autopilot packages for threads on mapping missions. Most of the information will likely be about photographic mapping in particular, and thus discuss way sparser patterns and bigger altitudes than what you need, but the principles are exactly the same.

Considering the required spatial resolution of your measurements, especially at shorter wavelengths, you should probably look into DGPS and RTK and maybe set up a local reference station of your own, which would allow you to improve the positioning accuracy dramatically (from ±5m to single centimeters or less).

Also you should mind the polarization of your receiving antenna, otherwise your resulting radiation map may be altered significantly by cross-polarization attenuation. Maybe you could use a circular-polarized antenna, set up several linear antennae on the same drone, or make several passes with the receiving antenna in different orientations relative to the transmitting antenna under test to account for that.

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This is very similar to a project I had in mind, also using an SDR for radio spectrum mapping.

Unfortunately there is no ready-made solution to your exact problem, butand specifically there are no entirely Pi-based drones that I know of. But we can get pretty close to itby releasing the constraints a bit.

The simplest build would be an autopilot-equipped copter with an offboard SBC (e.g. the Pi) and an SDR dongle. The SBC would be linked to the flight controller via MAVLink or similar over UART, which would allow it to receive real-time position data and optionally send commands to the FC. The autopilot will then perform a waypoint mission defineduploaded either through the autopilot's ground station software or directly from the onboard Pi, sweeping around the antenna in a tight pattern, and the Pi will record and location-stamp the data. When the drone returns you could use some script of your own design to interpolate that log into a continuous radiationspatial intensity map.

This kind of solution is great in that you could use any waypoint-capable drone, as it only serves as a carrier for the mapping package, and the only integration you need is receiving GPS. You could probably even use a second GPS receiver in order to fully decouple the drone from the SDR package. Or you could go the other way and fully control the drone's behavior from the Pi via the link, the FC only providing the basics of flight and leaving the flightpath up to the Pi.

For the hardware, use any copter capable of carrying a Pi, dongle and antenna. Fully equipped ardupilot-ready kits capable of carrying a camera can be had for around $200, for which you only need to supply your own battery (and, if you wish, a 2.4G RC control link, which I'd recommend, but you can make do with just the 433MHz groundstation link if you're so inclined).

If you want the Pi to be integrated more closely into the drone, there are several Pi-specific solutions that I know of, but they all involve an external microcontroller-based flight controller board. For instance, there's the Navio by Emlid, which is an Ardupilot-equipped flight controller made in the form factor of a Pi HAT. Then there used to be the Outcast Droneworks MicroHawk, a micro-drone that uses a Pi Zero as part of its body. The page for it is now unavailable, however, so I don't know the current status of the project. In any case, this is in essence the same as sticking a regular FC board and a Pi on the same frame and connecting them together, the only difference is the form factor.

For the autopilot package, Ardupilot, PX4 and INAV are the most popular, and there are others as well.

Some parting notes:

I think it would be very beneficial to browse the forums for all of those autopilot packages describing how to perform mapping missions. The relevant threads will likely be mostly about photographic mapping, and thus use way sparser patterns and bigger altitudes, but the principles are exactly the same.

You should probably look into DGPS and RTK, and set up a reference station at the antenna to improve the positional accuracy of the map.

Also you should mind the polarization of your receiving antenna, otherwise your resulting radiation map may be altered significantly by cross-polarization attenuation. Maybe you could use a circular-polarized antenna, set up several linear antennae on the same drone, or make several passes with the receiving antenna in different orientations relative to the transmitting antenna under test.

This is very similar to a project I had in mind, also using an SDR for radio spectrum mapping.

Unfortunately there is no ready-made solution to your exact problem, but we can get pretty close to it.

The simplest build would be an autopilot-equipped copter with an offboard SBC (e.g. the Pi) and an SDR dongle. The SBC would be linked to the flight controller via MAVLink or similar over UART, which would allow it to receive real-time position data. The autopilot will then perform a waypoint mission defined through the autopilot's ground station software, sweeping around the antenna in a tight pattern, and the Pi will record and location-stamp the data. When the drone returns you could use some script of your own design to interpolate that log into a continuous radiation map.

This kind of solution is great in that you could use any waypoint-capable drone, as it only serves as a carrier for the mapping package, and the only integration you need is receiving GPS. You could probably even use a second GPS receiver in order to fully decouple the drone from the SDR package.

For the hardware, use any copter capable of carrying a Pi, dongle and antenna. Fully equipped ardupilot-ready kits capable of carrying a camera can be had for around $200, for which you only need to supply your own battery (and, if you wish, a 2.4G RC control link, which I'd recommend, but you can make do with just the 433MHz groundstation link if you're so inclined).

For the autopilot package, Ardupilot, PX4 and INAV are the most popular, and there are others as well.

I think it would be very beneficial to browse the forums for all of those autopilot packages describing how to perform mapping missions. The relevant threads will likely be mostly about photographic mapping, and thus use way sparser patterns and bigger altitudes, but the principles are exactly the same.

You should probably look into DGPS and RTK, and set up a reference station at the antenna to improve the positional accuracy of the map.

Also you should mind the polarization of your receiving antenna, otherwise your resulting radiation map may be altered significantly by cross-polarization attenuation. Maybe you could use a circular-polarized antenna, set up several linear antennae on the same drone, or make several passes with the receiving antenna in different orientations relative to the transmitting antenna under test.

This is very similar to a project I had in mind, also using an SDR for radio spectrum mapping.

Unfortunately there is no ready-made solution to your exact problem, and specifically there are no entirely Pi-based drones that I know of. But we can get pretty close by releasing the constraints a bit.

The simplest build would be an autopilot-equipped copter with an offboard SBC (e.g. the Pi) and an SDR dongle. The SBC would be linked to the flight controller via MAVLink or similar over UART, which would allow it to receive real-time position data and optionally send commands to the FC. The autopilot will then perform a waypoint mission uploaded either through the autopilot's ground station software or directly from the onboard Pi, sweeping around the antenna in a tight pattern, and the Pi will record and location-stamp the data. When the drone returns you could use some script of your own design to interpolate that log into a continuous spatial intensity map.

This kind of solution is great in that you could use any waypoint-capable drone, as it only serves as a carrier for the mapping package, and the only integration you need is receiving GPS. You could even use a second GPS receiver in order to fully decouple the drone from the SDR package. Or you could go the other way and fully control the drone's behavior from the Pi via the link, the FC only providing the basics of flight and leaving the flightpath up to the Pi.

For the hardware, use any copter capable of carrying a Pi, dongle and antenna. Fully equipped ardupilot-ready kits capable of carrying a camera can be had for around $200, for which you only need to supply your own battery (and, if you wish, a 2.4G RC control link, which I'd recommend, but you can make do with just the 433MHz groundstation link if you're so inclined).

If you want the Pi to be integrated more closely into the drone, there are several Pi-specific solutions that I know of, but they all involve an external microcontroller-based flight controller board. For instance, there's the Navio by Emlid, which is an Ardupilot-equipped flight controller made in the form factor of a Pi HAT. Then there used to be the Outcast Droneworks MicroHawk, a micro-drone that uses a Pi Zero as part of its body. The page for it is now unavailable, however, so I don't know the current status of the project. In any case, this is in essence the same as sticking a regular FC board and a Pi on the same frame and connecting them together, the only difference is the form factor.

For the autopilot package, Ardupilot, PX4 and INAV are the most popular, and there are others as well.

Some parting notes:

I think it would be very beneficial to browse the forums for all of those autopilot packages describing how to perform mapping missions. The relevant threads will likely be mostly about photographic mapping, and thus use way sparser patterns and bigger altitudes, but the principles are exactly the same.

You should probably look into DGPS and RTK, and set up a reference station at the antenna to improve the positional accuracy of the map.

Also you should mind the polarization of your receiving antenna, otherwise your resulting radiation map may be altered significantly by cross-polarization attenuation. Maybe you could use a circular-polarized antenna, set up several linear antennae on the same drone, or make several passes with the receiving antenna in different orientations relative to the transmitting antenna under test.

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