FlyinDiamonds drone light show solution components

Light show controller

FlyinDiamonds Light show controller is a powerfull control unit built on ESP32, which provides the ability to independent control and synchronize dozens of drones together. Designed to control the Pixhawk platform (Ardupilot and PX4) mainly for professional use, but perfect for developers and educational purposes.

The light show controller allows them to perform prearranged synchronized missions for multiple drones. The instructions from the mission created using the Show designer Light show controller transform into flight commands, which it transmits via Mavlink to the connected control unit, which independently executes the flight commands. The light show controller ensures perfect time synchronization of the execution of flight commands with other drones, allows receiving RTK GNSS messages or commands directly from Ground controll software.

Features:

• Brightness 16 million colors 900 lm RGB light board
• Communication 2.4GHz Wi-Fi up to 200m
• Additional port for telemetry radio
• Proprietal Wi-Fi Bridge protocol (high precision GNSS RTK, Telemetry and mission control)
• Ardupilot compatibility
• Power supply range 3-6s
• Smart battery voltage monitoring
• Voltage and current protection
• Flight controller 5V power supply (max 1A with continuous current)
• Dimension: 50x50x3 mm
• Weight: 25 g
• Interfaces: Wi-Fi, micro USB, 2x UART

Connecting to a autopilot

Wiring is very simple and mostly the same for all devices connected to any serial port (eg TELEM1 or TELEM2) of the autopilot. This guide does not go into detail here, but provides an outline for wiring below. Use a cable to connect power supply from battery to Light show controller and solder a VIN and GND pin. Solder 1TX, 1RX and GND pins to connect UART port on Light show controller to the Serial port of the Flight controller (e.g. TELEM 1 or TELEM 2 port). Solder 2TX, 2RX, +5V and GND pins to connect UART port on Light show controller to the telemtry radio.

• Power supply 3-6s
• Flight controller power supply 5V output (max 1A with continuous current), - pins Vout, GND
• UART 1: drone flight controller - pins 5V (optional), 1TX, 1TX, GND
• UART 2: telemetry radio (optional - 5V, 2TX, 2TX, GND pins )
• USB: firmware flash

Downloading and Flashing the Firmware

Download the firmware from the GitHub repository and follow the flashing instructions there. They are always up to date. FD_lightShowController There are two ways how flash firmware to LSC, each via USB port or OTA update usin our Ground control software. For convenience reasons some short instructions are given here:

1. Download the pre-compiled firmware binaries
2. Connect your Light show controller to your computer via USB port or
3. Using 'ESP firmware flasher' Tool (Windows only) for erase the flash and flash FD_lightShowController firmware onto you board or use FW update button in 'Ground control software' menu and flash firmware via Wi-Fi
4. Power Cycle the Light show controller

Configuring Light show controller

Each controller delivered to you has already been set with a unique 'SSID_serialNumber'. You can change the default configuration via setup configuration file.

Default Configuration:

• SSID: FlyinDiamonds_serialNumber
• Password: flyindiamonds
• Gateway IP: 192.168.1.1

ArduPilot configuration

Configure the UART of the flight controller that is wired to the Light show controller. The default configuration for controller is:.

• Protocol: MAVLink V2
• Baudrate: 115200 baud

If connected to Serial2 these parameters should be set on the autopilot (if using another serial port, replace the “2” in the parameter name with the serial port’s number):

• Use the USB connector to connect your Flight controller to your computer.
• First, load the Stable Arducopter Firmware, follow the steps in the following link: Loading Ardupilot Firmware
• go to Mission Planner and click on: Config > Full Parameter Tree > find following parameters:
• SERIAL2_PROTOCOL = 2 (MAVLink2)
• SERIAL2_BAUD = 115 (115200 baud)

Mounting Light show controller:

We recommend placing it on the bottom of the drone so that the diodes point perpendicular to the ground and achieve the best possible visual effect. Use the 4 mounting holes in the corners for mounting, which are for M3 screws and have a dimension of 50 x 50 mm.