Proof of Concept - Connecting to WiFi Drone through 4G

[Agent M]

Hello Hardware and Software Pilots and Hackers.

I was pretty impressed by the recent news of the Parrot Anafi AI drone as well as the new DJI Mavic 3 drone supporting flight over 4G. Despite hardware and software limitations including latency, they have made this work.

I always thought that this would be quite straightforward to attach a 4G modem to a WiFi capable drone to be able to pilot it via 4G.

I'm sure the above is easier said than done, however a properly configured lightweight 4G Modem acting as a bridge, connecting to a VPN could just fool the drone into thinking that a smartphone connected to 4g is within WiFi range.

Please don't shoot down this idea(no pun intended). There are many caveats before such a solution can be commercially and feasiblysound(legal line of sight limitations in the US, latency issues, network coverage, software limitations, and I'm sure many more not listed).

All I'm asking for is some advice in the proper kind network setup needed, so that we can start testing some out-of-the-box hardware for a proof of concept.

Does anyone have any experience or any hardware that they can use to test this PoC?

 

[Saladshooter]

I am not sure how the tech works but Dustin Dunnill demos using cellular to fly between Hawaiian Islands in this video using A Parrot Disco drone:

 

[Jagerbomb52]

The one guy that made many of these mods has shut down his site. Not sure why. Maybe chip shortage, covid or just wanted to move on. Finding the right parts might be a challenge. The biggest problem is battery life. If you are expecting long range with a setup like that then you need batteries to support it.
Good luck.

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[Saladshooter]

4G For Disco Drone Mod

This is how the mod was done.

 

[Flycaster]

Beat me to it "Salad".....
The only issue I see is that the power consumption for a drone is waaay more than a parrot Disco..

 

[Agent M]

Right thanks for the input Salad, Agustine.

The "Disco" mod is a software mod. The solution in the diagram that I originally posted is not actually a mod per say, it's simply a networking workaround that makes the drone and the phone think that they are directly attached(despite both connecting though a cellular network). I believe the solution can be achieved with a VPN and a powered 4g modem which are configured to run on the same IP or with a pass-through network connection...

I also note that this solution would work with any drone that connects to a phone via WiFi... which makes the interest in such a device potentially quite high.

Is there anyone in this group with network configuration experience that can chime in?

 

[RandyBullard]

Right thanks for the input Salad, Agustine.

The "Disco" mod is a software mod. The solution in the diagram that I originally posted is not actually a mod per say, it's simply a networking workaround that makes the drone and the phone think that they are directly attached(despite both connecting though a cellular network). I believe the solution can be achieved with a VPN and a powered 4g modem which are configured to run on the same IP or with a pass-through network connection...

I also note that this solution would work with any drone that connects to a phone via WiFi... which makes the interest in such a device potentially quite high.

Is there anyone in this group with network configuration experience that can chime in?

Verizon has two 4G and on 5G small battery-powered hotspots. AT&T and T-Mobile have the same. Connect the drone through the hotspot, strap the hotspot to the drone and off you go.