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Canada
Asked — Edited

Ar-Drone And Ez-B

Anyone else having connection problems with the Parrot Drone and EZ-B. I actually had my unit at DJ's and it would fly from the EZ-B but the camera would not colour track. DJ rewrote the software and upgraded a couple of versions since then. But on the latest firmware (installed today) and with the latest formware in the Parrot I cannot even fly it from EZ- it states it is connected but will not fly or show the camera at all. Machine flying normally in latest version of IPOD software.
I would appreciate even replies stating no problems on their units and then I can start checking if I have a faulty board on the drone.


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#1  
Have you tried it without the ez-b connected?

You're combining two things in your message:) to clarify from the FAQ page:
EZ-B is the hardware circuit board
ARC is the comtrol software

Try ARC without the ez-b connected. I'm thinking your drone is acceptable to interference of the ez-b? I can't understand what else it could be.

I fly my drones daily with ARC:)
#2  
I'll try it without the EZ-B connected, I guess we didn't do that at your place either and yes I was meaning ARC where I said EZ-B, will try today before I give up on it.
#3  
EZ-B disconnected allowed the drone to be controlled after switching off other Wi-fi connections and making sure Ardrone wi-fi connected OK then running ARC to control. While colour recognition seemed to be working as soon as I get the drone flying and try to follow a colour object then ARC freezes up.
This was the same (on my drone) as at your place and some interference may well be possible yet is it not strange that I had the same interference at your place.

I do have a phone system with wireless communication --next thing is to take the laptop down the road and try just ARC and see if it does not freeze--but why does it freeze the program (on new and pretty good laptop) and not just give flying interference?

Still curious to hear from any other Ardrone flyers out there using EX-Builder? *confused*
#4  
i bought my AR drone about a year ago ,its a great product and now i see its one of the top 5 toys for the summer
on using the AR DRONE you do need a big backyard or a very powerfull WIFI booster,like i made for mine almost 2 miles from my house i can use it

so far with too many robot projects i have to make,havent had time to hook it up to EZB,BUT SOON
#5  
Hi Robotmaker, what kind of wifi booster did you use/make???? Range is definitely a problem. Let me know how the hookup to EZB goes.
#6  
it is very high cost ,but first you need a high power wifi
high power wifi router
second you need a booster amp

high power booster amp
3rd you need a good outdoor grid antenna,i added a special circuit to adjust the antenna by SWR
but dont really need it if you point the antenna right
outdoor grid antenna
almost any wifi router will work ,only this uses wrt linux software
about $200 total
#7  
Thx for the info, guess that will be on Santa's list!!
Hong Kong
#8  
So to get object tracking to work you must have the ez-b correct? Rather than buying the entire EZ kit for $160 can anyone tell me what pieces i would need if I bought them a-la-carte?

Thanks!
j
United Kingdom
#9  
As far as I know it doesn't even need to be fitted to the drone, if you don't add anything else such as sensors to it then you can get away with the bare minimum, so just an EZB would do, otherwise the software runs slow.

Plus power for the EZB. Battery pack & adaptor or use an old router's power supply if you have one that fits. Anything from ~5v to ~18v will work.
Hong Kong
#10  
Hi,
I'm trying to use object tracking with my AR.Drone 2.0. I have the EZ-B connected via bluetooth, and the Drone connected via Wifi. I can control the drone with ARC but I cannot choose a camera - when I click "Sel Camera" i get this message:

"EZB 0: TCP Server stopped
AR Drone Picture Socket Exception An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host
AR Drone Picture Socket Exception An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host
AR Drone Picture Socket Exception An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host
AR Drone Picture Socket Exception An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host
AR Drone Picture Socket Exception An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host
AR Drone Picture Socket Exception An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host
AR Drone Camera Stopped

EZB 1: TCP Server stopped

EZB 2: TCP Server stopped

EZB 3: TCP Server stopped

EZB 4: TCP Server stopped"

I have also tried "add>Camera>camera device" and it just crashes. Even if both teh EZ-B and drone are disconnected.

My machine is:
Dell XPS
64 bit
Windows 7 Pro SP1
Intel i7
8GB ram
w/ built in webcam

Any thoughts?

Thanks guys,
Jason


User-inserted image
#11  
@Jason,

ARC is currently only compatible with AR Drone 1.0. Parrot changed the SDK with 2.0 and only very recently released an update, and the update was only for Android and Linux, so DJ has not integrated it yet (and may not unless they do a Windows SDK. He has many other things on his todo list).

Alan
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