SkyRocket¶
A number of SkyRocket drones use ArduPilot as flight control software. This page provides details for advanced users and potential developers on these RTF drones.
Where to Buy¶
Warning
The Journey drones that SkyRocket sells starting end of 2021 are not supported by ArduPilot. See this ArduPilot forum thread.
2017 models
The Sky Viper v2450GPS Drone with Autopilot and GPS is on sale through Walmart, Amazon and Costco in the US, Australia, Canada, Chile, France, German, Holland, Lithuania, Mexico, New Zealand, Serbia, UK since October 2017.
SkyRocket sells a variety of different drones. Of the 2017 models, only the V2450GPS Streaming drone (which will have a white shell) is capable of running ArduPilot.
2018 models
In August 2018, SkyRocket released three new ArduPilot powered drones, the Fury, Scout, and Journey. The Fury and Scout utilize “SurfaceScan”, built on ArduPilot’s OpticalFlow feature, to allow for indoor flight stability and position holding, unprecedented in this price range. The Journey, with GPS rather than OpticalFlow, takes lessons learned from the V2450GPS and builds on those for a solid re-release for the full GPS-enabled ArduPilot experience. The flight parameters and firmware for both the Scout and Journey can be easily modified as the user sees fit through the embedded wifi access point, powered by APWeb or using your favorite ground control software. Much of the information on this page, which was written for the V2450GPS, will at least partially apply to these new models, with updates annotated as they are discovered.
2021 models
The Journey is not sold anymore. Instead a Sky Viper Journey SE is shipped. Resellers might still have the Journey listed but have been observed to ship the Journey SE.
Discussion¶
We have a SkyViper section on the ArduPilot discussion forum. Have a look there to see what people are up to and ask questions.
More developer specific information including how to compile the sonix and ardupilot firmware can be found on the developer wiki.
Toy Mode¶
The Skyviper has Toy Mode set by default. Toy Mode handles the following functions, specific to the Sky Viper 2450GPS:
Handles the button presses from the transmitter
Magically trims the sticks when they’re idle and the SV is disarmed
Toggles the fence on and off depending on the situation
Basically, if GPS is “good”, the fence is armed, if GPS is “not good”, the fence is disarmed (for obvious reasons)
Toy Mode also handles moving you between ALT_HOLD and LOITER automatically depending on GPS Status.
Handles the LED bling (source: peterbarker)
Toy Mode automatically adjusts the thrust based on voltage
Toy Mode processes an arming script when armed using the throttle control to prevent sudden climbs (idles motors for a moment before increasing speed)
Performs some automatic Compass tuning if needed
Hardware¶
STM32 CPU
5x serial ports
1x I2C
1x SPI
ICM20789 IMU including 3-axis accelerometer, gyro and barometer
Ublox M8 GPS
1S battery (4.2V max, replacement batteries are readily available on Amazon and other places)
brushed motors; 8.5x20mm with a kV between 16,000 and 17,000 as measured.
The small pinion is 13T and the larger one is 73T, which provides a gear ratio of approximately 5.6
the camera can be manually adjusted to point forward, down or anywhere in between
2.4Ghz wifi for telemetry and video
145g
flight time of about 11min
top speed of between 8m/s ~ 10m/s
video streaming uses a Sonix board with ARM CPU running FreeRTOS and OmniVision OV9732 chip
sUAS news interview with Tridge and Matt (from SkyRocket):