ArduPilot RemoteID Support

Andrew Tridgell, Josh Henderson, David Buzz, Jeff Wurzbach, Roel Schiphorst
As of September 2022 standard, RemoteID is a requirement in the USA
- Required on all new commercial vehicles sold
- Able to meet FAA requirements via ASTM means of compliance
- You will need to buy the MOC
- Basic components:
- A compliant transmitter module
- Support in flight controller firmware
- Support in GCS software for operator location
- Certification process with FAA and FCC
- ArduPilot solution is based on OpenDroneID
- https://www.opendroneid.org/
- We use the https://github.com/opendroneid/opendroneid-core-c implementation in our transmitter firmware
- ArduPilot Wiki: https://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-remoteid.html

RemoteID Hardware
Several Options available for hardware
- ESP32-S3 Dev module
- New module from Wurzbach Electronics
- New module from Bluemark
- Build your own ESP32-S3/C3 module
- Other options here
Connection options
- MAVLink over UART
- DroneCAN on CAN bus
ESP32 Firmware
- An ArduPilot RemoteID firmware for ESP32-S3/C3 is available here:
- https://github.com/ArduPilot/ArduRemoteID
- Pre-compiled binaries are in the releases folder
- Supports both MAVLink on UART and DroneCAN on CAN port
- Pinouts are in the README on the github site
- Tested on ESP32-S3, will test on ESP32-C3 soon
- Operation
- The transmitter module listens for 5 messages on MAVLink or DroneCAN
- BasicId
- SelfID
- OperatorID
- System
- Location
- The transmitter module sends one message for arming ok/not-ok
- ArmStatus
- The DroneCAN messages are identical in form to the MAVLink OpenDroneID messages
- The transmitter module listens for 5 messages on MAVLink or DroneCAN
Ardupilot Firmware
- The ArduPilot firmware support is merged in master
- Support is also in 4.2.3beta2 for plane and will be in copter beta shortly
- Could be backported to earlier firmware if required
- Parameters
- Key parameters in ArduPilot are:
- DID_ENABLE : must be set to 1 to enable OpenDroneID
- DID_CANDRIVER : which CAN driver to use (1 or 2), or 0 to disable CAN
- DID_MAVPORT : serial port to use for MAVLink support, or -1 to disable
- DID_OPTIONS : needs to be set to 1 to enforce arming checks
- DID_BARO_ACC : airframe specific barometer accuracy
- Other key parameters also need to be locked down, for example:
- GPS_TYPE, GPS_TYPE2, AHRS_EKF_TYPE, SERIALn_PROTOCOL (this list will grow as we test)
- Lockdown mechanism is via defaults.parm and @READONLY tag
- See CubeOrange-ODID and Pixhawk6X-ODID examples
- Key parameters in ArduPilot are:
Board IDs and Parameter Lock
To be compliant with ASTM means of compliance we need parameter lockdown
- Each vendor creates a new build target (hwdef.dat directory)
- Use board ID that is vendor specific, default is 10000 + base board ID
- Examples for CubeOrange-ODID and Pixhawk6X-ODID are provided
- Needs custom hwdef.dat option to enable OpenDroneID
- Needs custom defaults.parm to mark key parameters @READONLY
Ground Station Support
The ground station needs to provide key data to the flight controller
- Key data includes:
- UAS ID
- Operator ID and description
- Operating area limits
- Some classification IDs
- This data is provided via MAVLink using OPEN_DRONE_ID messages
- Sample implementation is in MAVProxy OpenDroneID module
- A MissionPlanner plugin should be coming soon
- Current beta already supports required DroneCAN and MAVLink messages
- We will also need QGroundControl support
Mission Planner Support
GCS Operator interface pending
- DroneCAN and MAVLink support already done

Vehicle Serial Number
Vehicles needs to have an assigned serial number
- Serial number in accordance with ANSI/CTA-2063 (https://wurzbachelectronics.com/blog/cta-uas-serial-number-standard-ansicta-2063-and-icao-manufacturer-code-resources-/)
- Needs to come from FAA or talk to Jeff Wurzbach at above link
- Expect that initially we will bake this into the transmitter module firmware
- This is to meet the “authorized parties” and “system and process accepted by FAA” portions of the MOC
Certification and testing will be a significant challenge
- Both FCC and FAA certification needed
- FCC Transmitter Certification (47 CFR 15.247 and/or 15.249) & EMC testing (47 CFR 15.109)
- Co-located transmitters will be a challenge for most manufacturers
- Has long lead time due to lab scheduling (expect 10 weeks+)
- DoC (declaration of compliance) for FAA
- ASTM F3586−22 is an MOC accepted (with comments) by the FAA
- Federal Register publication pending, expected this week
- Outlines process options for demonstration of compliance
- FCC Transmitter Certification (47 CFR 15.247 and/or 15.249) & EMC testing (47 CFR 15.109)
For discussion of all RemoteID/OpenDroneID topics please use:
- The (partner only) partner_regulatory channel on discord
- The public opendroneid channel on discord
- The partners mailing list
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