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

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

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
  • https://github.com/ArduPilot/MAVProxy/blob/master/MAVProxy/modules/mavproxy_OpenDroneID.py
• 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

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