Glossary

The drone ID is a fixed unique physical ID that allows the permanent identification of the drone in the swarm. In ArduCopter based drones it is based on the MAVLink system ID stored in the MAV_SYSID/SYSID_THISMAV parameter, and the SHOW_GROUP parameter introduced in the custom Skybrush firmware. The visible drone ID in Skybrush Sidekick is simply SYSID_THISMAV or calculated as SYSID_THISMAV + SHOW_GROUP * 250, depending on the used protocol settings.

The low level firmware of the drones provides different flight modes, which determine the overall behaviour of the drones. Such flight modes are position hold, return to home, land, or show (which is our custom mode for executing drone shows).

Ground control station

The default communication protocol used by drones and radio modules operated with the ArduCopter firmware. See more at https://mavlink.io/en/.

See Drone ID.

Return to home

Real-time kinematic (positioning)

The custom flight mode in which drone shows are executed.

Skybrush Server is the backend part of Skybrush that connects to your drones, your RTK base station and other hardware accessories that might be needed for your missions. It ensures the smooth communication between all hardware elements and the connected Skybrush Live or Skybrush Sidekick clients. Skybrush Server is either running on the same computer as one of the clients or on a dedicated local HW device or in the cloud.