Steam Deck & Drones

[.]

Would it be possible to connect a drone to the Steam Deck and use it as a remote control?

[Man's Best Friend]

Does a setup like that exist on PC? Because I'd say if you can do it there, there's a good chance you could do it on Deck.

That'd be pretty neat if you can though.

[.]

That's the very question. I don't have one but I would be interested if this is possible.

[Nathan]

Originally posted by Insignia:

No, the deck as no receiver for the drone to connect to unless you solder one into the deck yourself which probably isn't possible..

If you want something with a screen you will have to buy DJI

Which type of receiver would it need? Surely there is a usb-c adapter for everything.

[Mahjik]

Originally posted by Nathan:

Originally posted by Insignia:

No, the deck as no receiver for the drone to connect to unless you solder one into the deck yourself which probably isn't possible..

If you want something with a screen you will have to buy DJI

Which type of receiver would it need? Surely there is a usb-c adapter for everything.

Actually, it's the other way. The Steam Deck would need to be the "transmitter". I'm not aware there is an adapter to do that. There is an adapter for computers to be a "receiver" where you can practice controlling various R/C vehicles in a virtual environment but using your real life R/C transmitter. I have the game/sim for ground vehicles and thinking about the airplane app if I ever get into R/C planes.

[Minneyar]

The Steam Deck is basically just a Linux PC under the hood, so if you have the hardware and software necessary to use a laptop running Linux as a controller, then yes, it can do it.

The catch is that drone controllers often have an integrated antenna and use a proprietary RF signal for communications rather than WiFi or Bluetooth, so you would probably need an antenna that you can connect via USB-C and then software that can connect to the drone using that.

[MarvinR]

Originally posted by Insignia:

No, the deck as no receiver for the drone to connect to unless you solder one into the deck yourself which probably isn't possible..

If you want something with a screen you will have to buy DJI

many connect through wifi or bluetooth, both of which the steamdeck has a receiver for.

software is the issue though.
many consumer drones require either a dedicated controller, or rely on a mobile app which will only run on android or iOS.

[.]

Originally posted by MarvinR:

Originally posted by Insignia:

No, the deck as no receiver for the drone to connect to unless you solder one into the deck yourself which probably isn't possible..

If you want something with a screen you will have to buy DJI

many connect through wifi or bluetooth, both of which the steamdeck has a receiver for.

software is the issue though.
many consumer drones require either a dedicated controller, or rely on a mobile app which will only run on android or iOS.

Bluestacks might help perhaps?

[Haruspex]

I was thinking of this last year before release. It's potentially a really good solution for drones and robotics. I know there are some drone autopilot applications that run on Linux, but from what I can tell they wouldn't really take advantage of what the Deck has to offer, and that's direct control with dual joysticks and FPV on the display.

I've thought of it. You've thought of it. So the DIY community has probably thought of it and have most likely already written code to work towards that goal. We may see a full-featured drone control software suite for the Deck before too long.

[@R+5]

i used duckduckgo, and found there are some drones that work through linux, so maybe it could be possible to control one using a steam deck. The thing some of these ones look expensive, used for industrial settings.

Maybe something similar but more affordable is available, or maybe it already exists with the diy and hardware hacking community.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6G7x-S6IRk

https://uavia.eu/

this is about a military drone controlled in linux

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/05/navy-giving-its-helicopter-drones-a-linux-upgrade/

this one uses linux, so maybe theres a "hacky way" to make it work in the deck; maybe it would need dual booting or something.

https://makezine.com/article/maker-news/3dr-solo-quadcopter-gopro/

this guy is controlling a drone with a linux laptop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9yZmEDRuZs

" Will REDHAT LINUX for DRONES break DJI's monopoly? "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByYV0smB4HE

How to Control a Drone with the Keyboard using Python and Dronekit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ0f1TTmSZM