Quadcopter

[DCengineer]

I have a question regarding the Ethernet port on the RPi. I intend to eventually build a quadcopter and possibly use an RPi as the main controller. My intentions are to mount a WiFi router in bridge mode with a long range antennae connected to the Ethernet port of the Pi. The RPi will be connected to an Arduino board controlling the motors. The RPi will send commands to the Arduino via USB. A single computer (my laptop) will be connected to the WiFi network and send commands to the Pi.

My question:
Will the Pi's lack of Gigabit Ethernet capabilities noticeably reduce the responsiveness of the the quadcopter, assuming that the RPi will be...

• - Sending sensor data from the Arduino to my laptop
  - Receiving commands from my laptop
  - Potentially streaming low resolution video to my laptop

[MangoKid]

I have done this using long range wifi over rf systems (4km ish). It totally depends on how you are managing you network.

I was able to run 640*480 video at 20fps and control the copter without noticeable lag. You will run into issues when you router/Ethernet card is controlling the packets. The control packet a quadracopter needs to fly is at max 1k/byte. Problem is it may not be sent the minute you send it. The router may wait for the packet to fill before sending it.

If you are using python or c i suggest using multi threading (one thread control, the other video feedback) without this your copters response will be limited to the cameras frame rate.

[CopterRichie]

From what I understand at present, the Ethernet port is connected via the USB controller. I would opt to not using it and use something line this http://www.ebay.com/itm/300Mbps-USB-Wir ... 0989632307