Development of iOS application handlers for quadrotor UAV remote control and monitoring

With the progress of electronics technology, the development of civilian UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) applications becomes possible. Also, smartphones have rapidly gained popularity and become very important due to the simple operability and mobility. Hence, there is a need to have an easy and flexible way to control a UAV by using such technology. In this paper, a remote control and monitoring system is developed for a quadrotor to enable an operator to remotely control it and monitor its surroundings using an iOS device. Basic handlers for obtaining compass information, controlling a gimbal, autopilot function for return, photo and video preview, photo shoot and movie video recording are developed and implemented. The functionalities of the developed programs are evaluated and confirmed through experiments using a quadrotor and an iOS device.