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4G LTE Telemetry

Fly autonomous missions from anywhere with cell coverage.

LTE Telemetry System

Companion ComputerRaspberry Pi Zero 2W
LTE ModemHuawei E3372
ProtocolMAVLink over 4G LTE
Ground ControlQGroundControl / Mission Planner
BandwidthFull telemetry + command uplink
CoverageAnywhere with cellular signal
LatencyLow-latency bidirectional
FailsafeRTL on connection loss

System Architecture

Raspberry Pi Zero 2W

Companion Computer

A quad-core ARM processor running Linux bridges the flight controller and the cellular network. It translates MAVLink serial data to UDP packets and routes them over the LTE connection.

Quad-core ARM512 MB RAMLinux-basedMAVProxy bridge

Huawei E3372

4G LTE Modem

A USB LTE modem provides the cellular data link. It connects to standard mobile networks and creates a network interface that the Pi uses to tunnel MAVLink traffic to the ground station.

4G LTE Cat 4150 Mbps downlinkUSB interfaceStandard SIM card

MAVLink Protocol

Telemetry & Command

The same MAVLink protocol used by the serial radio link runs over the cellular connection. No custom software needed — QGroundControl and Mission Planner work exactly as they do with a traditional radio.

Bidirectional dataWaypoint uploadParameter tuningReal-time telemetry

Beyond Visual Line of Sight

Traditional radio telemetry is limited to 1–2 km in practice — even long-range systems fade beyond 10–15 km. The Stork's 100 km range demands a telemetry solution that matches.

4G LTE solves this by routing telemetry through cellular infrastructure. Anywhere you have cell service, you have full command and telemetry — real-time position, battery voltage, airspeed, altitude, and the ability to upload new waypoints mid-mission.

Dual-Link Safety

The LTE link doesn't replace the ELRS radio — it supplements it. During visual-range operations, the pilot retains direct RC control via ExpressLRS. The LTE link runs in parallel, providing telemetry and waypoint management.

If the LTE connection drops, ArduPilot continues executing its waypoint mission autonomously. If both links are lost, the configurable failsafe triggers RTL — return to launch using GPS navigation.

Command From Anywhere

Full telemetry and mission control over cellular networks — no range limit but coverage.

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