Drone Adapter Interface

Overview

The DroneAdapter abstract base class defines the standard interface for all drone control implementations.

It acts as the core abstraction layer between: - Input systems (gesture, keyboard, API, etc.) - Concrete drone implementations (AirSim, simulators, hardware SDKs)

All drone interaction must go through execute(command) on a concrete implementation.

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TelemetryData

Purpose

TelemetryData is the standard return structure for get_telemetry() across all adapters.

It provides a minimal, consistent snapshot of drone state.

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Fields

altitude_m: float

Current altitude in meters.

Default: 0.0

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speed_ms: float

Current speed in meters per second.

Default: 0.0

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battery_pct: float

Battery percentage estimate.

Default: 100.0 (used as sentinel for systems without battery modelling)

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heading_deg: float

Drone heading in degrees.

Default: 0.0

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is_flying: bool

Indicates whether the drone is currently airborne.

Default: False

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source: str

Identifier for the adapter that produced the telemetry data.

Default: "unknown"

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extra: dict

Escape hatch for adapter-specific telemetry values.

• Must not be relied upon by consumers
• Used only when adapter-specific data cannot fit standard fields

Default: empty dict

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DroneAdapter (Abstract Base Class)

Purpose

Defines the required interface for all drone adapters.

Each implementation wraps a specific SDK or simulator and exposes a uniform control API.

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Lifecycle Flow

1. Create adapter instance with connection parameters
2. Call await connect()
3. Use await execute(command) for control
4. Poll await get_telemetry() continuously
5. Call await disconnect() on shutdown

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Abstract Methods

All subclasses MUST implement the following methods.

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connect() -> bool

Establish connection to drone or simulator.

Returns: - True if successful - False if connection fails

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disconnect() -> None

Releases connection and safely shuts down drone interaction.

Should ensure safe landing if applicable.

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takeoff() -> None

Arms drone and ascends to a safe hover altitude.

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land() -> None

Safely descends and disarms drone.

Should block further operations until landing completes.

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move(direction: CommandType, **kwargs) -> None

Executes a directional movement or rotation.

Parameters: - direction: CommandType specifying movement type - kwargs: optional movement modifiers extracted from Command.payload

Planned kwargs: - distance_m - speed_ms - duration_s - degrees

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hover() -> None

Cancels active movement and maintains position.

Should take priority over normal commands except emergency stop.

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emergency_stop() -> None

Immediately cancels all activity and holds current position.

May optionally trigger landing depending on implementation.

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get_telemetry() -> TelemetryData

Returns current drone state snapshot.

Should be called frequently for live monitoring.

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execute(command: Command)

Purpose

Single entry point for all command execution.

Routes a Command to the correct adapter method.

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Routing Logic

• EMERGENCY_STOP -> emergency_stop()
• TAKEOFF -> takeoff()
• LAND -> land()
• HOVER -> hover()
• Movement and rotation commands -> move()

Supported movement commands: - MOVE_UP - MOVE_DOWN - MOVE_FORWARD - MOVE_BACKWARD - MOVE_LEFT - MOVE_RIGHT - ROTATE_CW - ROTATE_CCW

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Notes

• Routing must stay aligned with CommandType
• Any new command must be added here
• Current implementation does not yet pass payload into move()

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Unknown Commands

If a command is not handled:

A warning is logged indicating missing routing configuration in drone_adapter.py.