In the rapidly evolving world of First Person View (FPV) drone technology, a new contender has emerged that seeks to shake up the high-definition digital FPV system market— OpenIPC. This open-source alternative use off-the-shelf components, aims to offer a cost-effective solution against established HD digital FPV systems such as DJI, Walksnail, and HDZero.
What’s FPV system? Check out our buyer’s guide: https://oscarliang.com/fpv-system/
Table of Contents
What is the OpenIPC?
OpenIPC represents a push toward an open-source digital FPV system, breaking away from the proprietary models of existing systems like DJI and Walksnail. OpenIPC uses readily available hardware and open-source software, giving FPV pilots the flexibility to build and customize their own systems. This is exciting for the FPV community, but it also comes with challenges, as the technology is still in its infancy.
Despite the excitement, setting up OpenIPC has been a technical hurdle for many. Until now, there hasn’t been an easy, consumer-friendly way to jump into OpenIPC. That’s where these new products from Emax and Runcam come in, offering hardware that simplifies the process, though they still come with their share of challenges.
Cost and Setup Challenges
One of the initial attractions of the OpenIPC is its potential cost advantage. Early adopters can start with a basic setup including a $6 Wi-Fi adapter. However, real-world applications show that this cheaper adapter offers limited range, which can be a significant drawback for more serious or professional use. To achieve a performance similar to commercial systems, one needs to invest in higher-quality components like the Asus AC-56 Wi-Fi adapter, which costs around $40. While this setup remains cheaper than most commercial alternatives, it does not present the drastic cost reduction initially claimed.
As the end of September 2024, these are the only two manufactures that make FPV specific OpenIPC hardware – Emax Wyvern and Runcam WiFiLink. Here’s a bit more info on the Runcam system: https://oscarliang.com/runcam-wifilink-openipc/
Get the Runcam WiFiLink here:
- NBD: https://oscarliang.com/product-2q65
- GetFPV: https://oscarliang.com/product-c8d6
- RDQ: https://oscarliang.com/product-j6fd
There are also a bunch of OpenIPC related hardware on AliExpress you can find if you are interested: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DkD5wOz
Performance and User Experience
The OpenIPC currently faces challenges typical of early-stage open-source projects, such as variability in component quality and user experience.
One recurring issue with both systems was random signal glitching and dropped frames. The video quality was also noticeably low as the bitrate is capped around 4Mbps in 720p, which is much lower than the 25-50Mbps in both 720p and 1080p that Walksnail and DJI offers. While a 4Mbps bitrate is fine for static images, it struggles when there’s movement, leading to blocky, pixelated video.
In terms of latency, OpenIPC can get as low as 25ms, which is comparable to the Vista (DJI FPV V1), but still lags behind the likes of DJI O3 in 100fps mode. This level of latency is acceptable for casual flying but might not meet the demands of high-speed racing or more precise maneuvers. While analog and HDZero can achieve latency as low as 4-15ms, OpenIPC is still in development and will hopefully improve over time. Also bear in mind that the performance of the system heavily depends on the processing power of your display device. If you’re using an older smartphone, you might experience increased latency or even a slow, laggy video feed.
From testing online, frequent video break up seems to be a common theme, with large portions of the screen becoming glitchy or even freezing entirely. This made it difficult to confidently fly in areas with obstacles or high interference. It just doesn’t seem to be a stable enough video system to be considered a reliable daily driver.
Community and Development
The open-source nature of the OpenIPC is one of its most compelling attributes, providing freedom from proprietary restrictions and fostering a community of developers and users who continuously work on improvements. Despite some early missteps, such as overstated claims about its performance and compactness, the community around the OpenIPC is passionate and driven by a vision of accessibility and innovation in the drone technology space.
Final Thoughts
OpenIPC is an exciting development for the FPV community, offering the promise of an open-source digital FPV system. However, it’s clear that this technology is still in the early stages. While the potential is there, the hardware and performance are not yet at a level where you’d want to rely on it for everyday use.
Existing OpenIPC products are ideal for hobbyists and developers who are eager to contribute to the evolution of OpenIPC and push the technology forward. If you’re looking for a plug-and-play, high-performance digital FPV system, you’re better off sticking with DJI, HDZero, or Walksnail for now. However, if you’re excited about the future of open-source FPV and are willing to tinker and deal with some limitations, OpenIPC is worth exploring.
Edit History
- 2024 May – Article created.
- 2024 Sep – Added product links.
2 comments
Very well written!
Q: Do you have any comments/updates/change of position now that they (OpenIPC) started selling AIO units? Basically complete air units, all in one?
Also, for future read/info, I suggest you have a look and read about RubyFPV (search Google for rubyfpv.com), it’s the firmware that can run on both OpenIPC hardware and Pi and Radxa, and solves/addresses some of the issues you mentioned. And offers an improved end user experience.
hi oscar, did you get to try the project?
I’m very interested by the project but i think the dev overhypes it’s capabilities and that documentation and part availability is terrible, they basically tell you to look for a used asus ac56(which is also pretty bulky)