MavLink and TimescaleDB Integration
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Time series database
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Powerful Performance, Limitless Scale
Collect, organize, and act on massive volumes of high-velocity data. Any data is more valuable when you think of it as time series data. with InfluxDB, the #1 time series platform built to scale with Telegraf.
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Input and output integration overview
This plugin collects metrics from MavLink-compatible flight controllers like ArduPilot and PX4, enabling live data ingestion from unmanned systems such as drones and boats.
This output plugin delivers a reliable and efficient mechanism for routing Telegraf collected metrics directly into TimescaleDB. By leveraging PostgreSQL’s robust ecosystem combined with TimescaleDB’s time series optimizations, it supports high-performance data ingestion and advanced querying capabilities.
Integration details
MavLink
The MavLink plugin is designed to gather metrics from MavLink-compatible flight controllers such as ArduPilot and PX4. It provides a mechanism to live ingest flight metrics from various unmanned systems, including drones, planes, and boats. By utilizing the ArduPilot-specific MavLink dialect, the plugin parses a wide range of messages as documented in the MavLink documentation. It enables seamless integration of telemetry data, allowing for detailed monitoring and analysis of flight operations. Users must be cautious, as this plugin may generate a substantial volume of data; thus, filters are available to limit the metrics collected and transmitted to output plugins. Additionally, configuration options allow customization of which messages to receive and how to connect to the flight controller.
TimescaleDB
TimescaleDB is an open source time series database built as an extension to PostgreSQL, designed to handle large scale, time-oriented data efficiently. Launched in 2017, TimescaleDB emerged in response to the growing need for a robust, scalable solution that could manage vast volumes of data with high insert rates and complex queries. By leveraging PostgreSQL’s familiar SQL interface and enhancing it with specialized time series capabilities, TimescaleDB quickly gained popularity among developers looking to integrate time series functionality into existing relational databases. Its hybrid approach allows users to benefit from PostgreSQL’s flexibility, reliability, and ecosystem while providing optimized performance for time series data.
The database is particularly effective in environments that demand fast ingestion of data points combined with sophisticated analytical queries over historical periods. TimescaleDB has a number of innovative features like hypertables which transparently partition data into manageable chunks and built-in continuous aggregation. These allow for significantly improved query speed and resource efficiency.
Configuration
MavLink
[[inputs.mavlink]]
## Flight controller URL supporting serial port, UDP and TCP connections.
## Options are documented at
## https://mavsdk.mavlink.io/v1.4/en/cpp/guide/connections.html.
##
## Examples:
## - Serial port: serial:///dev/ttyACM0:57600
## - TCP client: tcp://192.168.1.12:5760
## - UDP client: udp://192.168.1.12:14550
## - TCP server: tcpserver://:5760
## - UDP server: udpserver://:14550
# url = "tcp://127.0.0.1:5760"
## Filter to specific messages. Only the messages in this list will be parsed.
## If blank or unset, all messages will be accepted. Glob syntax is accepted.
## Each message in this list should be lowercase camel_case, with "message_"
## prefix removed, eg: "global_position_int", "attitude"
# filter = []
## Mavlink system ID for Telegraf. Only used if the mavlink plugin is sending
## messages, eg. when `stream_request_frequency` is 0 (see below.)
# system_id = 254
## Determines whether the plugin sends requests to subscribe to data.
## In mavlink, stream rates must be configured before data is received.
## This config item sets the rate in Hz, with 0 disabling the request.
##
## This frequency should be set to 0 if your software already controls the
## rates using REQUEST_DATA_STREAM or MAV_CMD_SET_MESSAGE_INTERVAL
## (See https://mavlink.io/en/mavgen_python/howto_requestmessages.html)
# stream_request_frequency = 4
TimescaleDB
# Publishes metrics to a TimescaleDB database
[[outputs.postgresql]]
## Specify connection address via the standard libpq connection string:
## host=... user=... password=... sslmode=... dbname=...
## Or a URL:
## postgres://[user[:password]]@localhost[/dbname]?sslmode=[disable|verify-ca|verify-full]
## See https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-CONNSTRING
##
## All connection parameters are optional. Environment vars are also supported.
## e.g. PGPASSWORD, PGHOST, PGUSER, PGDATABASE
## All supported vars can be found here:
## https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/libpq-envars.html
##
## Non-standard parameters:
## pool_max_conns (default: 1) - Maximum size of connection pool for parallel (per-batch per-table) inserts.
## pool_min_conns (default: 0) - Minimum size of connection pool.
## pool_max_conn_lifetime (default: 0s) - Maximum connection age before closing.
## pool_max_conn_idle_time (default: 0s) - Maximum idle time of a connection before closing.
## pool_health_check_period (default: 0s) - Duration between health checks on idle connections.
# connection = ""
## Postgres schema to use.
# schema = "public"
## Store tags as foreign keys in the metrics table. Default is false.
# tags_as_foreign_keys = false
## Suffix to append to table name (measurement name) for the foreign tag table.
# tag_table_suffix = "_tag"
## Deny inserting metrics if the foreign tag can't be inserted.
# foreign_tag_constraint = false
## Store all tags as a JSONB object in a single 'tags' column.
# tags_as_jsonb = false
## Store all fields as a JSONB object in a single 'fields' column.
# fields_as_jsonb = false
## Name of the timestamp column
## NOTE: Some tools (e.g. Grafana) require the default name so be careful!
# timestamp_column_name = "time"
## Type of the timestamp column
## Currently, "timestamp without time zone" and "timestamp with time zone"
## are supported
# timestamp_column_type = "timestamp without time zone"
## Templated statements to execute when creating a new table.
# create_templates = [
# '''CREATE TABLE {{ .table }} ({{ .columns }})''',
# ]
## Templated statements to execute when adding columns to a table.
## Set to an empty list to disable. Points containing tags for which there is
## no column will be skipped. Points containing fields for which there is no
## column will have the field omitted.
# add_column_templates = [
# '''ALTER TABLE {{ .table }} ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS {{ .columns|join ", ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS " }}''',
# ]
## Templated statements to execute when creating a new tag table.
# tag_table_create_templates = [
# '''CREATE TABLE {{ .table }} ({{ .columns }}, PRIMARY KEY (tag_id))''',
# ]
## Templated statements to execute when adding columns to a tag table.
## Set to an empty list to disable. Points containing tags for which there is
## no column will be skipped.
# tag_table_add_column_templates = [
# '''ALTER TABLE {{ .table }} ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS {{ .columns|join ", ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS " }}''',
# ]
## The postgres data type to use for storing unsigned 64-bit integer values
## (Postgres does not have a native unsigned 64-bit integer type).
## The value can be one of:
## numeric - Uses the PostgreSQL "numeric" data type.
## uint8 - Requires pguint extension (https://github.com/petere/pguint)
# uint64_type = "numeric"
## When using pool_max_conns > 1, and a temporary error occurs, the query is
## retried with an incremental backoff. This controls the maximum duration.
# retry_max_backoff = "15s"
## Approximate number of tag IDs to store in in-memory cache (when using
## tags_as_foreign_keys). This is an optimization to skip inserting known
## tag IDs. Each entry consumes approximately 34 bytes of memory.
# tag_cache_size = 100000
## Cut column names at the given length to not exceed PostgreSQL's
## 'identifier length' limit (default: no limit)
## (see https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/limits.html)
## Be careful to not create duplicate column names!
# column_name_length_limit = 0
## Enable & set the log level for the Postgres driver.
# log_level = "warn" # trace, debug, info, warn, error, none
Input and output integration examples
MavLink
-
Real-Time Fleet Monitoring: Utilize the MavLink plugin to create a centralized dashboard for monitoring multiple drones in real-time. By ingesting metrics from various flight controllers, operators can oversee the status, health, and location of all drones, allowing for quick decision-making and enhanced situational awareness. This integration could significantly improve coordination during large-scale operations, like aerial surveys or search and rescue missions.
-
Automated Anomaly Detection: Leverage MavLink in conjunction with machine learning algorithms to detect anomalies in flight data. By continuously monitoring metrics such as altitude, speed, and battery status, the system can alert operators to deviations from normal behavior, potentially indicating technical malfunctions or safety issues. This proactive approach can enhance safety and reduce the risk of in-flight failures.
-
Data-Driven Maintenance Scheduling: Integrate the data collected through the MavLink plugin with maintenance management systems to optimize maintenance schedules based on actual flight metrics. Analyzing the collected data can highlight patterns indicating when specific components are likely to fail, thereby enabling predictive maintenance strategies that minimize downtime and repair costs.
-
Enhanced Research Analytics: For academic and commercial UAV research, MavLink can be used to gather extensive flight data for analysis. By compiling metrics over numerous flights, researchers can uncover insights related to flight patterns, environmental interactions, and the efficiency of different drone models. This can foster advancements in UAV technology and broader applications in autonomous systems.
TimescaleDB
-
Real-Time IoT Data Ingestion: Use the plugin to collect and store sensor data from thousands of IoT devices in real time. This setup facilitates immediate analysis, helping organizations monitor operational efficiency and respond quickly to changing conditions.
-
Cloud Application Performance Monitoring: Leverage the plugin to feed detailed performance metrics from distributed cloud applications into TimescaleDB. This integration supports real-time dashboards and alerts, enabling teams to swiftly identify and mitigate performance bottlenecks.
-
Historical Data Analysis and Reporting: Implement a system where long-term metrics are stored in TimescaleDB for comprehensive historical analysis. This approach allows businesses to perform trend analysis, generate detailed reports, and make data-driven decisions based on archived time-series data.
-
Adaptive Alerting and Anomaly Detection: Integrate the plugin with automated anomaly detection workflows. By continuously streaming metrics to TimescaleDB, machine learning models can analyze data patterns and trigger alerts when anomalies occur, enhancing system reliability and proactive maintenance.
Feedback
Thank you for being part of our community! If you have any general feedback or found any bugs on these pages, we welcome and encourage your input. Please submit your feedback in the InfluxDB community Slack.
Powerful Performance, Limitless Scale
Collect, organize, and act on massive volumes of high-velocity data. Any data is more valuable when you think of it as time series data. with InfluxDB, the #1 time series platform built to scale with Telegraf.
See Ways to Get Started
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