User:Mcurrie
Matthew Currie
- IRC Nick: dc3
- Location: Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
- Member Since: November 2006
Built 13+ Tiny 13 v1.1 autopilot boards in-house. Distributed boards into the group to break-even.
Setup
Airframe and Powerplant
- Multiplex Funjet
- AXI 2212/26 Brushless "outrunner" Motor
- LiPower Lites 3S1P 2100mAh 18C LiPo Batteries x 2
- APC 9x6E Propeller (checked to draw ~ 11.5A)
Electronics
- Castle Creations Phoenix 35 Brushless Speed Control
- Castle Creations USB Programming Harness
- Berg 4L Receiver modified for PPM stream
- 2x Hitec HS-55 Servos
- Maxstream (now digi) XBee 2.4GHz Pro modems + devkit
- Modified FMA CoPilot XY and Z IR Sensor Boards
- Hitec Eclipse 7 Radio with Spectra PLL Module (btw the Spectra module is HORRIBLE)
Production and Tooling
- Hot Air Reflow Rework Station
- SMT Soldering Station
- Molex PicoBlade Crimpers
- Molex Micro-Fit 3.0 Crimpers
- 10-20 of each of every PicoBlade and MicroFit connectors
- Various Alpha 26 AWG Teflon Hook-up Wire
Field
- 110Ah Marine Deep Cycle Battery
- Folding Picnic Table (yes, exactly the same as poines!)
- Great Planes Triton multi-chemistry charger
- Custom waterproof data modem enclosure with type-N connector and 25 foot RS232 cable
- Various Pelican transport cases
Current Progress
- Airframe / Ground Station Complete
- Basic AUTO1 tuning, not satisfactory, will continue
ToDo
- Order 12 dBi yagi
WIKI Contributions
this is just a scratch pad of notes, etc.. might as well put them on the wiki so other can drop in on them..
Tiny13 1.1 draws 34mAh from the main supply when powered by 18V.
Q: [Tiny 1.1] I get error accessing USB when trying to load code to the Autopilot
A: You need to copy a USB rules file following the instructions below update: this did not appear to solve the problem. not sure why I figured it did.
# cd [paparazzi3 folder] # cp conf/system/udev/rules/10-paparazzi.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/
Q: [Tiny 0.9-1.1] What is the command to compile the ARM7 code?
A: the two relevant commands are below. Replace [AIRCRAFT] with the name of your aircraft.
# cd [parazzi3 folder]' # make AIRCRAFT=[AIRCRAFT] ap.compile
to download code that has already been compiled
# cd [parazzi3 folder]' # make AIRCRAFT=[AIRCRAFT] ap.upload
Q: How do I get GCS to talk to the AP with straight serial and not a modem?
A: Here is an example of a section of my paparazzi3/conf/control_panel.xml
<session name="4 Matt Flight">
<program name="link">
<arg flag="-d" constant="/dev/ttyUSB0"/>
<arg flag="-transport" constant="pprz"/>
<arg flag="-uplink" constant=""/>
</program>
<program name="server"/>
<program name="gcs"/>
</session>
Q: How do I load the USB Bootloader onto the Tiny?
A: Start by wiring up 3.3V RS232 from the PC to the Tiny.
The serial lines on the ARM7 micro are 5V tolerant so if it helps cut down on complexity/parts you could use 5V RS232 for this. Optional: You could also form a basic resistor voltage divider on the PC TX -> AP RX
- PC SERIAL_TX -> LPC_RXD_0 (SERIAL_1-7)
- PC SERIAL_RX -> LPC_TXD_0 (SERIAL_1-8)
- PC SERIAL_GND -> GND (SERIAL_1-1)
- LPC_P0.14 (SERIAL_1-5) must be asserted low (held to ground) while the Tiny powers up in order to enter the Serial Boot Loader. (You could also wire this to a pushbutton which ties it to ground, holding this button briefly while you power up the AP. This pin does not need to stay low during the programming or any time afterwards)
once these connections have been made, execute this command in a console
# make PROC=GENERIC upload_bl