GPS integration

djrm · Post by **djrm** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 8:33 pm

Hello Fritz,
I think the root cause of the problem could be related to the fact that my Arduino mini is only runing at 8 MHz, although it works fine using the wire library at 400KHz I2C. The problem is causing the cycle time to increase which is why I'm looking for an alternative solution.
Cheers David.

Fritz · Post by **Fritz** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 8:40 pm

Although I am now using just 16 MHz but I would like to go down to 8 MHz. Then I could run it at 3.3V.

Loosi · Post by **Loosi** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 7:02 am

Good Morning!

I´am using the 16MHz crystal at 3V3 with the integrated LLC on the MWC-Board V4 from alex , cause i dont had a free 5V pin for testing

its running without problems. I know, the datasheet says its not good, but i made some other projects with 328p@16MHz and 3V3 (Like a GPS Logger, Wireless Temp. Sensor for our Serverroom, Pager System) and i never had problems.

Maybe we should make a new topic for the i2c gps?

Greetings

Daniel

msev · Post by **msev** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 8:50 am

Loosi where did you buy that gps module?

Loosi · Post by **Loosi** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 10:03 am

I ordered it at lipoly , its called MediaTek MT3329 GPS 10Hz + Adapter Basic

MelihK · Post by **MelihK** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:13 am

Loosi wrote:I ordered it at lipoly , its called MediaTek MT3329 GPS 10Hz + Adapter Basic

Navigatron already cheaper than this GPS board, and also including Arduino

Loosi · Post by **Loosi** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:27 pm

MelihK wrote:Navigatron already cheaper than this GPS board, and also including Arduino

Thats right

I already had this GPS board for my hexacopter with flyduino mega and all other needed parts, thats the reason why i made my own PCB. If you dont have a GPS board its cheaper if you buy a complete PCB from MelihK.

Cronalex · Post by **Cronalex** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:33 pm

I realized that I have to buy gps for multiwii crius Se for version multiwii 2.0???

Cronalex · Post by **Cronalex** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 10:30 pm

Cronalex wrote:I realized that I have to buy gps for multiwii crius Se for version multiwii 2.0???

nobody knows you recommend a GPS module to be taken?

dramida · Post by **dramida** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:13 am

Dear coder Team,
Please make a #define serial_gps 38400 for Atmega 328 based multiwii controllers.
I already have a mess of wires on my tri, another arduino would be too much for me (and my budget).
God speed!
:roll:

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 2:37 pm

You can do it already to day..
It's a really dirty trick but it can work.
And you will loose all benifits of using GUI...

#define GPS_SERIAL 0
#define GPS_BAUD 38400

And comment
// serialCom();
In MultiWii tab.

If you want to use gui you must cahnge the comments.

dramida · Post by **dramida** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 11:32 pm

Thank you for pointing that code feature. I think this method would be very popular if a stick combo would be assigned and not needing to edit the code to toggle the serial port between GUI and GPS.

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Sun Apr 01, 2012 8:28 am

It's possible to set a jumper or a dipswitch who is only read at boot.

gilrc · Post by **gilrc** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 1:17 am

Hi folks, i´m new here and i´m thinking about ordering one of these boards " Crius MultiWii SE " from GLB but i wonder if anyone ever tried it with good results (version 2.0 and GPS) ??? :roll:

thanks in advance

Gilrc

dfidalgo · Post by **dfidalgo** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 9:51 pm

Hi guys, sorry for my hyper mega poor english... :roll:

I'm two days racking my brain to connect a em-406 gps in my multiwii with EOSBandi solution (Promini + genuine wmp + nunchuck + hmc 5383) without success. I had version 1.7 installed, so I update to 2.0, as I had no pull-ups installed on the board, the GUI started reporting lots of errors I2c and stuck. I installed pull-up resistors and everything was ok, no errors. After that I uploaded the 2.0 code, but with the # define I2C_GPS uncommented, lots of I2c errors again and board frozen/stucked (GUI without informations of the gyros and accelerometers, displays only the information of the magnetometer). When I connect the slave arduino with gps the problem remains. Now may be a silly question, I do not know ... But the ardino slave is an ardupilot board... (AT328, with the EOSBandi code loaded and twi.h tweaked for 100000 frequency rate) that was lost here at home.
Can the problem come from ardupilot, ardupilot board not compatible?
Without the second Arduino (slave) connected, the FC should not work properly?

Thanks in advance

MicroRaptor · Post by **MicroRaptor** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 11:08 pm

dfidalgo,

I have wmp, nunchuck hmc5883, bmp085 setup. Had similar problem when I was setting it up, I2C errors, no gyro, no acc but magnetometer working. I think I solved it when I copied the twi.c and twi.h patch from http://code.google.com/p/i2c-gps-nav/so ... -lib-patch to the arduino-1/libraries/wire/utility/ folder. With the new twi.c and twi.h, I restarted Arduino1 and reinstalled 2.0 to the main FC Arduino and reinstalled I2CNav to the secondary GPS Arduino. I did not tweak the frequency rate, left it as is at 400000.

Regarding pull-up resistors, the value I get when I measure the resistance between Vcc & SDA or Vcc & SCL is around 2.2k ohms.

The Main FC arduino will not work without the secondary GPS arduino (I2C errors).

dfidalgo · Post by **dfidalgo** » Wed Apr 04, 2012 3:27 am

Thanks MicroRaptor,
No luck here

Tried all your steps (now with untouched twi files from EOSBandi) but same problem. I suspect from the Ardupilot board, and from my sparkfan 5v FTDI, because now that the FC is powered from Vcc instead pin12, each time that I open the GUI (with "# define I2C_GPS" commented on code) I need first power the FC with external BEC and just after that plug the FTDI, otherwise appear the same symptoms as described above. Weird the fact that when it happens, the only good values I get are from hmc5883 (3.3v ...) . Maybe my FC don't like the 5v FTDI.

dfidalgo · Post by **dfidalgo** » Wed Apr 04, 2012 6:09 pm

Ok guys, looks like I have partially solved the problem! I commented these lines on TWI.c file: / / activate internal pullups for twi.
/ / digitalWrite (SDA, 1);
/ / digitalWrite (SCL, 1);
And now I have all the sensors working without errors on i2c.

But ... I do not receive information from GPS (em406) or number of satellites and the magnetic bearing dont flashes in GUI. In config.h, I set # define GPS_BAUD 4800, since I think is the EM406 default baud rate. Is the problem here?

Thanks in advance again !

MicroRaptor · Post by **MicroRaptor** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 3:05 am

I tried once setting the gps baud by setting Serial.begin(9600) in the I2C GPS since this was the default of my FGPMMOPA6B GPS but it didn't work. I ended up installing a backup battery so I can set the default to 115200. I didn't try any other speed.

A also think that changing the gps baud in config of Multiwii have no effect if using I2C GPS.

dfidalgo · Post by **dfidalgo** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 2:49 pm

MicroRaptor wrote:I tried once setting the gps baud by setting Serial.begin(9600) in the I2C GPS since this was the default of my FGPMMOPA6B GPS but it didn't work. I ended up installing a backup battery so I can set the default to 115200. I didn't try any other speed.

Thanks MicroRaptor, I'll try to increase the em406 baud rate to 115200, I think that this is the problem.

MicroRaptor wrote:A also think that changing the gps baud in config of Multiwii have no effect if using I2C GPS.

A little off topic, but I was thinking in buy a pair of this cheap RF modules: http://www.goodluckbuy.com/apc220-wirel ... tml?&sl=en , but they work with a max of 19200 transfer rate. Anyone can tell me which part(s) should I change the code to set the serial speed to 19200, so that I can use these modules as telemetry? I think if I make this change, the GPS will be required to work in 19,200 too ...?

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 4:23 pm

In multiwii.pde

Code: Select all

/* This is the speed of the serial interface. 115200 kbit/s is the best option for a USB connection.*/
#define SERIAL_COM_SPEED 115200

And in Multiwii conf

Code: Select all

    g_serial = new Serial(this, portPos, 115200);

In WinGui you can change baudrate from the gui.

dfidalgo · Post by **dfidalgo** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 12:04 pm

MicroRaptor & PatrikE: Thanks!!!
All working now! Changed the em406 baudrate, solved all the problem.

Time to go out and test in flight...

MelihK · Post by **MelihK** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 12:24 pm

marbalon wrote:Hi,
Last days I tried to pay with my i2c GPS and have one small suggestion. Like many user descrribe, it will be useful reset home position on request. So I added function:

Code: Select all

void GPS_reset_home_position()
{
  #if defined(I2C_GPS)
    //set current position as home
    i2c_rep_start(I2C_GPS_ADDRESS);i2c_write(I2C_GPS_COMMAND);i2c_write(I2C_GPS_COMMAND_SET_WP);//Store current position to WP#0 (this is used for RTH)
    i2c_rep_start(I2C_GPS_ADDRESS);i2c_write(I2C_GPS_COMMAND);i2c_write(I2C_GPS_COMMAND_ACTIVATE_WP);//Set WP#0 as the active WP
  #else
    GPS_latitude_home  = GPS_latitude;
    GPS_longitude_home = GPS_longitude; 
  #endif 
}

and call it when calibrating gyro - I think the easiest way.

Code: Select all

...
      if (rcData[YAW] < MINCHECK && rcData[PITCH] < MINCHECK && armed == 0) {
        if (rcDelayCommand == 20) 
        {
          calibratingG = 400;
          GPS_reset_home_position();
        }
...

I also removed this lines from gps.pde

Code: Select all

    if (rcData[AUX4]>1800 || GPS_fix_home == 0) {
      i2c_rep_start(I2C_GPS_ADDRESS);i2c_write(I2C_GPS_COMMAND);i2c_write(I2C_GPS_COMMAND_SET_WP);//Store current position to WP#0 (this is used for RTH)
      i2c_rep_start(I2C_GPS_ADDRESS);i2c_write(I2C_GPS_COMMAND);i2c_write(I2C_GPS_COMMAND_ACTIVATE_WP);//Set WP#0 as the active WP
    }

Not big deal but useful for everyone.

Regards,
Marcin.

Hi Marcin,

I just updated multiwii_shared code and tested your method. It is better than automatic home reset function and now i can reset the home position when i want.
The repository (multiwii_shared) updated (revision 666).

Cheers
Melih

edge · Post by **edge** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 9:58 am

Hey Guys,
i really need your help.
I have a crius SE board and try to use GPS with EOS code.
I ordered the PA6C GPS from drotek and flashed a new firmware with 38400 baud-rate.
then i changed the part in the I2C code:
Serial.begin(38400);
in the main sketch i uncommented I2C Gps and my board. I also used a speed of 400Hz for my I2C bus.
but when i open the GUI i can find no satelites.
does anyone have an advice for me?
Thanks,
ALex

MelihK · Post by **MelihK** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 10:51 am

Hi Alex,

At first, dont change the baudrate. Just use my updated code(2 page before) for changing the baudrate at start to 115.200 and better NMEA sentence. And follow the LED for GPS data status. The led will blink every second after it locked.

edge · Post by **edge** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 11:23 am

okay, i will so that. so your code will automatically recogonize the baudrate of my GPS Modul?
Cheers

MelihK · Post by **MelihK** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 11:58 am

No, find (9600) line in setup section. and change it to your GPS's default baud.

Magnetron · Post by **Magnetron** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:26 am

I think is good idea to have GPS data also in the GUI...

didlawowo69 · Post by **didlawowo69** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:09 pm

it is necessary to have magnetometer to use Return to home or gps hold position ?

Matt. · Post by **Matt.** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:13 pm

Hey Guys,

I just brought a Skylab SKM53 and am hoping to use it on my Cirus SE board. Is it possible?
I am currently using the board in PPM Sum mode with a Frsky Rx so I have plenty of free outputs. I also have no need for the LCD output so I was thinking that I could re purpose that output.
Could someone help me with the steps on getting this GPS to with my board please.

Thanks in Advance

Matt.

jevermeister · Post by **jevermeister** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:16 pm

didlawowo69 wrote:it is necessary to have magnetometer to use Return to home or gps hold position ?

of course! Without the orientation provided by the mag the FC cannot compute the axis to tilt to bring the copter to home, he needs to know which side is turned to home position to tilt into that direction.

It would look like a crazy chicken dance if he does that by just trial and error...
:-)

Nils

didlawowo69 · Post by **didlawowo69** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 9:20 am

Ok thx for your answer

do you have a video where we can see position hold et rth function at work ?

jevermeister · Post by **jevermeister** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 9:35 am

didlawowo69 wrote:Ok thx for your answer

do you have a video where we can see position hold et rth function at work ?

alex posted some videos earlier in this thread.

RTH is working very good until it approaches the home coordinates - we have some unfinished code here, we need to overwork the code with a cascading control algorithm to make a perfect approch, same goes to PH.

Nils

Matt. · Post by **Matt.** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 1:25 pm

Where is the love

Am I posting in the wrong thread or can no one help me?
Does anyone have any idea how to get a Skylab SKM53 working Cirus SE board?

Matt

edge · Post by **edge** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 1:39 pm

Hey,
i finally found sastellites,
thank you very much MelihK. I used your code.
Today i was flying and tried postion hold. but when i flipped the switch for postion hold, absolutely nothing happened.
Did i forget to configure somthing? I calibrated acc and mag.
not even a small wince was recognizable.
does anyone have an idea what happened?
do i have to set a waypoint before i can hold postion?

Cheers,
Alex

jevermeister · Post by **jevermeister** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 1:51 pm

Let your copter hover and flick position hold, than approach it carefully and take it into your hand and mopve it away from home and try to feel if it starts to lean against the movement.

I did a test before that, I took my notebook, connected it to the copter without the lipo and did some walking and watched the values in eosbandi's GUI or Alex's GUI. (this way the motors are not powered)
This way you can save a lot of props and time ;-)

You can see if the Distance is growing or shrinking and if the function is activated, and you can see the gauges of the motors and can determine if the copter tries to fly home.

Nils

Hamburger · Post by **Hamburger** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 2:20 pm

Hey GPS coders.
I have a request that will put some work on your shoulders.
As the small promini/nano 328p many of us use are running short on both memory and sram, I found some GPS related code being compiled in even though I have GPS disabled. Could you please isolate the GPS code and reference of GPS related variables in the conditional

Code: Select all

#if GPS
...
#else
...
#endif

To give you an idea, try and comment the declaration of the GPS variables in MWii.ino.

Thanks and all the best for your ongoing GPS struggles.
Hamburger

edge · Post by **edge** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:13 pm

Okay, i just did that what you told me.
I moved my copter by hand and everything seems allright. The distance to home is pretty okay and the outer arrow points close to my start. then is armed the engines without lipo and when i changed to home, still no difference in the motors.
that´s really strange

jevermeister · Post by **jevermeister** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:17 pm

Now you can see, that the function is not doing it's job,
have you assigned the function to a switch?

edge · Post by **edge** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:19 pm

yes, i put it on a switch.

jevermeister · Post by **jevermeister** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:22 pm

do you see the GPS activated in the gui?
did you uncomment the GPS option in the code?
You could try to assign the GPS_home to a debug variable and see its state in the code.

edge · Post by **edge** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:27 pm

yes, when i flip the switch, the GPS goes on. can you maybe try the version of mehlik, maybe there is a bug inside.
well i think i set it up the right way, because otherwise all the things like distance to home and stuff wouldnt show up?!

dynai · Post by **dynai** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:29 pm

Matt. wrote:Where is the love
Am I posting in the wrong thread or can no one help me?
Does anyone have any idea how to get a Skylab SKM53 working Cirus SE board?

Matt

hi,

im not an expert but from quick looks at the data sheet the skm53 uses std. nmea protokoll but works at a default 9600 baud

but please make sure your gps supports 5v I/O !!!!!

you could try this to verify your gps works

http://renkema.cc/blog/?p=15

greets christoph

Wayne · Post by **Wayne** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:46 pm

Matt, start by finding, downloading and installing MiniGPS_1.4
Your Skylab looks like it will take 5V so hook it up to VCC and GND on your FTDI board.
MW only listens to GPS so pin 5 on Skylab should be TX, hook that to RX on the FTDI.
Plug FTDI in, open MiniGPS, point to the correct COM port.
Skylab default baud is 9600 start there.
Once you get to that point you can bump up the baud rate and cut out the sentences MW does not need.
Follow the instructions in your MW sketch for hookup to MW. Its all there.

Edit: you’ll need to hookup GPS RX to FTDI TX in order to make changes to Skylab.

Mac9 · Post by **Mac9** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 4:11 pm

Hi All,
Back to GPS as a topic ! I have recently ordered a I2C GPS from Flytron, hope I don't live to regret ! My questions to any one who can answer are:
1. Will I need to modify the MultiWii code Version 2 in any way ?
2. Flytron product information gives a link to some source code "Multiwii-GPS-code_snipplert.txt" which implies that all the code detailed should be copied into various files in the Sketch for Version 2, namely config.h def.h and MultiWii.ino. Is this accurate ?
3. If 2 above is accurate why are only the code segments copied into config.h and def.h and the code detailed to be inserted into MultiWii.ino, that starts #if defined(I2C_GPS) and end #endif is not there in my latest down loaded version of MW Ver 2.
4. If the code inserted into config.h and def.h should be included why no inclusion into MultiWii.ino?

I would check operation with code added to and omitted from MultiWii.ino but unfortunately have not as yet received the GPS module from Flytron.

To sum up which code should be added if any and where ?

Whilst the direction RTFM may well be appropriate if this is your answer to my questions please be very specific about which Manual.

I should have investigated the MultiWii code before posting. I have found the "snipett"mentioned above under the GPS tag not in the .ino tag.

Regards

John

Katch · Post by **Katch** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 12:09 am

MelihK wrote:Hi Guys,

After 3 weeks delay (because of a design problem and reproduction) Navigatron I2C GPS modules in stocks.
I 'am glad to announce that %10 discount for first 20 units

Navigatron boards including GPS + onboard Arduino + battery backup and fully compatible with our other I2C sensors and OpenLRS Multi controller boards.

@EOSBandi, please check your message box

@Alexinparis, are your repository open for other developers? I'm modifying MultiWii code for my opensource receiver system and it is working on our v2 receivers and OpenLRS Multi boards. I will glad to be a developer and add OpenLRS receiver integration on current code.

have a nice weekend
Melih

Been on a major quad hiatus - back and just ordered one of these. Will be testing it on my FreeIMU based quad when it arrives. Nice to see lots of new things to play with.

KeesvR · Post by **KeesvR** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 7:29 pm

I found this one in the mailbox today, thanks MelihK.

Matt. · Post by **Matt.** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 1:54 pm

Wayne,

Thanks for the advice it has helped me along alot. I have connected to the gps and changed baud rate etc.
In the beginning of this thread it says that the code only accepts NMEA GGA messages, has that changed??
I am now trying to edit the code to use the lcd conf port for the gps as I have a Crius SE board.
Any more advice with this would be great.

Matt

Matt

Kevo · Post by **Kevo** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 2:52 pm

Ok .. what is the current best working GPS solution with MWC ?

This thread starts with a post by alex referring to attaching a gps directly to the controller. And I see in the latest pages discussions about converting the serial gps signal to i2c based.

To someone just coming into this thread now , whats the 30 second synopsis .. Differences ? Advantages ? If installing a gps today , what should I select ( I have a spare mini laying around to use as the i2c controller .. so each is equal in my case ) .

Thanks for any info you can provide.

Bledi · Post by **Bledi** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 6:52 pm

JohnyGab will relase next week THE SOLUTION for Multiwii I2C :

this one is a big more nice than the first one, its to present you the Rushduino GPS MCE V1.3

A nice and shiny blue pcb, 1.6mm tick, 50mmx50mm board with 3mm mounting hole, 45mm appart.

What is that?, Well, that board give you 2 way of gathering GPS informations.

- Directly onto the GPS-SERIAL 4-pins header, where you can receive NMEA message at 10hz/115200bps

- Using the microprocessor as a I2C slave device. actually, the Atmega328P is connected to the GPS so it receive NMEA message from the GPS, so you can use Arduino ( with the 6-pins header ) to write your own code, dont worry, there is some example of that on the web, like the I2C_GPS_NAV that E0SBandi made for the multiwii project, it work great

But there is more than that. There is a microSd Socket so you can put a SD card into that to log your flight ! And because the ATMEGA328p have the Arduino bootloader into it, its easy to play with the code to add SD functionality. There is also a LED that I called BST ( connected onto D2 arduino pin ), BST stand for Basic Sanity Test, on all my project, I like to have a BST led, that I make blink at 1hz, so if my code crash, the led stay on or off, and...it tell me that there is a problem. Leds are all powered with 5V and 20mA of current allowed by the 330ohms current limiting resistor.

More informations here : http://qcrc.ca/blog/blog1.php

I had make some tests this weekend and it's really a pleasure to have GPS data recorded on microSD. You can show you flight directly on Google Earth.

To EOSBandi and Alex : we will make some devleoppement to read waypoint from the SD card ....