APM Mission Planner with APC220 RF module
Dear All,
Firt...let me thank you guys working very hard with all these Ardu-things (ArduPilot, ArduCopter, APM, ...). Very nice and I love it!
I have bought a set of APC220 RF sender/receivers for using as telemtry link for my ArduCopter. I could not connect with the APM Mission Planner...got a time-out for "no heartbeat sent". It did however work with HK GCS and QGroundStation so I started to dig into why it did not work with APM. Luckily, the code is available and hence I have now managed to get it to work.
The APC220 requires the RTS and DTR to be false at all times as no handshaking can be used. I also found that the version of ArduCopter (2.4.1) that I have does not send heartbeats on the telemetry port...have I set something up badly here?
To get this to work you can edit the code to change how the OpenBg() is executed in the MavLink.cs according to:
lock (objlock) // so we dont have random traffic
{
log.Info("Open port with " + BaseStream.PortName + " " + BaseStream.BaudRate);
if (useAPC220)
{
// No RTS/DTR at all for this one...
BaseStream.RtsEnable = false;
BaseStream.DtrEnable = false;
BaseStream.Open();
BaseStream.DiscardInBuffer();
}
else
{
BaseStream.Open();
BaseStream.DiscardInBuffer();
BaseStream.toggleDTR();
}
Thread.Sleep(1000);
}
I added a small "useAPC220" propery that I set to "true".
I also added/changed a setting where the code expects the heartbeats to come:
if (useAPC220)
{
// No hearbeats coming from my 2.4.1 FW using APC220...why?
// firmware issue?
sysid = 1;
compid = 1;
mavlinkversion = 2;
aptype = 2;
break;
}
else
{
// incase we are in setup mode
BaseStream.WriteLine("planner\rgcs\r");
buffer = getHeartBeat();
// incase we are in setup mode
BaseStream.WriteLine("planner\rgcs\r");
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(1);
buffer1 = getHeartBeat();
}
So, I hardcoded some values (version, id's etc) that is coming from the heartbeat package normally.
Anyhow, this is a rather bad approach (but quick and dirty and works for my special case). So, now I wonder if it would be possible to add a few settings in the APM Mission Planner to handle this? Maybe one can have a setting for "use handshake" and one for "expect heartbeat". This would make the APM to be compatible with the APC220 as well.
Well...that was what I had in mind. Thanx once again for your hard work!
/Stefan
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alberto Cristóbal Granda on -
Thanks.
Where can I found this version??
EDIT.
I have found it.
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Permalink Reply by Alberto Cristóbal Granda on
-
The APC220 is working but I can not use it with the arducopter version I´ve got.
What arducopter version can I use with planner 1.1.52??
-
ModeratorPermalink Reply by Graham Dyer on -
Confirmed, no connection at all with MP v1.1.85
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Permalink Reply by Juan Carlos Hdez on
-
Mine works with MP 1.1.92
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ModeratorPermalink Reply by Graham Dyer on -
No, I still can't get mine to work, Juan how did you get yours to work?
-
Permalink Reply by Alberto Cristóbal Granda on
-
Hello Graham,
Look at this answer
http://diydrones.com/forum/topics/arducopter-firm-2-6-with-apc220-d...
Have luck
-
ModeratorPermalink Reply by Graham Dyer on -
Tried that, still nothing. Followed this to set up the two APC220 modules: http://wiki.openpilot.org/display/Doc/APC220+Transceiver+Telemetry, is that correct. Is there anyway to test whether they are in fact communicating?
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Permalink Reply by Alberto Cristóbal Granda on
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Yes, is correct. I did mine wirh this tutorial.
If you connect one to your computer and the other just to power and make a jumper betwin Tx and RX. open a program like Hyperterminal with the APC settings and write a letter and intro it must be the same letter back again (you type A and youreceived another A, you read AA)
-
ModeratorPermalink Reply by Graham Dyer on -
Thank you Alberto, it's working now, I checked the box, unchecked it, checked it and unchecked it again (!) and it seems fine now. Will test again in the morning.
-
ModeratorPermalink Reply by Graham Dyer on -
OK, I can connect, get parameters and get flight data, but if I change a parameter and hit 'Write' it's fine but I can only do that once, then I get a "set param_xx failed" error. However even though I get that error the parameter appears to have been written because if I hit Refresh the parameter that I changed shows correctly. HOWEVER, more often than not on Refresh I get a "serial link isn't fast enough" error.
These APC220's are really frustrating, maybe I must just throw them away!
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