Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Byron Smith on March 30, 2012 at 9:49am

I just assembled my Ardustation and it behaves exactly as Terry described. I am unable even to load a boot loader getting the same sync error.

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Permalink Reply by Vernon Barry on March 30, 2012 at 10:05am

You cannot load a boot loader through FTDI so no that's not exactly the same error. Bootloaders must go through a programmer (and actual AVR or tinyusb) on the ICSP port. Only with a working bootloader can you then connect via FTDI. Bootloader is a small piece of code written to enable the serial port on the chip, otherwise, a cold boot, there is no enabled ports to connect to, the micro is blank. ICSP allows you to write to the eprom area where bootloader would reside. So yes, you could have a blank chip with no bootloader and get that message when trying to flash the program, but no you cannot fix it with a FTDI cable trying to flash the bootloader.

http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Bootloader

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Permalink Reply by Byron Smith on April 2, 2012 at 8:01am

I finally got the ardustation working. Here are a few tips for others who may be having similar problems.

(1) Green light on with two rows of black squares is the default if the ardustation isn't programmed. If an Xbee is attached then the red LED will be flashing. Doesn't mean anything is wrong. (I never have gotten a chirp!)

(2) To verify that the boot loader is installed monitor pin 13 on reset , if it flashes high you are in business.

(3) When programming the Ardustation do not use later versions of ardurino or relax as you will get multiple compile errors. Use this version:    arduino-0022-relaxpatch.zip    

(4) Make sure you have the extracted ardustation sketch folder and library folder  in your defined sketch  folder . You also need arduplane or arducopter sketch folders and library folder in there.

(5)Make sure you have the latest FTDI drivers installed. ANd that thee cable is plugged in properly.

(6) Make sure your microprocessor chip is oriented correctly.

(7) Check for cold solder joints and verify polarity on capacitors which require it.

Hope this helps others like me.

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3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on April 2, 2012 at 8:42am

Thanks for the tips, Byron: For that you get a "Maven" badge! (Now you'll just have to add a picture ;-))

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Permalink Reply by Terry Patton on April 3, 2012 at 10:43am

Yes thank you Vernon and Byron for those tips and filling in a few blanks that I wasn't aware of, especially on how to check if the boot loader is there. I hope it is, as promised, as I have no AVR. I assume it is or I wouldn't get the Blue led coming on without an available port..

I do get the Blue LED as steady on, twice, when I try to program using the XBee (but nothing when using FTDI cable). Does this Blue LED On confirm the boot loader is there? What is the Blue LED signifying exactly? Maybe this would help me narrow it down.

As for the rest of the suggestions on drivers and construction checks. I've previously gone over those several times and even had a second set of eyes check my work in case I couldn't see a fault for looking. Nothing, so assuming it's some software error now.

This brings me down to a few remaining items to check. I'll go recheck how I have the sketch libraries/files pathed/placed etc., and see if I can find an error on my part there. I guess I'm down to these three places I can go look. File placement, pin 13 for bootloader, or some sort of comm error or mismatch.

I unfortunately have to go out just now. But I will go over these last few ideas left that I can check. Thanks for helping people.

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Permalink Reply by Byron Smith on April 3, 2012 at 12:00pm

The blue light indicates that the xbee is communicating with it's counterpart and it is on solid when a link is established. Reset will restart the boot loader before the board is programmed but will show nothing on the LCD.

To upload the ardustation script, make sure the xbee is unplugged and power the board and load the compiled script through FTDI cable. The 500 get_sync error indicates the FTDI cable isn't talking to the board. Check your FTDI com port in the control panel device manager (System) and update the driver. Make sure the baud reate is set and the "Set RTS on close" box is checked. Make sure the right com is selected in Arduino.

I had to try several baud rates before I got it to work, I think 9600 is the default but if that doesn't work try them all. Also make sure the backlight and contrast are properly adjusted on the LCD so you can monitor what's going on with the board.

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Permalink Reply by John Campen on April 11, 2012 at 5:23pm

Firstly, Where can I find the manual for the Ardustation and how to set it up? The wiki has a great assembly page but no info how to load the code and how to program it.

When I plug in the new FTDI cable I bought nothing happens at all. Yet when I power it with the battery its all good. I picked this Ardstation up second hand and it has old code loaded onto it and Id like to put the latest code on it.

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Permalink Reply by Heino R. Pull on April 13, 2012 at 10:33am

John,

I just noticed your post. I've been updating the Ardustation 2 software that originated here (with some instructions on how to operate) http://code.google.com/p/ardustation/wiki/UsersGuide

I added the antenna tracking functionality to Philip's original software and those functions are not documented in the user info at the above link. I've been updating the parameter update mechanism to keep up with the latest releases of Arducopter and Arduplane.

That code is available here:

http://code.google.com/p/ardustation-ii/

Depending on what you want the Ardustation to do I can help you.

One thing that you need to be aware of with the Ardustation is that you can't upload software with an Xbee attached to the socket. I'm not sure what error you get when you try, but that may be your problem.  Also make sure that your FTDI cable has the black wire connected to the right most side of the board on the Ardustation looking at it from the front. There can be other issues also, such as a problem in the boot loader or soldering issues with the Ardustation itself.

Heino

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Permalink Reply by John Campen on April 14, 2012 at 4:17pm

Many thanks for your help Heino, yes this is what I was looking for. I will try as you suggest and see if I can now update the software once Im back home. I'm just curious though what to expect when I plug the cable in. What interface will pop up on my computer where I will be able to install the software from?

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Permalink Reply by Heino R. Pull on April 14, 2012 at 4:58pm

You have to use the Arduino 1.00 Relax environment to compile and load the Ardustation software. The cable when plugged into your computer will be recognized as a new serial port in the device manager. On my system it shows up as Com7. When running in the Arduino there are some menu items that control the port and I select com7. There is a button to the right of "compile" button that says upload and that will load the software into the Ardustation. It will say upload complete when the upload is done and the Ardustation should boot up automatically. While the Ftdi cable is attached and an upload is in progress, you'll see blocks on the LCD display.

You'll need to set up the Arduino, serial port, and sketch and library folders as detailed at this URL.
http://code.google.com/p/ardupilot-mega/wiki/ProgrammingSettingUp

You use the same process as uploading to the autopilot.

Heino

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Permalink Reply by JohnB on July 2, 2012 at 11:44pm

Wow.. its hard to find gems like this thread.  Byron's tips should be promoted to the wiki.  When I first plugged in the board and saw the row of boxes and no sound.. I was thinking I had hosed something.

I'm able to upload to the Ardustation using my 3.3v FTDI cable; I uploaded the sample Blink code under File>Examples>Basic>Blink using the Arduino 0100-relax.  However, anytime I try to compile Ardustation2, I get errors.  I have set up my sketch folder and have unzipped Ardustation2_APM_ACM_2.0.15_Mavlink1.0.zip and ArduCopter-2.6.zip as sub-folders in the sketch folder. I restarted Arduino after setting up the sketch folder.

When I try to compile, I get the following error when compiling Ardustation2:

ArduStation2.cpp:75:24: error: FastSerial.h: No such file or directory
ArduStation2.cpp:76:25: error: GCS_MAVLink.h: No such file or directory
ArduStation2.cpp:80:55: error: AP_EEPROMB.h: No such file or directory
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: variable or field 'gcs_handleMessage' declared void
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'mavlink_message_t' was not declared in this scope
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'msg' was not declared in this scope
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: variable or field 'gcs_handleMessage' declared void
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'mavlink_message_t' was not declared in this scope
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'msg' was not declared in this scope
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: variable or field 'send_message' declared void
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'mavlink_message_t' was not declared in this scope
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'msg' was not declared in this scope
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'AP_EEPROMB' does not name a type
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: expected constructor, destructor, or type conversion before '(' token
ArduStation2.cpp: In function 'void SaveHomePosition()':
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'eeprom_busy_wait' was not declared in this scope
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'ee' was not declared in this scope
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'eeprom_write_dword' was not declared in this scope
ArduStation2.cpp: In function 'void RestoreHomePosition()':
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'eeprom_busy_wait' was not declared in this scope
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'ee' was not declared in this scope
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'eeprom_read_dword' was not declared in this scope
ArduStation2.cpp: In function 'void position_antenna()':
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'ToDeg' was not declared in this scope
ArduStation2.cpp: At global scope:
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: variable or field 'gcs_handleMessage' declared void
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'mavlink_message_t' was not declared in this scope
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'msg' was not declared in this scope

Because of the directory errors, I was thinking maybe they had to be in the same folder. So, I cleared my sketch folder and then I unzipped Ardustation2_APM_ACM_2.0.15_Mavlink1.0.zip and ArduCopter-2.6.zip both directly into the sketch folder (so they have a merged libraries folder).  There were some over write prompts that I said yes to and I got this when trying to compile Ardustation2:

In file included from ArduStation2.cpp:76:
D:\Documents\Arduino\libraries\GCS_MAVLink/GCS_MAVLink.h:20:15: error: operator '==' has no left operand
D:\Documents\Arduino\libraries\GCS_MAVLink/GCS_MAVLink.h:30:14: error: operator '==' has no left operand
D:\Documents\Arduino\libraries\GCS_MAVLink/GCS_MAVLink.h:127:14: error: operator '==' has no left operand
ArduStation2.cpp: In function 'void gcs_handleMessage(mavlink_message_t*)':
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'MAV_TYPE_FIXED_WING' was not declared in this scope
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'MAV_TYPE_GENERIC' was not declared in this scope
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'struct mavlink_gps_raw_int_t' has no member named 'vel'
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'struct mavlink_sys_status_t' has no member named 'voltage_battery'
ArduStation2.cpp: In function 'int get_Param_Key(char*, int)':
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'MAV_TYPE_FIXED_WING' was not declared in this scope
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'MAV_TYPE_QUADROTOR' was not declared in this scope
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'MAV_TYPE_GENERIC' was not declared in this scope
ArduStation2.cpp: In function 'void save_param()':
ArduStation2.pde:-1: error: 'MAV_VAR_FLOAT' was not declared in this scope

The assembly guide was great.. and then you fall off a cliff on the programming step (at least us newbies do).

On a second matter, the first line of code in Ardustation2 is:

#define MAVLINK10  // Uncomment for MAVLINK 1.0, otherwise comment out for MAVLINK 0.9

I assume I have to remove the # from this line to use MAVLINK1.0.  Do I need to modify any other lines?

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Permalink Reply by Heino R. Pull on July 3, 2012 at 12:03am

The line is already set up for Mavlink 1.0. A commented line would look like this:

//#define MAVLINK10 Mavlink 0.9


Also don't merge the 2.6 libraries with the library folder from the zip. Use only the library folder from the zip. Byron's tips were for earlier releases. Sorry for the difficulty, I don't have access to change the Ardustation wiki or assembly instructions and I tried to simplify the compilation after having seen this thread.
Heino

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