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Permalink Reply by Heino R. Pull on July 3, 2012 at 12:29am

I just realized that there is no wiki on the Ardustation 2 software download page. I'll go ahead and add some pages to help with the compilation of the software. I do have access to that wiki area :)

Heino

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3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on July 3, 2012 at 7:21am

Thanks, John. I've added Byron tips to the wiki, as you suggested. 

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Permalink Reply by JohnB on July 3, 2012 at 7:54pm

I got the code uploaded.. things work easier when you're not frustrated.  I originally started trying to upload the code with the latest version of Arduino from the Arduino site.  By the time I switched to the correct version (in arduino-0022-relaxpatch.zip), I had a tangled sketch directory.  Clearing it out and only unzipping the Ardustation2_APM_ACM_2.0.15_Mavlink1.0.zip directly into the sketches folder was my fix.

Here's a bit of Byron's tips along with some steps I threw together for those that are relatively new to arduino:

 

Now that you have the ArduStation assembled, these are the steps to install code on the device:

 

Note:If you power up the ArduStation at this point using an FTDI cable or other power supply, you'll get a green light on with two rows of black squares if your potentiometers are turned all the way in one direction (or just a dark screen if all the way in the other).  This is normal and is the default when the ardustation isn't programmed. If an Xbee is attached then the red LED will be flashing. Doesn't mean anything is wrong.

1. Download the latest supported version of arduino from here (arduino-0022-relaxpatch.zip as of this post) and unzip it to a location on your hard drive (i.e. c:\arduino-0022-relaxpatch).  Go into the folder and execute arduino.exe.  In the application, go to click File > Preferences and set your sketchbook location to an empty folder on your hard drive (i.e. C:\Documents\Arduino).
2. Download the latest supported version of the ArduStation code from here (Ardustation2_APM_ACM_2.0.15_Mavlink1.0.zip as of this writing).  Unzip this file to the empty sketchbook folder. After this is done, your sketchbook folder will have two directories in it: ArduStation2 and libraries.
3. If the arduino application is still running, close it and restart it.  It will not detect new contents in the sketchbook folder until it is restarted.
4. After arduino.exe is restarted, click File > Sketchbook > ArduStation2. Hit the Verify button (looks like a Play button). This tests compilation of the ArduStation2 code. If it completes successfully, you will receive a Done Compiling message with no errors.
5. Plug a 3.3v FTDI cable into the ArduStation2 with the ground wire (black wire) on the side toward the black buttons.  If you have an Xbee radio installed, remove it before proceeding.  Connect the cable to your computer.  Your computer should give a short beep indicating a new COM port was found.  If you go to Device Manager (right click on Computer > Properties > Device Manager under Win7), you should see the COM port under 'Ports (COM & LPT)'.  Go into the properties of the port by right clicking it and selecting Properties.  You'll know the FTDI COM port from others you may have because the manufacturer is listed as FTDI.  The default COM port settings of 9600 baud worked for me.  Note, at this point, your ArduStation2 is still with its default row of black boxes and green power light indicator.
6. In the Arduino app window where the code was verified in Step 4, select the COM port that was added by the FTDI cable by clicking Tools > Serial Port > COMXX (where XX is the COM port number). Then, click Tools>Board> and make sure Arduino Uno is selected.
7. Press the Upload button in the Arduino app. After about 30seconds or so, you should get the message that it is done uploading and with no errors.
8. Unplug the FTDI cable from the computer and the ArduStation2
9. Plug in your xBee module and power it on.  After a few moments, the black boxes will be replaced 'wodunt' and then replaced with Starting xBee text.  If you cannot see it, tweak your potentiometers to adjust the backlight and contrast.  You should see some text at this point.

Now that your code is uploaded, go to the User Guide here: http://code.google.com/p/ardustation/wiki/UsersGuide

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3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on July 3, 2012 at 8:12pm

John: Great instructions! I've added them to the wiki here. 

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Permalink Reply by JohnB on July 3, 2012 at 10:39pm

Thanks Chris and Heino!

I hope my instructions are good enough to be posted there; please feel free to edit and/or replace them with anything better. I'm still working on getting my setup working correctly.  I bought some used xbee's and still not getting them to communicate even without the ArduStation.. So, I may be adding some more 'noob' instructions for xbee testing/setup as soon as I work through this.

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Permalink Reply by JohnB on July 3, 2012 at 11:26pm

Muhahahaha.. xbees communicating.. now must sleep.

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Permalink Reply by JohnB on July 4, 2012 at 12:17pm

Chris,

I had a bad solder joint in my xbee header on my ArduStation 2 which is now fixed.  I'm fully up and running with Ardustation 2 now. Wooohooo!  Could you please replace my step 9 with this revised step 9?

9.) Plug in your xBee module and power up the ArduStation.  After a few moments, the black boxes will be replaced with 'ArduStation 2 with MAVLink 1.0 and Antennae Tracking" followed by "Starting xbee" and then go to the main menu.  The starting sequence and text may be different depending on your version of firmware.  If you cannot see any text, tweak your potentiometers to adjust the backlight and contrast.  You should see some text at this point.

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3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on July 4, 2012 at 1:18pm

JohnB: Done! If you'd like, I can give you wiki edit permission, so you can improve the manual yourself. Just PM me an email address linked to a Google account. 

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Permalink Reply by JohnB on July 7, 2012 at 7:51am

When I initially setup the Ardustation 2, it has a bad solder joint in the xbee header. Although the issue is resolved now, I thought I would post the behavior in case others are experiencing it.  Basically, my display was giving me garbage characters.  Instead of a heart icon, there was a 'd' icon in the bottom right hand corner.  I found that when I pushed the xbee to one side, the issue cleared up..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5U7mrj0CY4

Resoldering the header resolved the problem.

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Permalink Reply by Heino R. Pull on July 7, 2012 at 7:57pm

JohnB

Thanks for updating the wiki. As an FYI - Arduino 1.00 relax was used for Ardustation 2.0.12 and later and I'm currently using the latest (1.0.1) for future development.  I no longer test compile with 0022-relaxpatch so it may or may not work with later releases.

I've helped quite a few people since August of last year and the single biggest issue is using too much solder on the Xbee header causing shorts.  I've had 1 person who ruined there Ardustation and gave up on them because of solder bridges.   I screwed it up myself and had to order a replacement header and use solder wick everywhere to fix mine. I saw your video and I'm glad you got it working again. It can be very hard to fix once there are random bridges and thats the downfall of the Xbee socket on the board.

Thanks!

Heino

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Permalink Reply by Burt Green on July 8, 2012 at 7:01pm

Quick question?

Build mine today and all seems to work!, had it hooked up, plane on and was getting the mavlink data.

Now is there a way of sending a log from the mission planner to test the tracker?

Thanks

Burt Green

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Permalink Reply by Heino R. Pull on July 9, 2012 at 6:05am

Hi Burt,

That would be a cool facility to replay Mavlink from  stored log, but I don't think anybody has implemented that.

Heino

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