Blogs

3D Robotics

Adding 3DR radio telemetry to the Quanum Nova APM-powered copter

Posted by Chris Anderson on June 14, 2014 at 9:30pm

3689600537?profile=originalI just got a Quanum Nova, which is a fantastic APM-powered copter that in many way outperforms the DJI Phantom for less than $300.  Although it's capable of full autonomy, just like any other ArduCopter, the one thing it's missing for easy field mission planning and DroidPlanner compatibility is telemetry. 

In this great tutorial, Jean-Louis Naudin shows how to add that:

Here an explanation for connecting the real time telemetry to the CX-20 or to the Quanum Nova

The telemetry port is located on the I/O board of the APM (the second board at the bottom and pluged to the main CPU board) where all the I/O plug are connected. The telemetry port is fully compatible with all the telemetry transmitter (3DR and all the compatible boards) and also with the Bluetooth boards commonly used with the APM boards.

alt text

Below the pinout which shows the telemetry port I/O (back to the I/O board).

Note from the comments: depending on which radio you're using, you may have to reverse the TX and RX lines. Dmitry in the comments reports: "You must connect RX from the radio to TX on the APM! And vice versa for Radio TX. So I've changed green and yellow wires and it works!"

 alt text

sold 4 cables on the telemetry ports alt textthen protect the connections with hot glue alt text

Check the functioning alt text

The 4 pins telemetry plug is installed on the back of the fuselage alt text

Check the connection (at 57600 baud) with the mission planner or the Droid Planner 2 alt textalt text

Then, you may enjoy to use the telemetry... alt text

NEXT CHAPTER: Full autonomous mission with the Cheerson CX 20

 

E-mail me when people leave their comments –
Follow

You need to be a member of diydrones to add comments!

Join diydrones

Comments

  • DroneRanger November 29, 2015 at 8:54pm

    Great info!

    I used to have this exact same quad (Hobby King's RTF Quanum Nova).  I actually really liked it, and it was a lot of fun to fly, with a great price as well so it was hard to beat.  I have recommended this to several others as a great 'starter' when they want to get into an APM quad.  It was fun to tinker with and learn on, and when i did break a landing leg or anything else, the replacement parts were very affordable. 

  • Florian G February 20, 2015 at 2:35pm

    Hi !
    Just for Info: In case you upgrade the firmware and use Telemetry, you will likely end up with a broken mavlink connection "No heartbeat received" -

    The problem is that the original APM firmware of the cheerson was modified and they use RX2/TX2 for Mavlink. After upgrading to a later version, telemetry does not work directly. If you want to use a reasonable new firmware, you have to flash the following firmware - i've just tested it and it works great ! - Maybe worth adding to the tutorial.

    Discussion:
    http://ardupilot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=9534

    Firmware:
    http://ardupilot.com/forum/download/file.php?id=3351

    Flash tool for dummies:
    http://www.hobbytronics.co.uk/arduino-xloader
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson November 28, 2014 at 10:51pm

    Thanks!

  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson November 28, 2014 at 9:02pm

    Thanks, Vinnie. Do you have a link to the thread on RC Groups that shows which resistors to resolder? 

  • Matt Elias November 13, 2014 at 6:28am

    Mister T, you need a device like a AVRISP MkII or AVR Dragon or I believe this from Pololu should work too. I have not done it myself, but you want to do a hex dump from the atmega2560 to your computer. The other pololu links are for a firmware update to support the 2560's larger memory footprint.

    http://www.pololu.com/product/1300

    http://forum.pololu.com/viewtopic.php?t=4118

    http://www.pololu.com/docs/0J36/9

    Here's the pinout for the ICSP header, https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14121640/CX20%20FC%202560%20ISP...

  • L November 2, 2014 at 3:44pm

    Just was pointed to this new summary that seems pretty definitive. Thanks!

    http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2268841

  • Jeff Colhoun November 2, 2014 at 3:02pm
    Yeah. A few posts back I gave an rc groups link to someone with the e solution. some of the novas incLudington mine don't give Amy TX or rx off the pads in the tutorial. You gotta do some tricky soldering
  • L November 2, 2014 at 2:31pm

    Correcting, APM firmware is at 3.1.5 -- 2.0.14 is MP version. Sorry about that, Chief!

  • L November 2, 2014 at 2:24pm

    Hi. If I'm barking up the wrong tree here, my apologies in advance. I have a Quanum Nova that I'm trying to get working with 3DR type radios. Here's the situation so far:

    1) APM firmware is at 2.0.14
    2) 3DR radios are at latest stable version
    3) 3DR radios talk to firmware program fine (both ground unit, and air unit connected via a USB/serial converter. Both radios connect to each other fine.
    4) Nova data appears fine when connected to Mission Planner via USB.
    5) No luck getting data out from Nova via radio using cable wired to APM contact pads.
    6) Air radio powers up correctly attached to the Nova (5.25v VCC).
    7) Wiring attached to Nova contact pads shows continuity and apparently no shorts.
    8) TX data line (pad next to VCC) is at 5.25 volts, no data visible (testing with battery connected, USB disconnected). No red blinking from air radio.

    Any ideas? Thanks very much!

  • Matt Elias October 2, 2014 at 9:28am

    @Manuel, I have read of a guy with 3.1.5 & a working telemetry port too here, but then he says it only works without USB plugged in so I know he means the RX/TX resistor spot and not the telemetry port that we are trying to get working. I tried to explain it to him here. I would bet that if you used MP to flash 3.1.2 or 3.1.5 over top of your stock 3.1.2 without any other changes, your telemetry port would quit.

    What we need is someone with a stock firmware, to get a complete hex dump using the ISCP header shown here.

    RC Groups - View Single Post - CX-20 Cheerson Auto Pathfinder
    RC Groups - the most active Radio Control model community: electric and fuel rc airplanes,rc helis,rc boats and rc cars. Features discussion forums,…
This reply was deleted.