Discussions

Lightware SF10/C and Pixhawk AC 3.3.2 Serial connection

Posted by Mathew Ferreira on January 18, 2016 at 5:13pm

Hello all. 

I've connected a Lightware SF10/c to my pixhawk serial 4/5 port as the instructions here show:http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/com...re-sf10-lidar/

My SonarRange is flat on 0. I can see that the unit is powered up because I can see the dot on the floor with a digital camera. I've triple checked continuity of the cable I made and I also (using the cable I made for the Pixhawk) with small jumpers stuck in the little connector, attached it to a USB to Serial adapter and with Putty I can see the distance just fine.

I dropped it down to 9600 baud, still nothing.

I'm new to pixhawk/apm world so I'm not really sure how to troubleshoot. I've double checked the wiring.

I currently am running firmware 3.3.2.

Lastly, this is still not done being built. This is my first experience with a Pixhawk. I'm upgrading from an Eagle Tree Vector. I'm not done rewiring. I am still waiting for a power module because I refuse to use the little 90A one that was supplied by 3DR. 

Thank you all.

Note (may be TMI): My parts list is as follows

  • Tarot FY680 Iron Man
  • Sigma Summit Motor Mounts (~740mm now)
  • PixHawk Controller
  • Mauch 4-14S 200A Power Module (pending delivery)
  • Quanum MT 3510 630KV
  • Turnigy K-Force 30A (Opto)
  • Zippy Flightmax 8Ah 6S 30C or Venom 6s 12Ah 30C
  • 13x5.5 Carbon Props
  • 3DR uBlox GPS/Compass
  • PX4FLOW Optical Flow Sensor
  • Lightware SF10-C LIDAR Altimeter 0-100m
  • Turnigy 9XR Pro
  • Floureon 915MHz Telemetry
  • 2W 1.3GHz NTSC Video Transmitter
  • HawkEye DTF-UHF 1w 16ch

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Replies

  • Robert Gowans March 22, 2017 at 2:42am

    I am unable to find a version of the 3.3.2 software to test, but I can confirm that Heli 3.3.3 works as expected with the Terminal and SF11.

  • Thomas Stanley-Jones March 20, 2017 at 7:04am

    Hi Robert,

    Thank you for giving me the link to the software, I had trouble navigating the website with my smaller laptop.  The terminal keeps crashing when I try to connect to the Pixhawk through a USB.  It will connect, but when it tries to get parameters it crashes.  If I try through the RFD radio it says I'm not allowed.  I have Trad Heli 3.3.2 firmware and there was a post someone else had that they couldn't get the sonarrange and sonarvoltage to display until they upgraded to the next firmware version.  Is there an issue with this firmware?

  • Robert Gowans March 20, 2017 at 12:16am

    Hi Thomas,

    As a first step, try download the LightWare Terminal application (If you haven't already: http://lightware.co.za/shop2017/content/6-software), and use the 'Drone' option to configure ardupilot for the rangefinder.

  • Thomas Stanley-Jones March 19, 2017 at 7:25am

    I too am getting 0 sonarrange and 0 sonarvolts after I've setup the SF11 using the arducopter documentation.  I'm using Serial 4 though, so slightly different.  What was it that got it working for you @Duffy?

  • Duffy February 3, 2016 at 1:10am

    Interested in this post.

     Also, any reason why the SF10/C can't work well connected via ADC on the pixhawk. Would like to keep serial 4 for RTK GPS.

     Thanks

    • Jeff Seaman > Duffy March 9, 2016 at 8:27pm

      I've seen conflicting posts about using serial 5 as an extra serial port by using a splitter on power and ground leads. Some say it is usable as another serial port, others say it is only good for console output.

      I have an SF11 that I am trying to get up and running, but the only serial port I have left is 5. At the moment, I2C for it isn't quite functional, looks like my only option may be to use ADC

      Thoughts?

      • Robert Gowans > Jeff Seaman March 10, 2016 at 1:25am

        I'm pretty sure that serial 5 is not usable for a range finder. It acts as the debug port for the system.

    • LightWare - Laser Developer > Duffy February 3, 2016 at 1:18am

      Yes, the SF10/C does work on analog but you will find that with the analog span set to 100m the effect of system noise starts to become significant. At shorter spans this is less of an issue, so if you're specifically looking for operation over say, 40m, then you should reduce the analog span accordingly to reduce the effects of noise.

      If I remember the Pixhawk setup correctly any of the available serial ports can be used with the SF10 and SF11 families. 

      • Duffy > LightWare - Laser Developer February 3, 2016 at 10:28am

        Thanks,

         Just tested to see if it would work on I2C in the latest beta release [apparently supported in 3.3.2rc2] but I am not getting any reading back on copter.

         Should the bus address or baud change?

         Thanks

        • Robert Gowans > Duffy February 4, 2016 at 5:03am

          Hi Duffy,

          Have you set RNGFND_TYPE to 7?

          Could you also confirm that it is the "sonarrange" output that you are checking?

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