Discussions

Using AUX pins as relays for CHDK

Posted by Dave Williams on February 11, 2014 at 12:39pm

I'm confused and a bit frustrated, would appreciate any help as I'm not sure how to proceed.

Setup: I have a pixhawk autopilot running Arduplane 2.77, using Mission Planner 1.2.95

I've been following this guide to get my CHDK enabled camera working with my pixhawk. I'm interested in getting the camera triggering based on distance traveled.

Obviously the guide was written with APM in mind, so it needs to be adapted a bit for pixhawk; specifically the setting for RELAY_PIN. I've kept the rest of the settings the same as in the tutorial.

Pixhawk has 6 AUX ports according to the quick start guide, I am assuming that the numbers above the pins correspond to the AUX port numbering. When you mouse over the RELAY_PIN parameter, it says that pin 54 corresponds to Pixhawk FMU AUX1.

Tried setting RELAY_PIN to 54, no joy. Did a bit more looking, discovered in the release notes for 2.77: 

"Improved relay code
The relay and servo set code has had a major overhaul, with up to 4 relays now supported for MAVLink control and much better support for the DO_SET_SERVO, DO_SET_RELAY, DO_REPEAT_SERVO and DO_REPEAT_RELAY MAVLink commands. Along with these changes is a new parameter BRD_PWM_COUNT which allows you to specify how many auxillary PWM outputs to enable, with the remaining outputs being available as digital relays. This allows you to re-assign some of the aux servo outputs on Pixhawk for use as relays, by setting the RELAY_PIN, RELAY_PIN2, RELAY_PIN3 and RELAY_PIN4 parameters. The pin numbers for these pins start at 50 for the first aux servo pin, and go to 55 on Pixhawk."

Additionally,I found this github issue about this same problem that states that the Pixhawk can't trigger CHDK because its relay pins operate at 3.3V instead of 5V.

So i suppose my specific questions are:

1) Is AUX1 pin 50 or 54?

2) Can anyone confirm that the relays, when working properly, won't be able to trigger CHDK?

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

Join diydrones

Tags: pixhawk
Email me when people reply –
Follow

Replies

      • HighYoyo > arga firmansyah April 19, 2015 at 9:00am
        I am using a 4-in-1 25A ESC (http://www.hobbywing.com/product_show.asp?id=292). It has a 3A/5v Switch BEC. Does it mean that I am stealing 5v from the Pixhawk and running into the risk of a brownout?
        http://www.hobbywing.com/product_show.asp?id=292
        • Martin > HighYoyo April 19, 2015 at 9:03am

          If you're using the 3DR power module then everything is OK.

          Anyway, the current consumption of the trigger is very small. There is no risk of a brownout.

  • iskess April 17, 2015 at 11:40am

    Has anyone heard from Reuben? I sent him $22 for a cable which he says was sent on Feb 4. Last time I heard from him was Feb 24 when he said he would send it again if I didn't have it in a week. That was 2 months ago. I haven't been able to reach him via email or PM. last time he posted here was Mar 14.

    I know he's a legit guy, and a valued member of our community. I hope he's ok.

    Has anyone else got their cable from him or been in contact?

  • HighYoyo April 12, 2015 at 8:07pm

    I have Marco's circuit working on a breadboard. Now looking into testing it in flight. What is the best way to power the 5 v ubec? Is it ok to steal power from the main flight battery or is it better to use a secondary battery?

  • SkySight April 5, 2015 at 12:37pm

    The connector you're looking for is like the one used on this "Remote Control with Multi Terminal Cable"


    You could make a DIY solution with the cable from this remote, or a clone of it, but you would still need some kind of trigger that converts the R/C PWM signal to something that would trigger the camera..


    Watch the video on our MONO product page to learn more about our "plug&play" solution for Sony MultiPort equipped cameras..

    • Developer
      Marco Robustini > SkySight April 5, 2015 at 3:00pm

      SkySight, i remind you that this is not a discussion only to promote your products but mainly devoted to "DIY".
      Please       limits your post about this, thanks.

  • SkySight April 5, 2015 at 12:34pm

    Hi Plinio Augusto,

    It depends if you already have a trigger solution, since you're not able to trigger a Sony MultiPort with the cable alone..
    There is not much on the market for Sony's MultiPort eqiupped cameras - hence the reason we made a "plug&play" solution to help people out..

    If you haven't already seen it - we just launched our webshop 5 days ago with our new product..

    http://skysight.eu/?product=skysight-mono


    Best regards
    SkySight Team
    www.skysight.eu

    "skysight.eu"
  • SkySight April 5, 2015 at 12:02pm

    Sorry to inform, but the linked USB cable is also just a regular USB "B" cable - not a MultiPort cable..

  • SkySight April 5, 2015 at 10:47am

    Just checked our shipping partner... 4-5 days for shipping, and then depending on the speed of customs in Brazil.. Orders will first ship on 7th of April due to national Easter Holydays at the Danish post offices..

    If you have any questions regarding the above, or specific to the use of MONO - don't hesitate to contact us..!

    Best regards
    SkySight Team
    www.skysight.eu

    "www.skysight.eu"
This reply was deleted.

Activity