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Ardustation 2: Antenna Tracking, Mavlink, Flight Data for Arducopter 2

Posted by Hai Tran on August 13, 2011 at 7:08pm

Heino, Jeff E and myself have been working on updating Ardustation code to support Arductoper 2.

 

I think our code is ready for general use.

- Automatic antenna tracking, tested with ReadyMadeRC Antenna pan/tilt unit (even had my ContourHD cam attached to the directional antenna!)

- Manual antenna tracking (aka Antenna Test)

- Edit/View AC2 Params included PIDs

- Flight data display

 

Credits to Phillip Anthony Smith for updating Ardustation to support Mavlink (ArdustationPS).

 

Source code is available here

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

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Comments

  • Heino R. Pull April 29, 2012 at 8:49am

    Yes you can - here is a more updated post.

    http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/unified-ardustation-2-with-para...

  • heckmic October 7, 2011 at 3:58am

    I have now my second board but still the same Error:

    avrdude: stk500_getsync(): not in sync: resp=0x00avrdude: stk500_disable(): protocol error, expect=0x14, resp=0x54

    Upper left LED is on, lower left blinks. It is supplyed only by USB. I can upload to Arduino mini Board for WiiKopter, but i get an error when i try to upload the Ardustation code to the Ardustation by selecting "Duemilanove or Nano" like described. So whats wrong?

     

  • Heino R. Pull September 4, 2011 at 7:44am

    Also as others have mentioned, it might make sense to power a servo with a separate beefier 5 volt supply (from the Ardustation's 5 volt supply) to allow large current draw servos to be used.

  • Heino R. Pull September 4, 2011 at 7:40am

    The magic lines in the software for servo calibration are:

    Pan.attach(9,609,2255);//PAN Servos  //These numbers seem to work well for the HITEC-485 servos   Tilt.attach(10,591,2235);//Tilt Elevator

     

    pan init values (609 usec for 0 degree servo call, 2255 usec for 180 degree servo call)

     

    The servo library call "write" argument is 0 to 180 degrees and 0 maps to 609 usec above and 180 to 2255 usecs for pan. Therefore, the software assumes in pan that 0 to 360 degrees maps to a servo call of 0 to 180 and a fixed servo position. This should work with 360 servos and needs testing the initialization above to actual pan position on the servo. The values I set above are actually out of range of the standard pulse widths for a servo (1000 usec to 2000 usec being "standard")  but the hitec 485 uses the above init values ok. 

     

    The basic limitation of the software is that for a given antenna pan heading (0 to 359) that there is a single servo rotation position for a given call to "write". So if a servo maps more than 360 degress of rotation, the init calls have to be adjusted to reduce the rotation to just 0 to 360. A continous rotation winch servo will definitely not work.

     

    I've tested a 360 degree modified Hitec-485 servo from servocity.com and it works fine, but is not well suited to the readymaderc antenna tracker. 

     

    Loosing the LCD while testing servo positioning probably means the the voltage regulator is overheating and has shut down.  You definitely need a heat sync for most servos, and you need to avoid servo binding. Otherwise a 360 degree servo should work with proper init values.

  • Heino R. Pull September 3, 2011 at 9:45pm
    Yes the gearing of readymaderc unit takes care of the 360 degree in the pan servo so stock 485 or 645 servos work without mods. Other commercial tracker kits might require modified servos.
  • Heino R. Pull August 20, 2011 at 7:56am
    @hiwa - Everything looks good. You need to exit Arduino and restart when changing libraries. That may be your problem now. If that doesn't work then I'll download the version of AruducopterMega that you have installed and try compiling from scratch to duplicate your errors.
  • hiwa August 20, 2011 at 7:36am

    thanks Heino R. Pull for replay, here is a pic of what i did. i coped ardustation2 folder in Arducopter2.0.38 folder than i set libraries at sketchbook location in preferences menu. i still have errors. sorry for my bad English.

    3692256564?profile=original

  • Heino R. Pull August 19, 2011 at 8:44pm
    @hiwa. Hello. You need the current library folder from either the Arducopter or Apm distribution in your sketches folder The best way to verify this is if you can compile either project in the Arduino environment before you try to compile Ardustation2. Let me know if you need more info on how to do this.

    Heino
  • hiwa August 19, 2011 at 6:11pm

    hi all, i got this errors when i upload code to ardustation. plz guid me to upload it. thanks.

    ArduStation2.cpp:40:24: error: FastSerial.h: No such file or directory
    ArduStation2.cpp:41:25: error: GCS_MAVLink.h: No such file or directory
    ArduStation2.cpp:45:55: error: AP_EEPROMB.h: No such file or directory
    ArduStation2:38: error: variable or field 'gcs_handleMessage' declared void
    ArduStation2:38: error: 'mavlink_message_t' was not declared in this scope
    ArduStation2:38: error: 'msg' was not declared in this scope
    ArduStation2:39: error: variable or field 'send_message' declared void
    ArduStation2:39: error: 'mavlink_message_t' was not declared in this scope
    ArduStation2:39: error: 'msg' was not declared in this scope
    ArduStation2:49: error: 'AP_EEPROMB' does not name a type
    ArduStation2:58: error: expected constructor, destructor, or type conversion before '(' token
    ArduStation2.cpp: In function 'void SaveHomePosition()':
    Antenna:5: error: 'eeprom_busy_wait' was not declared in this scope
    Antenna:6: error: 'ee' was not declared in this scope
    Antenna:10: error: 'eeprom_write_dword' was not declared in this scope
    ArduStation2.cpp: In function 'void RestoreHomePosition()':
    Antenna:16: error: 'eeprom_busy_wait' was not declared in this scope
    Antenna:17: error: 'ee' was not declared in this scope
    Antenna:21: error: 'eeprom_read_dword' was not declared in this scope
    ArduStation2.cpp: In function 'void position_antenna()':
    Antenna:121: error: 'ToDeg' was not declared in this scope
    ArduStation2.cpp: At global scope:
    MAVLink:0: error: variable or field 'gcs_handleMessage' declared void
    MAVLink:0: error: 'mavlink_message_t' was not declared in this scope
    MAVLink:0: error: 'msg' was not declared in this scope

     

  • Zac August 14, 2011 at 7:01pm

    Is there an easy way to hand off back and fourth between the ardustation and a laptop?  Sorry I am still starting out, so forgive me. But how many communication channels can the zigbee/mavlink support? As In can I have a ardustation at one end for the launch, and then it hands off to another ardustation or a laptop on the way?

This reply was deleted.