Developer

ArduStation Mega v1.0b arrived

jDrones_ArduStation_Mega_v1.0b_0147_sml.JPG?width=500

Our ArduStation MEGA boards arrived today and I am truly excited to see how they work. Now starts small assembly job for them and then we can start doing testing for those. 

Big thanks for Colin for his original ASM work, it's great to see what great minds can create. 

New boards looks just awesome. Few connectors are missing but those are quickly soldered. These boards are from the first batch and we have them now small qty in stock. If there are any changes that needs to be made, we will do it and then first production batch will come.

Technical specs:

  • MCU: Atmel 2560 with Atmel 8u2 USB "adapter"
  • XBee footprint for telemetry with external pins
  • IO: Buzzer, Analog, I2C, GPS
  • SDCard holder for storage needs
  • 128 x 64 pixel Graphics LCD
  • 3 x TTL Serial output pins
  • 2 x Servo outputs with internal/external power feed
  • Encoder port for menus etc use
  • Connection for I2C Keyboard 
  • 4 x LEDs for showing different statues

Jani / jDrones

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Comments

  • Developer

    Harry you should use at least 2.9+ as since 2.8 there has been several changes on MAVLink protocol.

  • Hi Jani, thanks just received my board (v1.5). Have hooked it up to my 3dr board but can only seem to receive partial telemetry from the APM. Has an incrementing heartbeat and pulls back the correct pids etc so there is a connection just doesn't seem to read any change in flight mode or retrieve remote gps data. I'm running Arducopter 2.7 (cos its nice and stable), is there a minimum version the current ASM software will connect to?

  • Admin

    @Colin,

    Does your ASM firmware set the uBlox LEA-6 for the "Pedestrian" mode?

    Regards,

    TCIII

  • Parameters can now be uploaded. There's a list of the things we're working on here

    https://github.com/cgwood/ArdustationMega/issues

  • Developer

    New batch of ArduStation Megas just arrived. Now we run tests for those and then they are ready to ship out again.

    Changes that we made are: Stronger connector soldering for Keyboard and GPS connectors, Reset signaling between 32u2 and 2560 are now defaulted, GPS connector cable order matches now fully on all our MTEK and uBlox modules, Silkscreen addons for Servo outputs. New testing methods are already implemented.

    Currently shipping version is ASM v1.5

    jD-ArduStation Mega V1.5
    R/C UAV and ArduCopter manufacturer and one stop shop. We make your FPV come true.
  • Cheers for sharing the photos Paul. Good work on getting the connector up and running again, that doesn't look easy. 

    I have an update on the parameter page. It is now downloading parameters well and lets you scroll and change values. I need to add the sending function for actually changing parameter values. But that should be an easy one for another day. I've also put some info about it on a wiki I'm starting so you can jump in and change what parameters are being loaded if you want. My plan is that only the parameters of interest will be displayed- based upon what autopilot is detected. I probably won't be trying to get my hands on every autopilot out there, but it should be easy to incorporate requests from different users.

    The wiki page is here: https://github.com/cgwood/ArdustationMega/wiki/Parameter-Page

    The latest binary is here: https://github.com/cgwood/ArdustationMega/raw/master/binaries/Ardus...

    Colin

    cgwood/ArdustationMega
    Contribute to cgwood/ArdustationMega development by creating an account on GitHub.
  • Finally back up and running with ASM !

    I accidentally ripped the keyboard connector off the main board taking the tracks with it (these connectors are extra delicate on the ASM)....

    3692707623?profile=originalNasty repair with some enamelled wire and secured with epoxy...

    3692707386?profile=original

    Along the way I got the pins for the keyboard which might be useful to someone......

    3692707032?profile=original

    Also attached the push button from the rotary encoder to the keyboard which works nicely...

    3692707651?profile=originalNow just need to sort out an enclosure then happy days!!

    Cheers, Paul

  • Admin

    Hi All,

    Finally got all of the ASM components mounted in my Preserver 3000 case and wired up the ASM to the power switch, charging connector, and of course the battery. I decided to use a 5 cell 2700mahr NmHI battery instead of a LiPo because I will not have the hassle of having two connectors available to charge the LiPo battery. With the NmHI battery I can just plug into the external charging connector and charge the battery overnight with either a peak charger or a trickle charger.

    After a finally wiring check, I fired up the ASM and after a few seconds got the start up screen. I then switched to the GPS/Heartbeat screen and 4 sats within a couple of minutes. Went outside and had 8 sats in about 5 minutes. It was fun to walk around and watch the lat and lon change as I moved up and down and across the roadway next to our town home. By the time I was ready to go back inside, the GPS display was showing 11 sats!

    I will have some pictures in a couple of days once I get everything mounted in the case the way I want.

    Hopefully Colin can have the updated firmware with an operating parameter page ready soon.

    Regards,

    TCIII

  • Also, I just noticed in your screenshot, you have some signal on your RSSI bar.... is that hooked up?

  • Hi, just a quick update. I've nearly finished porting over the parameter page. I need to fix the scaling in the value editing. Been really busy recently, things should hopefully be easing off soon.

    Paul, I don't have access to the schematics for the jdrones version, but I've uploaded my original schematics here

    https://github.com/cgwood/ASM_Schematics

    Hopefully they'll be of use in your debugging. As Tom says, pressing right should change the screen. Good luck!

    cgwood/ASM_Schematics
    Contribute to cgwood/ASM_Schematics development by creating an account on GitHub.
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