jDrones NEWS: IOBoard goes MAVLink 1.0
Time has come to make another exciting release. New software has been released for our mini IOBoard. With this software you are not anymore depending on static flashes, blinks and other patterns.
We made blog post about basic jD-IOBoard few weeks ago and you can read it in here. Now it just get's better and better.
jD-IOBoard now listens full MAVLink 1.0 protocol and acts depending on flight modes. Currently we are supporting ArduCopter and ArduPlane style flight modes but more has been planned. Basically all MAVLink compatible systems works fine with this.
Big thanks to Michael Oborne for his great jD-IOBoard Confgurator program that allows users easily to configure and test play different patterns. Michael is the man behind Mission Planner and also OSD Configurator.
On configurator you can create 16 step patterns and 8 patterns that can be binded on different flight modes. On right hand side of every pattern you have Test box where you can simulate your pattern. Just click Test and then change on/off positions to get your desired outcome.
With Configurator you can also upload our latest HEX files from Arducodes repository.
Here is quick demo video of how it works in real-life with 3 different patterns.
Currently we are only allowing REAR pattern to be changed but in future there will be others coming too.
You can always find latest HEX and other files from our: Arducodes repository (jD-IOBoard 1.4 MAVLink. HEX)
Latest Configurator can always been downloaded from our: Software repository (Setup.EXE). Setup file is available on our Arducodes repository too.
Configurator has builtin update feature installed so it will make sure that you always have latest version of it. Source code is on our repository.
jD-IOBoard can be found from our store at http://store.jdrones.com and also from our distributors around world.
Have fun with your flashing lights. Evenings are getting darker but planes and copter more brighter.
Regards,
Jani / jDrones
Comments
OK to get things working, I removed the J1 jumper and put the BEC on the input side. That got it to boot and I guess I don't need any power on the output rail because it just has the signal wires going to the 4 ESCs.
So then I connected the telemetry cable from the APM2 and all the lights on the APM go out like it's dead. I unplug it and all is ok again. There seems to be a problem with this IOboard but I need some help here to diagnose it. I bought two so I'm going to hook up the second to see if the problem is the same. It says the tester was Gap.
According to this: http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/APM2board it seems like I don't have the jumper on. The APM only powers up via USB. I thought maybe the diode next to JP1 was burned but it looks ok and don't know why it would have got burned anyway. I just disconnected the telemetry cable from the xbee and plugged it to the ioboard. Then I noticed my APM2 wasn't powering up unless I used USB cable. I've always left the jumper on and regularly plug it in via USB and power the output rail with a castle 10A 5v without a problem. To get around this problem can I just bridge the input and output rails 5V+-?. Also need to know how to connect xbee and ioboard at the same time or does ioboard have to go to i2c bus in telemetry is being used for xbee?
Jani, I just received my ioboard and hooked it up to my APM2 but something seems to be wrong. I connected it like this. 4S lipo on rail with LEDs and I hooked the cable that was going to my xbee from my APM2 to the ioboard. In other words I replaced my xbee with the ioboard. I still need the xbee working so my next question is how to have them both? Do you have a wiring diagram including APM, xBee and ioboard?
After I connected them and then plugged main lipo in, the APM didn't boot. I checked around but didn't see anything wrong so I plugged in the USB cable and the APM came alive and all was normal but only when I;m plugged in via USB. I'm using a castle BEC which is powering the main rail and I check that it's outputing 5v. It all seems fine but APM doesn't power up except by USB. Could I have blow something plugging in the IOboard to the telemetry port.
Sure I can add those too on diagrams. D5,D6 are also used for Software serial so they are occupied already for "higher good" :)
It might be worth mentioning, that although the diagrams show that high drain ports D3, D10 & D9 are PWM, so are normal outputs D5, D6 and D11. Can this be added to the diagrams please Jani ?
Yes. When the configurator failed I tried to upload the test software with the Arduino IDE. The IDE failed to contact the bootloader . I got the sync error
Jerry, did you try to upload test softwares with Arduino IDE? xray does not do anything for the software inside. There seem to be some problem with ArduinoTK library that we are using on IOBoard and OSD configurators. We are trying to find what is wrong with this library.
Jani, I just received my ioboard. I have no bootloader activity at all.
It's DOA. Can I get a cross shipped replacement ? Are there instances of xray devices at airports corrupting firmware ? If that happened my package would have to be extremely close to the radiation source.
Bummer.. I was hoping to get telemetry working this weekend.
Chris, IOBoard optimized LED strips are on store now. You can choose your own length and color.
New test software is available now on our google code repository. It has now support for FrSky telemetry too. What it does, software takes MAVLink messages and processes them normally. Same time some of the messages are converted to FrSky HUB protocol and they are feeded out from IOBoard pin D5/D6.
Minimum setup for it is that you need to connect D5 to your receivers telemetry RX port.
Have fun and if you test it, please give feedback on how it works for you.
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