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Testing the IMU

Posted by Stefan Olofsson on September 29, 2010 at 5:21am

Here i have the APM and IMU Shield set up for testing the GPS. I put a small piece of doublesided tape on the GPS antenna and stuck it to the window. After a few minutes of warming up, the GPS started receiving data.

The thingy hanging down the vent is the airspeed controller.

APM is powered by the 5V adapter.

Unpowered board set up for testing the multiplexer. RX on the input pins. Servos on the output.

My 5V adapter with servo connector. With this i can run the APM/servo setup without relying on batteries. The connector goes into a free connector on the servo/tx connector.

Yes, i have insulated the solder joints now :o) .

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Comments

  • Distributor
    Stefan Olofsson October 2, 2010 at 11:58am
    Thanks for the comments and suggestions!
  • Terence Gronowski October 2, 2010 at 9:52am
    II am at the same stage of testing. It is a good idea to put ublox to the window. When I test it with the alpha version it takes about 5 minutes until the red led is burning constandly. Once got the gps lock the servos react a bit slowly when tilting the board in automatic and fly_by_wire_a mode. I can only steer over in manual mode, in the other modes no commands from the TX are executed.

    I am still wainting for the public beta version.
  • James Adams September 30, 2010 at 12:08pm
    Any note on what might happen if you damage something or what to do to fix it?
    Pretty sure I messed mine up cause last time I checked (up at school for the week), I wasn’t getting any servo output.
  • Admin
    Thomas J Coyle III September 29, 2010 at 10:32am
    Stefan,

    You can separate the servo power +5 volts from the APM +5 volts by unsoldering jumper SJ1 on the APM.

    Regards,
    TCIII
  • Developer
    Michael Smith September 29, 2010 at 10:12am
    It's safe to power APM both via USB and via the servo connectors.

    It is important to be *careful* attaching power to the servo connectors. If you offset the connector or get it backwards, chances are good you will damage something.
  • Distributor
    Stefan Olofsson September 29, 2010 at 8:58am
    The adapter i use is a 5V. (5.21V to be precise) So it is the exact voltage needed
  • Distributor
    Stefan Olofsson September 29, 2010 at 8:56am
    I read that also, but i find no other way if i want to read the APM serialport on the computer with servos and stuff attached that draws more than the USB can give.
  • Julien Vinel September 29, 2010 at 8:50am
    Hello,

    I thought that the apm shall not be powered at the same time by USB and an other power source.

    Am i wrong ?
This reply was deleted.