Fred Forbes

Ardupilot uploading problem

I'm working on a ATMega168 version of Ardupilot. I have added the airspeed sensor shield. As far as I can tell (from the leds and voltmeter readings) I have put it together properly. Today I downloaded Ardupilot software version 2.1.2. I did modify the constant definition "SHIELD_ENABLE to 1. Then I uploaded the code using Arduino-15. Because I have the shield I did not disconnect my EM406 GPS.

The upload was unsuccessful and the Arduino IDE stopped responding. I tried again while observing the 3.3V and blue GPS leds on the shield. When the upload started, the leds went off as they should. However they almost immediately came on again, indicating that the GPS was powered up-not good during uploading.

So then I disconnected the GPS and uploaded again. This time the 3.3V led went off and stayed off while the upload was in progress, as it should. The upload was successful.

Then I tried the Arduino-16 IDE with similar results. The only difference was that the Arduino-16 response was a lot of red error messages when I tried uploading with the GPS connected. With the GPS disconnected, the upload was successful.

Anyone else having a similar problem?

Views: 18

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Peter SeddonPermalink Reply by Peter Seddon on June 18, 2009 at 9:12am
As I understand it the shield only works with Ardupilots fitted with 328 processors and ver 2.2 software.

Peter
Fred ForbesPermalink Reply by Fred Forbes on June 18, 2009 at 2:43pm
Thanks for the response Peter but if you read the new manual regarding version 2.1 there is a statement:

" Controls throttle if airspeed sensor is attached via the expansion board. "

Also, in the 2.1 code, there is a selection to enable the shield (the constant SHIELD_ENABLED)

I would like to get this resolved because at the present I am not sure my expansion board is functioning properly
Fred ForbesPermalink Reply by Fred Forbes on June 19, 2009 at 7:25am
David

Users of the 328 board and 2.2 s/w are expected to have the expansion board so there is no need for the switch in that configuration. I haven't tried the configuration utility lately but will do so. Based on your experience if there is a problem it would seem to lie in the 2.x code.

It's not a big deal except those little GPS connectors are not made for frequent manipulation
Fred ForbesPermalink Reply by Fred Forbes on June 19, 2009 at 5:51pm
David

I tried the configuration utility. With the GPS connected, I got a whole bunch of "something is wrong" messages but if I disconnected the GPS all reads and writes were successful. I put a voltmeter on pin 7 again. When I started to upload from arduino-16 or use the configuration utility, it was pulled to 0v, but if the GPS was connected it almost immediately came up to 5v. With the GPS disconnected, it stayed at 0v until the i/o process was completed.

I wonder if there are others with this problem. If so, would like to hear from them

cheers
Thomas J Coyle IIIPermalink Reply by Thomas J Coyle III on June 21, 2009 at 10:08am
Fred,

To the best of my knowledge, Jordi is using a transistor to switch the 5v to the GPS. The base of the transistor is controlled by I/O pin D7 on the Shield board up from the Arudpilot board. Since the GPS provides a path to ground, through its circuitry, for the 5v on the Shield board, it sounds like the transistor might be either shorted collector to emitter or is always conducting for some reason even if I/O pin D7 is pulling the transistor base low. You might want to try and measure the transistor collector to emitter resistance with the Shield board unpowered to see if the transistor is shorted.

Just a thought.

Jordi, any ideas here?

Regards,
TCIII
Fred ForbesPermalink Reply by Fred Forbes on June 22, 2009 at 5:00pm
Thanks for your input, Thomas.
I checked the collector to emitter resistance and it is not shorted. Vcc in my system is a 5v R/C receiver pack. As per Jordi's expansion board circuit diagram, the emitter is connected to Vcc. The collector is supposed to be GPS_5V but I measured it as 4v. This makes sense to me as there is a voltage drop across the transistor. Curiously, I cannot find where this 4v is used on the board. As far as I can tell the GPS_5V sources are in fact Vcc.

Anyway, I downloaded version 2.1.2 again, set the expansion board software switch and attempted a GPS-connected upload. Surprise! The blue led went dark and stayed dark while a successful upload took place. What's changed I have no idea.

One further anomaly I noticed with both Arduino-15 and 16 IDEs. Now, after the upload is completed (successfully I think), there is a whole mass of red text data related to avrdude.
Anyone else seeing this or do I have ghosts?!
Chris AndersonPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on June 22, 2009 at 5:05pm
Fred,

You shouldn't have any red text after an upload. Can you paste it in the comments?
Fred ForbesPermalink Reply by Fred Forbes on June 23, 2009 at 5:55pm
Chris
I'm afraid I can't find a way to copy the info in the black area of Arduino IDE. If I work at it I can select text (background turns blue) but I can't copy the selection.
Can you assist?
Chris AndersonPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on June 23, 2009 at 6:11pm
A screen shot (upload the jpg with the file icon) would do.
Fred ForbesPermalink Reply by Fred Forbes on June 24, 2009 at 5:49am
Chris


arduino-16 screen shot as requested. This is just a small sample. The red text is hundreds of lines long

Fred ForbesPermalink Reply by Fred Forbes on June 23, 2009 at 5:51pm
For those of you following this, ignore my comments regarding the transistor and voltages. now that I have a copy of Jordi's shield schematic it is clear I chose the wrong connections in my measurements. The 4v is in fact the base voltage.

Anyway, tonite I am back to normal, no upload if the GPS is connected. Oh well!
Chris AndersonPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on June 23, 2009 at 6:10pm
David,

I'm afraid I've lost the thread. Is it that you can't upload code at all, or you still have to remove the GPS? Or something else?

RSS

Top Content 

1 ArduCopter 2.3 released

ArduCopter 2.3 released
2 Incredible Flight Endurance!

Incredible Flight Endurance!
3 Hunters shoot down Mikrokopter used by animal rights group to film pigeon shoot

Hunters shoot down Mikrokopter used by animal rights group to film pigeon shoot
4 MinimOSD meets ArduCAM OSD Config

MinimOSD meets ArduCAM OSD Config
5 jDrones ArduCopter Goes Color...

jDrones ArduCopter Goes Color...

Groups

© 2012   Created by Chris Anderson.

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

Sign in to chat!