Post by: m_thread on July 28, 2015, 11:01:54 am
Very excited to see how it performs :) Hopefully we can add support for it in LibrePilot soon.
The first thing I will do is to design a case for it similar to the ones I did for the Revolution board.
/Fredrik
Post by: ArnhemAnt on July 28, 2015, 12:03:07 pm
I also don't know a lot about the specs, etc on this board in regards to performance, etc. Is there any info on how it compares to other boards on the market with similar specs?
Post by: m_thread on July 28, 2015, 12:13:05 pm
Soldering the headers is quite easy. It just takes some careful planning. Start with placing the header in a correct position. Solder one of the outer pins and check the alignment. As long as only one pin is soldered it is easy to adjust. The solder one pin on the opposite side. If all is aligned and looks ok, just do the rest :) I guess you could easily find someone to do it for you if you feel you aren't up to it.
Regarding the performance of the board I would say it is an evolution of the OP Revolution board. Same MCU but better sensors and more I/O.
/Fredrik
Post by: ArnhemAnt on July 28, 2015, 12:35:42 pm
I did try that same technique, but I think my current soldering equipment needs some upgrading. Yeah I know, I sound like a poor tradesman blaming his tools......
I think I will eventually invest in a SMD rework station.
Thanks also for your info on the performance of the board.
Post by: DanNT on July 28, 2015, 01:22:59 pm
Post by: ArnhemAnt on July 28, 2015, 11:46:32 pm
Happy to solder for you ant :)
Thanks mate. I might just take you up on that offer. I'm seriously thinking of having a closer look at this board.
Post by: DanNT on July 29, 2015, 12:36:54 am
Post by: m_thread on August 17, 2015, 01:46:22 pm
I think it turned out quite good. I still could make some more simplifications to make it faster to fabricate. But I will wait with that I think.
/Fredrik
Post by: simonarvestrand on August 17, 2015, 03:09:07 pm
Post by: m_thread on August 17, 2015, 03:43:14 pm
I'm using MS Paint of course ;)
Post by: simonarvestrand on August 17, 2015, 04:28:47 pm
Post by: m_thread on August 17, 2015, 05:37:08 pm
/F
Post by: ArnhemAnt on August 18, 2015, 12:44:07 pm
Keen to hear your thoughts on Sparky2 once you have tried it out.
BTW, if people can't get hold of a GPS like the V9, then what other alternatives are there, if any??
Post by: TheOtherCliff on August 23, 2015, 08:23:45 am
BTW, if people can't get hold of a GPS like the V9, then what other alternatives are there, if any??
I personally have build two 500mm quads with Revos and used the Revos' on board mags with a cheap ($15 shipped) eBay GPS. It works very well. You must carefully twist all your main power wire pairs (and motor wire triplets) to reduce magnetic fields. There are some Power Distribution Boards that are not designed to work with mags. Stay away from the PDB's that have C shaped traces.
Using the on board mags is not a good idea for mini quads or very high powered quads (multicopters). The mag fields from the power wires are too close / strong to get good mag readings.
The cheap eBay GPS's even have mags built in and we are working on getting these mags working with LP code. My logic analyzer just arrived and I am waiting on some cables. The one bad thing is that means the GPS/mag needs two ports, one for GPS and one for mag. That kind of leaves Nano out if you want to do anything else like telemetry or OSD. It even leaves Revo out if you want OSD. The preferred solution seems to be the TauLabs Sparky 2.0 ($85 plus shipping, if it costs less, it is probably a 1.0). We hope to get the Sparky 2.0 working with LP code soon too. :) This is basically a Revo with more ports and more recent sensors (same sensors as Nano). That is everything I need in an FC at least. Nothing wrong with Revo sensors mind you... There is another thread here that talks about getting inexpensive clone Revos and OpLinks from thanksbuyer.com if you want something inexpensive that works right now.
I use these PDB's.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5cm-Multi-Copter-8-ESC-Power-Battery-Connection-Board-for-RC-KK-Quadcopter-Blue-/271950035621
I currently use this GPS ($15 shipped) on my favorite 500mm Revo quad. You have to egg out the holes 1.5mm each to stack it with a Revo. The one I got (YMMV) just needed the supplied cable pins put into a standard OP JST-SH connector in the right order to get the GPS (not mags) working.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ublox-NEO-6M-GPS-HMC5883L-Compass-Module-APM-2-6-ARDUPILOT-MEGA-2-6-GPS-6M-/281573515693
I have bought this M8N (OP V10) GPS ($22 shipped) (and another) and am working on getting the mags working with it. Supplied cable must be cut and spliced to an OP (JST-SH 1.0mm) cable.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251997592219
JST-SH 1.0mm half-cable (plus connector that goes on the board) 20 for $6 shipped
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251979895512
Post by: ArnhemAnt on August 23, 2015, 09:09:02 am
By the sounds of it, my only limitation is my limited knowledge and experience with changing plugs, and wires around with things. I generally don't mess with that sort of thing, but I may have to give it a go.
This place (LibrePilot) just keeps getting better and better.
Post by: Mateusz on September 06, 2015, 01:22:50 pm
Ok, so I sat down with my favorite 3d designing tool and made a case for this board.
I think it turned out quite good. I still could make some more simplifications to make it faster to fabricate. But I will wait with that I think.
/Fredrik
Hi Friedrik,
How much it will cost to get Sparky2 case from you ? Are you selling them ? If so, can you PM me ?
Thanks,
Post by: ggrif on September 06, 2015, 09:40:57 pm
Post by: xpantz on September 07, 2015, 04:45:21 am
BTW, if people can't get hold of a GPS like the V9, then what other alternatives are there, if any??
I have bought this M8N (OP V10) GPS ($22 shipped) (and another) and am working on getting the mags working with it. Supplied cable must be cut and spliced to an OP (JST-SH 1.0mm) cable.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251997592219
That would make a lot of people happy. :)
Post by: RC Madman on September 08, 2015, 05:31:08 pm
Post by: m_thread on September 18, 2015, 09:12:20 am
Regarding the Sparky2 case. If you send me a PM I'm sure we can deal with that :)
/F
Post by: m_thread on September 18, 2015, 09:14:30 am
Attached a teaser image...
/F
Post by: jhan1 on September 18, 2015, 03:03:09 pm
Post by: ArnhemAnt on September 22, 2015, 12:12:38 pm
We are currently taking our first steps with the support in LibrePilot for the Sparky2 board. So far we are doing well and I hope I will be able to present more information here as we progress. Big thanks to TheOtherCliff for the initial work
/F
OMFG!!
This is really exciting news.
Post by: Berkely on October 06, 2015, 12:43:45 pm
I currently use this GPS ($15 shipped) on my favorite 500mm Revo quad. You have to egg out the holes 1.5mm each to stack it with a Revo. The one I got (YMMV) just needed the supplied cable pins put into a standard OP JST-SH connector in the right order to get the GPS (not mags) working.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ublox-NEO-6M-GPS-HMC5883L-Compass-Module-APM-2-6-ARDUPILOT-MEGA-2-6-GPS-6M-/281573515693
I followed your advice and bought the same one. :)
Any chance you still remember how to wire up the cables to the JST connector. I didn't find a schematic from this one yet.
Edit: found it, made a quick connection diagram.
(http://i.imgur.com/T94yRAe.png)
Post by: TheOtherCliff on October 06, 2015, 06:20:54 pm
Be aware that the GPS needs to be powered by 5V standard receiver power (can take more volts, it is regulated on GPS board), but the mag must have 3.3v. If you want to use the mag you need to either steal power from the GPS voltage regulator with a soldered wire on the GPS board, or somehow supply 3.3v to the other GPS connector (using an external voltage regulator).
I have successfully connected the GPS regulated voltage (3.3v) to the mag power, with a wire on the GPS board, and leave the external mag power wire disconnected. I also left off the mag ground wire and rely on the GPS ground wire.
I seem to have better luck calibrating this mag than I do a V9 mag in that it seems to stay green more. Could be other reasons involved though.
IIRC the mag needs a fairly high current pulse at a low duty cycle.
This and other options (especially this Neo8 with mag for $22 http://www.ebay.com/itm/251997592219 ) are discussed in some FTT only threads.
Post by: p25o1 on October 16, 2015, 09:12:58 am
Post by: Mateusz on November 01, 2015, 06:21:21 pm
Sparky2 and open/librepilot im in ,, looking forward to test , i have a board/setup ready to crash and burn
First hovering test with Cliff's branch Sparky 2 and Librepilot went fine. Just a short flight outdoors to see that it works.
Notes
- Sparky 2 shipped with TL on it, and after SBL flashing LP firmware didn't want to boot. Thanks to Cliff's help, we managed to unbrick it by flashing TL back, erasing settings on external flash and then flashing LP firmware. This time it didn't trigger watchdog and board boots properly. So erase settings before flashing different firmware
- Now only Sbus works as input to receiver port
- Vehicle wizard and transmitter wizard worked fine
- Sensor calibration (accel, gyro, mag, level, temp) worked fine, although it shows Revo pictures. Just check where Sparky 2 has it's "nose" and follow text during calibration then you're fine.
Otherwise, works perfect :) Next step I guess will be enabling EKF with M8N GPS (which is already implemented) and voltage¤t sensor (don't know if ADC works yet).
Post by: p25o1 on November 01, 2015, 07:05:19 pm
are you planning an alpha release ?
Post by: mazevx on November 01, 2015, 09:36:54 pm
Post by: Bragster on November 02, 2015, 01:44:08 am
good news !!!
are you planning an alpha release ?
Just heard about all this, please release this ASAP, I don't use my Sparky now as previous software experience was very bad.
Is Nano supported here?
Edit; Sorry, I looked and I have a Sparky not the Sparky2, did not know that hardware existed. Seems like a Revolution clone TBH
Post by: TheOtherCliff on November 02, 2015, 03:35:18 am
There are too many things that are incomplete in Sparky2 code to call it Alpha, but if you want to get source code and build it, you can do that. PPM doesn't work (Sbus does, on RcvrPort). I2CPort not yet implemented. Setup wizard and calibrations work as expected.
Upcoming release will hopefully have Sparky2 support.
Sparky2 is like a Revo with more ports (important when you want to do a lot of things at the same time, like SBUS, GPS, I2C Aux Mag, OSD, and Telemetry), and with the same sensors as Nano.
To try the Sparky2 code, first you will need to use SBL to write the bootloader.bin
https://forum.librepilot.org/index.php?topic=208.0
If you have a BitBucket account you can build like this (Linux example):
Code: [Select]
git clone ssh://[email protected]/TheOtherCliff/librepilot.git sparky2tmp
cd sparky2tmp
git checkout theothercliff/LP-72_Sparky2_support
( do whatever you do for tools, I just "ln -s path-to-tools path-to-downloads ." you should "make build_sdk_install" if this is your first time )
make uavobjects ; make -j2 gcs ; make -j2 sparky2type this to run your new GCS (GCS and firmware versions must match to avoid problems)
Code: [Select]
./build/librepilot-gcs_release/bin/librepilot-gcsStart with Sparky board unplugged and no power.
Go into Firmware page and press Rescue before plugging in Sparky2.
Wait for Flash button (a few seconds to become active).
Press Flash.
After flash, press Erase Settings.
Post by: xpantz on November 02, 2015, 09:49:11 am
Is Nano supported here?
Yes, Librepilot 15.09 is fine for Nano.
Post by: Bragster on November 04, 2015, 01:32:39 am
Is Nano supported here?
Yes, Librepilot 15.09 is fine for Nano.
Thank you. Seems a better option as I will not buy anything Tau labs again. There are clones of the Nano out soon also
here: http://www.farwestrotors.com/
Post by: mishadude on November 07, 2015, 02:41:24 am
Quote
Thank you. Seems a better option as I will not buy anything Tau labs again. There are clones of the Nano out soon also
here: http://www.farwestrotors.com/
At 36x36mm that's not very nano. Would be cool if the hardware is comparable though, and available.
Post by: Bragster on November 07, 2015, 01:33:26 pm
Quote
QuoteThank you. Seems a better option as I will not buy anything Tau labs again. There are clones of the Nano out soon also
here: http://www.farwestrotors.com/
At 36x36mm that's not very nano. Would be cool if the hardware is comparable though, and available.
Yeah, same size as CC3D and Naze so easy to mount, available is the key thing!
Post by: p25o1 on December 05, 2015, 07:48:15 am
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2533601
Post by: Varzi on December 21, 2015, 10:49:05 pm
Post by: TheOtherCliff on December 22, 2015, 01:18:45 am
The plan is that it will be available in the next release which is currently scheduled for January. Be aware though that we ironing out some build issues (tools with "issues") on some really neat new features.
Post by: Varzi on January 04, 2016, 06:45:09 pm
There is a development branch that several developers are flying on Sparky2, but it needs a little work for release. PPM doesn't work but SBus does.
The plan is that it will be available in the next release which is currently scheduled for January. Be aware though that we ironing out some build issues (tools with "issues") on some really neat new features.
I've just compiled the GIT Version next, but unfortunately my Sparky 2 isn't supported! :(
Is it possibile to compile a branch (what?) to start using sparky2?
Thank's a lot
Post by: finst on January 04, 2016, 07:16:39 pm
P.s. I'm still trying to understand the connections between all the branches and forks and things in bitbucked, so me writing about that stuff may sound weird.. Sorry.. :D ;-)
Post by: hwh on January 04, 2016, 07:48:56 pm
Branches are a kind of subdivision of a repository. For instance, TheOtherCliff will have a Sparky2 branch that contains all his work on the Sparky2. He'll have other branches where he works on other unrelated things. When code is merged back into the main repository what is actually merged is a branch. When it's ready for release they'll merge the Sparky2 branch of TheOtherCliff's repository into the main librepilot repository.
Post by: TheOtherCliff on January 04, 2016, 11:06:24 pm
Of course realize that it is not released software and that it does have some things that don't work and that you assume responsibility yada yada...
https://bitbucket.org/TheOtherCliff/librepilot/branch/shared/LP-72_Sparky2_support
Post by: finst on January 04, 2016, 11:47:09 pm
Here is where you should go to get a link to clone my repo, to build the current Sparky2 support. It is fairly old as compared to next, but I fly it all the time.
Of course realize that it is not released software and that it does have some things that don't work and that you assume responsibility yada yada...
https://bitbucket.org/TheOtherCliff/librepilot/branch/shared/LP-72_Sparky2_support
Is it the ppm in general thats not working or is it just the ppm pins? For example, would ppm work if I configure the built in oplink to receive ppm?
Post by: TheOtherCliff on January 05, 2016, 09:27:40 am
PPM just doesn't work at all on Sparky2 right now and Sparky2 doesn't even have a connector for PWM inputs.
Post by: Varzi on January 15, 2016, 10:27:52 am
Post by: TheOtherCliff on January 15, 2016, 04:01:49 pm