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AIDA3 PCUSB Serial CablePersonal PC (Windows)
What frequency are these set to? Why?Why do the antennas need to be connected before powering?What is special about the USB Serial plug?What is BAUD?
The ground unit was connected to the RFDTools PC.The air unit was connected to another PC.
Open PuTTY.Connect one modem per computer.Open Device Manager from the start menu.OR: Hold the Windows Key + R > type devmgmt.msc > hit enterExpand the Ports (COM & LPT) headingLook for “USB Serial Port (COM#)” and record this number
In PuTTY enter the following:COM# > Serial lineSpeed > 115200Hit Open
You should now be able to type on one computer and see the display on another.
The file provided by Windracers has a .apj file extension. What does this mean and why?What is Mission Planner? What are the alternatives to Mission Planner?Do you expect the Windracers flight controller firmware to work with Mission Planner?How much memory does the Blue Cube have?
On an AIDA3 PC, open Ground Control.Be sure that the flight controller is connected via USB.Navigate to Settings and click on Connection
Create a new connection with the following settingsType: SerialBaud Rate: 115200
The aircraft should automatically connect and be visible in the Flight Plan menu. Screenshot of this:
Believer Comms and Firmware - Lab 08
Resources
Hardware and Software
Readings
Activity 1: Setting up the RFD900x
General Info about the telemetry module used
When it comes to telemetry modules, they are set to 902-915MHz and 915-928MHz. The reason for this is that there is a range for interference mitigation. Additionally,
Antennas need to be connected before powering on to prevent the receiver from destroying itself. Without the antennas, the power would have nowhere to go.
The USB serial plug has a 6-pin connector on one end
BAUD is a unit of transmission speed equal to the number of times a signal changes state per second.
Settings
The following are the settings that we used for RFD tools
We are group 5 so the purpose of our settings is shown in the table below. The serial speed of all of the groups was constant; however, the NETID was different to avoid interference.
RFD900 Settings
Group Number
Setting Name
Default
Set Value
Purpose
1
2
SERIAL_SPEED
57
115
Open
NETID
25
25
Open
2
2
SERIAL_SPEED
57
115
Open
NETID
25
50
Open
3
2
SERIAL_SPEED
57
115
Open
NETID
25
75
Open
4
2
SERIAL_SPEED
57
115
Open
NETID
25
100
Open
5
2
SERIAL_SPEED
57
115
Open
NETID
25
125
Open
6
2
SERIAL_SPEED
57
115
Open
NETID
25
150
Open
Testing Communication
The Steps we used to set this up was as follows:
Activity 2: Installing Firmware
General Information about firmware
The APJ file extension indicates a drone firmware file.
Mission Planner is a tool for autonomous and non-autonomous vehicles; it is an open-source ground control station. This can be used to monitor, plan, and perform operations. An alternative for the mission planner is QGroundControl.
Yes
1M
Installing Firmware
We used the instructions in the to install firmware. Below is a picture of the installed firmware
Testing
Then we tested the connection with the Windracers Ground Control app. We used the following instructions to do this
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