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2 <!DOCTYPE book PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
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7 <subtitle>Altos Metrum Graphical User Interface Manual</subtitle>
10 <firstname>Bdale</firstname>
11 <surname>Garbee</surname>
14 <firstname>Keith</firstname>
15 <surname>Packard</surname>
19 <holder>Bdale Garbee and Keith Packard</holder>
23 This document is released under the terms of the
24 <ulink url="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/">
25 Creative Commons ShareAlike 3.0
32 <revnumber>0.1</revnumber>
33 <date>19 November 2010</date>
34 <revremark>Initial content</revremark>
39 <title>Introduction</title>
41 The AltosUI program provides a graphical user interface for
42 interacting with the Altus Metrum product family, including
43 TeleMetrum and TeleDongle. AltosUI can monitor telemetry data,
44 configure TeleMetrum and TeleDongle devices and many other
45 tasks. The primary interface window provides a selection of
46 buttons, one for each major activity in the system. This manual
47 is split into chapters, each of which documents one of the tasks
48 provided from the top-level toolbar.
52 <title>Packet Command Mode</title>
53 <subtitle>Controlling TeleMetrum Over The Radio Link</subtitle>
55 One of the unique features of the Altos Metrum environment is
56 the ability to create a two way command link between TeleDongle
57 and TeleMetrum using the digital radio transceivers built into
58 each device. This allows you to interact with TeleMetrum from
59 afar, as if it were directly connected to the computer.
62 Any operation which can be performed with TeleMetrum
63 can either be done with TeleMetrum directly connected to
64 the computer via the USB cable, or through the packet
65 link. Simply select the appropriate TeleDongle device when
66 the list of devices is presented and AltosUI will use packet
72 Save Flight Data—Recover flight data from the rocket without
78 Configure TeleMetrum—Reset apogee delays or main deploy
79 heights to respond to changing launch conditions. You can
80 also 'reboot' the TeleMetrum device. Use this to remotely
81 enable the flight computer by turning TeleMetrum on while
82 horizontal, then once the airframe is oriented for launch,
83 you can reboot TeleMetrum and have it restart in pad mode
84 without having to climb the scary ladder.
89 Fire Igniters—Test your deployment charges without snaking
90 wires out through holes in the airframe. Simply assembly the
91 rocket as if for flight with the apogee and main charges
92 loaded, then remotely command TeleMetrum to fire the
98 Packet command mode uses the same RF channels as telemetry
99 mode. Configure the desired TeleDongle channel using the
100 flight monitor window channel selector and then close that
101 window before performing the desired operation.
104 TeleMetrum only enables packet command mode in 'idle' mode, so
105 make sure you have TeleMetrum lying horizontally when you turn
106 it on. Otherwise, TeleMetrum will start in 'pad' mode ready for
107 flight and will not be listening for command packets from TeleDongle.
110 When packet command mode is enabled, you can monitor the link
111 by watching the lights on the TeleDongle and TeleMetrum
112 devices. The red LED will flash each time TeleDongle or
113 TeleMetrum transmit a packet while the green LED will light up
114 on TeleDongle while it is waiting to receive a packet from
119 <title>Monitor Flight</title>
120 <subtitle>Receive, Record and Display Telemetry Data</subtitle>
122 Selecting this item brings up a dialog box listing all of the
123 connected TeleDongle devices. When you choose one of these,
124 AltosUI will create a window to display telemetry data as
125 received by the selected TeleDongle device.
128 All telemetry data received are automatically recorded in
129 suitable log files. The name of the files includes the current
130 date and rocket serial and flight numbers.
133 The radio channel being monitored by the TeleDongle device is
134 displayed at the top of the window. You can configure the
135 channel by clicking on the channel box and selecting the desired
136 channel. AltosUI remembers the last channel selected for each
137 TeleDongle and selects that automatically the next time you use
141 Below the TeleDongle channel selector, the window contains a few
142 significant pieces of information about the TeleMetrum providing
143 the telemetry data stream:
147 <para>The TeleMetrum callsign</para>
150 <para>The TeleMetrum serial number</para>
153 <para>The flight number. Each TeleMetrum remembers how many
154 times it has flown.</para>
158 The rocket flight state. Each flight passes through several
159 states including Pad, Boost, Fast, Coast, Drogue, Main and
165 The Received Signal Strength Indicator value. This lets
166 you know how strong a signal TeleDongle is receiving. The
167 radio inside TeleDongle operates down to about -99dBm;
168 weaker signals may not be receiveable. The packet link uses
169 error correction and detection techniques which prevent
170 incorrect data from being reported.
175 Finally, the largest portion of the window contains a set of
176 tabs, each of which contain some information about the rocket.
177 They're arranged in 'flight order' so that as the flight
178 progresses, the selected tab automatically switches to display
179 data relevant to the current state of the flight. You can select
180 other tabs at any time. The final 'table' tab contains all of
181 the telemetry data in one place.
184 <title>Launch Pad</title>
186 The 'Launch Pad' tab shows information used to decide when the
187 rocket is ready for flight. The first elements include red/green
188 indicators, if any of these is red, you'll want to evaluate
189 whether the rocket is ready to launch:
193 Battery Voltage. This indicates whether the LiPo battery
194 powering the TeleMetrum has sufficient charge to last for
195 the duration of the flight. A value of more than
196 3.7V is required for a 'GO' status.
201 Apogee Igniter Voltage. This indicates whether the apogee
202 igniter has continuity. If the igniter has a low
203 resistance, then the voltage measured here will be close
204 to the LiPo battery voltage. A value greater than 3.2V is
205 required for a 'GO' status.
210 Main Igniter Voltage. This indicates whether the main
211 igniter has continuity. If the igniter has a low
212 resistance, then the voltage measured here will be close
213 to the LiPo battery voltage. A value greater than 3.2V is
214 required for a 'GO' status.
219 GPS Locked. This indicates whether the GPS receiver is
220 currently able to compute position information. GPS requires
221 at least 4 satellites to compute an accurate position.
226 GPS Ready. This indicates whether GPS has reported at least
227 10 consecutive positions without losing lock. This ensures
228 that the GPS receiver has reliable reception from the
234 The LaunchPad tab also shows the computed launch pad position
235 and altitude, averaging many reported positions to improve the
241 <title>Ascent</title>
243 This tab is shown during Boost, Fast and Coast
244 phases. The information displayed here helps monitor the
245 rocket as it heads towards apogee.
248 The height, speed and acceleration are shown along with the
249 maxium values for each of them. This allows you to quickly
250 answer the most commonly asked questions you'll hear during
254 The current latitude and longitude reported by the GPS are
255 also shown. Note that under high acceleration, these values
256 may not get updated as the GPS receiver loses position
257 fix. Once the rocket starts coasting, the receiver should
258 start reporting position again.
261 Finally, the current igniter voltages are reported as in the
262 Launch Pad tab. This can help diagnose deployment failures
263 caused by wiring which comes loose under high acceleration.
267 <title>Descent</title>
269 Once the rocket has reached apogee and (we hope) activated the
270 apogee charge, attention switches to tracking the rocket on
271 the way back to the ground, and for dual-deploy flights,
272 waiting for the main charge to fire.
275 To monitor whether the apogee charge operated correctly, the
276 current descent rate is reported along with the current
277 height. Good descent rates generally range from 15-30m/s.
280 To help locate the rocket in the sky, use the elevation and
281 bearing information to figure out where to look. Elevation is
282 in degrees above the horizon. Bearing is reported in degrees
283 relative to true north. Range can help figure out how big the
284 rocket will appear. Note that all of these values are relative
285 to the pad location. If the elevation is near 90°, the rocket
286 is over the pad, not over you.
289 Finally, the igniter voltages are reported in this tab as
290 well, both to monitor the main charge as well as to see what
291 the status of the apogee charge is.
295 <title>Landed</title>
297 Once the rocket is on the ground, attention switches to
298 recovery. While the radio signal is generally lost once the
299 rocket is on the ground, the last reported GPS position is
300 generally within a short distance of the actual landing location.
303 The last reported GPS position is reported both by
304 latitude and longitude as well as a bearing and distance from
305 the launch pad. The distance should give you a good idea of
306 whether you'll want to walk or hitch a ride. Take the reported
307 latitude and longitude and enter them into your handheld GPS
308 unit and have that compute a track to the landing location.
311 Finally, the maximum height, speed and acceleration reported
312 during the flight are displayed for your admiring observers.
317 <title>Save Flight Data</title>
319 TeleMetrum records flight data to its internal flash memory.
320 This data is recorded at a much higher rate than the telemetry
321 system can handle, and is not subject to radio drop-outs. As
322 such, it provides a more complete and precise record of the
323 flight. The 'Save Flight Data' button allows you to read the
324 flash memory and write it to disk.
327 Clicking on the 'Save Flight Data' button brings up a list of
328 connected TeleMetrum and TeleDongle devices. If you select a
329 TeleMetrum device, the flight data will be downloaded from that
330 device directly. If you select a TeleDongle device, flight data
331 will be downloaded from a TeleMetrum device connected via the
332 packet command link to the specified TeleDongle. See the chapter
333 on Packet Command Mode for more information about this.
336 The filename for the data is computed automatically from the recorded
337 flight date, TeleMetrum serial number and flight number
342 <title>Replay Flight</title>
344 Select this button and you are prompted to select a flight
345 record file, either a .telem file recording telemetry data or a
346 .eeprom file containing flight data saved from the TeleMetrum
350 Once a flight record is selected, the flight monitor interface
351 is displayed and the flight is re-enacted in real time. Check
352 the Monitor Flight chapter above to learn how this window operates.
356 <title>Graph Data</title>
358 This section should be written by AJ.
362 <title>Export Data</title>
364 This tool takes the raw data files and makes them available for
365 external analysis. When you select this button, you are prompted to select a flight
366 data file (either .eeprom or .telem will do, remember that
367 .eeprom files contain higher resolution and more continuous
368 data). Next, a second dialog appears which is used to select
369 where to write the resulting file. It has a selector to choose
370 between CSV and KML file formats.
373 <title>Comma Separated Value Format</title>
375 This is a text file containing the data in a form suitable for
376 import into a spreadsheet or other external data analysis
377 tool. The first few lines of the file contain the version and
378 configuration information from the TeleMetrum device, then
379 there is a single header line which labels all of the
380 fields. All of these lines start with a '#' character which
381 most tools can be configured to skip over.
384 The remaining lines of the file contain the data, with each
385 field separated by a comma and at least one space. All of
386 the sensor values are converted to standard units, with the
387 barometric data reported in both pressure, altitude and
388 height above pad units.
392 <title>Keyhole Markup Language (for Google Earth)</title>
394 This is the format used by
395 Googleearth to provide an overlay within that
396 application. With this, you can use Googleearth to see the
397 whole flight path in 3D.
402 <title>Configure TeleMetrum</title>
404 Select this button and then select either a TeleMetrum or
405 TeleDongle Device from the list provided. Selecting a TeleDongle
406 device will use Packet Comamnd Mode to configure remote
407 TeleMetrum device. Learn how to use this in the Packet Command
411 The first few lines of the dialog provide information about the
412 connected TeleMetrum device, including the product name,
413 software version and hardware serial number. Below that are the
414 individual configuration entries.
417 At the bottom of the dialog, there are four buttons:
422 Save. This writes any changes to the TeleMetrum
423 configuration parameter block in flash memory. If you don't
424 press this button, any changes you make will be lost.
429 Reset. This resets the dialog to the most recently saved values,
430 erasing any changes you have made.
435 Reboot. This reboots the TeleMetrum device. Use this to
436 switch from idle to pad mode by rebooting once the rocket is
442 Close. This closes the dialog. Any unsaved changes will be
448 The rest of the dialog contains the parameters to be configured.
451 <title>Main Deploy Altitude</title>
453 This sets the altitude (above the recorded pad altitude) at
454 which the 'main' igniter will fire. The drop-down menu shows
455 some common values, but you can edit the text directly and
456 choose whatever you like. If the apogee charge fires below
457 this altitude, then the main charge will fire two seconds
458 after the apogee charge fires.
462 <title>Apogee Delay</title>
464 When flying redundant electronics, it's often important to
465 ensure that multiple apogee charges don't fire at precisely
466 the same time as that can overpressurize the apogee deployment
467 bay and cause a structural failure of the airframe. The Apogee
468 Delay parameter tells the flight computer to fire the apogee
469 charge a certain number of seconds after apogee has been
474 <title>Radio Channel</title>
476 This configures which of the 10 radio channels to use for both
477 telemetry and packet command mode. Note that if you set this
478 value via packet command mode, you will have to reconfigure
479 the TeleDongle channel before you will be able to use packet
484 <title>Radio Calibration</title>
486 The radios in every Altus Metrum device are calibrated at the
487 factory to ensure that they transmit and receive on the
488 specified frequency for each channel. You can adjust that
489 calibration by changing this value. To change the TeleDongle's
490 calibration, you must reprogram the unit completely.
494 <title>Callsign</title>
496 This sets the callsign included in each telemetry packet. Set this
497 as needed to conform to your local radio regulations.
502 <title>Configure AltosUI</title>
504 This button presents a dialog so that you can configure the AltosUI global settings.
507 <title>Voice Settings</title>
509 AltosUI provides voice annoucements during flight so that you
510 can keep your eyes on the sky and still get information about
511 the current flight status. However, sometimes you don't want
516 <para>Enable—turns all voice announcements on and off</para>
520 Test Voice—Plays a short message allowing you to verify
521 that the audio systme is working and the volume settings
528 <title>Log Directory</title>
530 AltosUI logs all telemetry data and saves all TeleMetrum flash
531 data to this directory. This directory is also used as the
532 staring point when selecting data files for display or export.
535 Click on the directory name to bring up a directory choosing
536 dialog, select a new directory and click 'Select Directory' to
537 change where AltosUI reads and writes data files.
541 <title>Callsign</title>
543 This value is used in command packet mode and is transmitted
544 in each packet sent from TeleDongle and received from
545 TeleMetrum. It is not used in telemetry mode as that transmits
546 packets only from TeleMetrum to TeleDongle. Configure this
547 with the AltosUI operators callsign as needed to comply with
548 your local radio regulations.
553 <title>Flash Image</title>
555 This reprograms any Altus Metrum device by using a TeleMetrum or
556 TeleDongle as a programming dongle. Please read the directions
557 for connecting the programming cable in the main TeleMetrum
558 manual before reading these instructions.
561 Once you have the programmer and target devices connected,
562 push the 'Flash Image' button. That will present a dialog box
563 listing all of the connected devices. Carefully select the
564 programmer device, not the device to be programmed.
567 Next, select the image to flash to the device. These are named
568 with the product name and firmware version. The file selector
569 will start in the directory containing the firmware included
570 with the AltosUI package. Navigate to the directory containing
571 the desired firmware if it isn't there.
574 Next, a small dialog containing the device serial number and
575 RF calibration values should appear. If these values are
576 incorrect (possibly due to a corrupted image in the device),
577 enter the correct values here.
580 Finally, a dialog containing a progress bar will follow the
584 When programming is complete, the target device will
585 reboot. Note that if the target device is connected via USB, you
586 will have to unplug it and then plug it back in for the USB
587 connection to reset so that you can communicate with the device
592 <title>Fire Igniter</title>