4 image::altosui.png[width="4.6in"]
6 The AltosUI program provides a graphical user interface for
7 interacting with the Altus Metrum product family. AltosUI can
8 monitor telemetry data, configure devices and many other
9 tasks. The primary interface window provides a selection of
10 buttons, one for each major activity in the system. This
11 chapter is split into sections, each of which documents one of
12 the tasks provided from the top-level toolbar.
17 <subtitle>Receive, Record and Display Telemetry Data</subtitle>
20 Selecting this item brings up a dialog box listing all
21 of the connected TeleDongle devices. When you choose
22 one of these, AltosUI will create a window to display
23 telemetry data as received by the selected TeleDongle
26 .Device Selection Dialog
27 image::device-selection.png[width="3.1in"]
29 All telemetry data received are automatically recorded
30 in suitable log files. The name of the files includes
31 the current date and rocket serial and flight numbers.
33 The radio frequency being monitored by the TeleDongle
34 device is displayed at the top of the window. You can
35 configure the frequency by clicking on the frequency
36 box and selecting the desired frequency. AltosUI
37 remembers the last frequency selected for each
38 TeleDongle and selects that automatically the next
39 time you use that device.
41 Below the TeleDongle frequency selector, the window
42 contains a few significant pieces of information about
43 the altimeter providing the telemetry data stream:
45 * The configured call-sign
47 * The device serial number
49 * The flight number. Each altimeter remembers how
50 many times it has flown.
52 * The rocket flight state. Each flight passes through
53 several states including Pad, Boost, Fast, Coast,
54 Drogue, Main and Landed.
56 * The Received Signal Strength Indicator value. This
57 lets you know how strong a signal TeleDongle is
58 receiving. At the default data rate, 38400 bps, in
59 bench testing, the radio inside TeleDongle v0.2
60 operates down to about -106dBm, while the v3 radio
61 works down to about -111dBm. Weaker signals, or an
62 environment with radio noise may cause the data to
63 not be received. The packet link uses error
64 detection and correction techniques which prevent
65 incorrect data from being reported.
67 * The age of the displayed data, in seconds since the
68 last successfully received telemetry packet. In
69 normal operation this will stay in the low single
70 digits. If the number starts counting up, then you
71 are no longer receiving data over the radio link
72 from the flight computer.
74 Finally, the largest portion of the window contains a
75 set of tabs, each of which contain some information
76 about the rocket. They're arranged in 'flight order'
77 so that as the flight progresses, the selected tab
78 automatically switches to display data relevant to the
79 current state of the flight. You can select other tabs
80 at any time. The final 'table' tab displays all of the
81 raw telemetry values in one place in a
82 spreadsheet-like format.
86 .Monitor Flight Launch Pad View
87 image::launch-pad.png[width="5.5in"]
89 The 'Launch Pad' tab shows information used to decide when the
90 rocket is ready for flight. The first elements include red/green
91 indicators, if any of these is red, you'll want to evaluate
92 whether the rocket is ready to launch:
95 This indicates whether the Li-Po battery powering the
96 flight computer has sufficient charge to last for
97 the duration of the flight. A value of more than
98 3.8V is required for a 'GO' status.
100 Apogee Igniter Voltage::
101 This indicates whether the apogee
102 igniter has continuity. If the igniter has a low
103 resistance, then the voltage measured here will be close
104 to the Li-Po battery voltage. A value greater than 3.2V is
105 required for a 'GO' status.
107 Main Igniter Voltage::
108 This indicates whether the main
109 igniter has continuity. If the igniter has a low
110 resistance, then the voltage measured here will be close
111 to the Li-Po battery voltage. A value greater than 3.2V is
112 required for a 'GO' status.
114 On-board Data Logging::
115 This indicates whether there is space remaining
116 on-board to store flight data for the upcoming
117 flight. If you've downloaded data, but failed to erase
118 flights, there may not be any space left. Most of our
119 flight computers can store multiple flights, depending
120 on the configured maximum flight log size. TeleMini
121 v1.0 stores only a single flight, so it will need to
122 be downloaded and erased after each flight to capture
123 data. This only affects on-board flight logging; the
124 altimeter will still transmit telemetry and fire
125 ejection charges at the proper times even if the
126 flight data storage is full.
129 For a TeleMetrum or TeleMega device, this indicates
130 whether the GPS receiver is currently able to compute
131 position information. GPS requires at least 4
132 satellites to compute an accurate position.
136 For a TeleMetrum or TeleMega device, this indicates
137 whether GPS has reported at least 10 consecutive
138 positions without losing lock. This ensures that the
139 GPS receiver has reliable reception from the
142 The Launchpad tab also shows the computed launch pad
143 position and altitude, averaging many reported
144 positions to improve the accuracy of the fix.
148 .Monitor Flight Ascent View
149 image::ascent.png[width="5.5in"]
151 This tab is shown during Boost, Fast and Coast
152 phases. The information displayed here helps monitor the
153 rocket as it heads towards apogee.
155 The height, speed, acceleration and tilt are shown along
156 with the maximum values for each of them. This allows you to
157 quickly answer the most commonly asked questions you'll hear
160 The current latitude and longitude reported by the GPS are
161 also shown. Note that under high acceleration, these values
162 may not get updated as the GPS receiver loses position
163 fix. Once the rocket starts coasting, the receiver should
164 start reporting position again.
166 Finally, the current igniter voltages are reported as in the
167 Launch Pad tab. This can help diagnose deployment failures
168 caused by wiring which comes loose under high acceleration.
172 .Monitor Flight Descent View
173 image::descent.png[width="5.5in"]
175 Once the rocket has reached apogee and (we hope)
176 activated the apogee charge, attention switches to
177 tracking the rocket on the way back to the ground, and
178 for dual-deploy flights, waiting for the main charge
181 To monitor whether the apogee charge operated
182 correctly, the current descent rate is reported along
183 with the current height. Good descent rates vary based
184 on the choice of recovery components, but generally
185 range from 15-30m/s on drogue and should be below
186 10m/s when under the main parachute in a dual-deploy
189 With GPS-equipped flight computers, you can locate the
190 rocket in the sky using the elevation and bearing
191 information to figure out where to look. Elevation is
192 in degrees above the horizon. Bearing is reported in
193 degrees relative to true north. Range can help figure
194 out how big the rocket will appear. Ground Distance
195 shows how far it is to a point directly under the
196 rocket and can help figure out where the rocket is
197 likely to land. Note that all of these values are
198 relative to the pad location. If the elevation is near
199 90°, the rocket is over the pad, not over you.
201 Finally, the igniter voltages are reported in this tab
202 as well, both to monitor the main charge as well as to
203 see what the status of the apogee charge is. Note
204 that some commercial e-matches are designed to retain
205 continuity even after being fired, and will continue
206 to show as green or return from red to green after
211 .Monitor Flight Landed View
212 image::landed.png[width="5.5in"]
214 Once the rocket is on the ground, attention switches
215 to recovery. While the radio signal is often lost once
216 the rocket is on the ground, the last reported GPS
217 position is generally within a short distance of the
218 actual landing location.
220 The last reported GPS position is reported both by
221 latitude and longitude as well as a bearing and
222 distance from the launch pad. The distance should give
223 you a good idea of whether to walk or hitch a ride.
224 Take the reported latitude and longitude and enter
225 them into your hand-held GPS unit and have that
226 compute a track to the landing location.
228 Our flight computers will continue to transmit RDF
229 tones after landing, allowing you to locate the rocket
230 by following the radio signal if necessary. You may
231 need to get away from the clutter of the flight line,
232 or even get up on a hill (or your neighbor's RV roof)
233 to receive the RDF signal.
235 The maximum height, speed and acceleration reported
236 during the flight are displayed for your admiring
237 observers. The accuracy of these immediate values
238 depends on the quality of your radio link and how many
239 packets were received. Recovering the on-board data
240 after flight may yield more precise results.
242 To get more detailed information about the flight, you
243 can click on the 'Graph Flight' button which will
244 bring up a graph window for the current flight.
248 .Monitor Flight Table View
249 image::table.png[width="5.5in"]
251 The table view shows all of the data available from the
252 flight computer. Probably the most useful data on
253 this tab is the detailed GPS information, which includes
254 horizontal dilution of precision information, and
255 information about the signal being received from the satellites.
259 .Monitor Flight Site Map View
260 image::site-map.png[width="5.5in"]
262 When the TeleMetrum has a GPS fix, the Site Map tab
263 will map the rocket's position to make it easier for
264 you to locate the rocket, both while it is in the air,
265 and when it has landed. The rocket's state is
266 indicated by color: white for pad, red for boost, pink
267 for fast, yellow for coast, light blue for drogue,
268 dark blue for main, and black for landed.
270 The map's default scale is approximately 3m (10ft) per
271 pixel. The map can be dragged using the left mouse
272 button. The map will attempt to keep the rocket
273 roughly centered while data is being received.
275 You can adjust the style of map and the zoom level
276 with buttons on the right side of the map window. You
277 can draw a line on the map by moving the mouse over
278 the map with a button other than the left one pressed,
279 or by pressing the left button while also holding down
280 the shift key. The length of the line in real-world
281 units will be shown at the start of the line.
283 Images are fetched automatically via the Google Maps
284 Static API, and cached on disk for reuse. If map
285 images cannot be downloaded, the rocket's path will be
286 traced on a dark gray background instead.
288 You can pre-load images for your favorite launch sites
289 before you leave home; check out <<_load_maps>>.
293 .Monitor Flight Additional Igniter View
294 image::ignitor.png[width="5.5in"]
296 TeleMega includes four additional programmable pyro
297 channels. The Ignitor tab shows whether each of them has
298 continuity. If an ignitor has a low resistance, then the
299 voltage measured here will be close to the pyro battery
300 voltage. A value greater than 3.2V is required for a 'GO'
307 The altimeter records flight data to its internal
310 Data logged on board is recorded at a much
311 higher rate than the telemetry system can handle, and
312 is not subject to radio drop-outs. As such, it
313 provides a more complete and precise record of the
316 The 'Save Flight Data' button allows you to
317 read the flash memory and write it to disk.
319 Clicking on the 'Save Flight Data' button brings up a
320 list of connected flight computers and TeleDongle
321 devices. If you select a flight computer, the flight
322 data will be downloaded from that device directly.
324 If you select a TeleDongle device, flight data will be
325 downloaded from a flight computer over radio link via
326 the specified TeleDongle. See
327 <<_controlling_an_altimeter_over_the_radio_link>> for
331 After the device has been selected, a dialog showing
332 the flight data saved in the device will be shown
333 allowing you to select which flights to download and
334 which to delete. With version 0.9 or newer firmware,
335 you must erase flights in order for the space they
336 consume to be reused by another flight. This prevents
337 accidentally losing flight data if you neglect to
338 download data before flying again. Note that if there
339 is no more space available in the device, then no data
340 will be recorded during the next flight.
342 The file name for each flight log is computed
343 automatically from the recorded flight date, altimeter
344 serial number and flight number information.
348 Select this button and you are prompted to select a flight
349 record file, either a .telem file recording telemetry data or a
350 .eeprom file containing flight data saved from the altimeter
353 Once a flight record is selected, the flight monitor interface
354 is displayed and the flight is re-enacted in real
358 <<_monitor_flight>> to learn how this window operates.
363 Select this button and you are prompted to select a flight
364 record file, either a .telem file recording telemetry data or a
365 .eeprom file containing flight data saved from
368 Note that telemetry files will generally produce poor graphs
369 due to the lower sampling rate and missed telemetry packets.
370 Use saved flight data in .eeprom files for graphing where possible.
372 Once a flight record is selected, a window with multiple tabs is
378 image::graph.png[width="5.5in"]
380 By default, the graph contains acceleration (blue),
381 velocity (green) and altitude (red).
383 The graph can be zoomed into a particular area by
384 clicking and dragging down and to the right. Once
385 zoomed, the graph can be reset by clicking and
386 dragging up and to the left. Holding down control and
387 clicking and dragging allows the graph to be panned.
388 The right mouse button causes a pop-up menu to be
389 displayed, giving you the option save or print the
394 .Flight Graph Configuration
395 image::graph-configure.png[width="5.5in"]
397 This selects which graph elements to show, and, at the
398 very bottom. It also lets you configure how
401 * Whether to use metric or imperial units
403 * Whether to show a marker at each data
404 point. When displaying a small section of
405 the graph, these can be useful to know what
406 data values were recorded.
408 * How wide to draw the lines in the graph
410 * How to filter speed and acceleration data
411 computed from barometric data. Flight
412 computers with accelerometers never display
413 computed acceleration data, and only use
414 barometric data to compute speed during
415 descent. Flight computers without
416 accelerometers always compute both speed and
417 acceleration from barometric data. A larger
418 value smooths the data more.
420 ==== Flight Statistics
423 image::graph-stats.png[width="5.5in"]
425 Shows overall data computed from the flight.
431 image::graph-map.png[width="5.5in"]
433 Shows a satellite image of the flight area overlaid
434 with the path of the flight. The red concentric
435 circles mark the launch pad, the black concentric
436 circles mark the landing location.
441 This tool takes the raw data files and makes them
442 available for external analysis. When you select this
443 button, you are prompted to select a flight data file,
444 which can be either a .eeprom or .telem. The .eeprom
445 files contain higher resolution and more continuous
446 data, while .telem files contain receiver signal
447 strength information. Next, a second dialog appears
448 which is used to select where to write the resulting
451 It has a selector to choose between CSV and KML
455 ==== Comma Separated Value Format
457 This is a text file containing the data in a form
458 suitable for import into a spreadsheet or other
459 external data analysis tool. The first few lines of
460 the file contain the version and configuration
461 information from the altimeter, then there is a single
462 header line which labels all of the fields. All of
463 these lines start with a '#' character which many
464 tools can be configured to skip over.
466 The remaining lines of the file contain the data, with
467 each field separated by a comma and at least one
468 space. All of the sensor values are converted to
469 standard units, with the barometric data reported in
470 both pressure, altitude and height above pad units.
473 ==== Keyhole Markup Language (for Google Earth)
475 This is the format used by Google Earth to provide an
476 overlay within that application. With this, you can
477 use Google Earth to see the whole flight path
481 === Configure Altimeter
483 .Altimeter Configuration
484 image::configure-altimeter.png[width="3.6in"]
487 Select this button and then select either an altimeter or
488 TeleDongle Device from the list provided. Selecting a TeleDongle
489 device will use the radio link to configure a remote
493 Select this button and then select an altimeter.
496 The first few lines of the dialog provide information about the
497 connected device, including the product name,
498 software version and hardware serial number. Below that are the
499 individual configuration entries.
501 At the bottom of the dialog, there are four buttons:
504 This writes any changes to the configuration parameter
505 block in flash memory. If you don't press this button,
506 any changes you make will be lost.
509 This resets the dialog to the most recently saved
510 values, erasing any changes you have made.
514 This reboots the device. Use this to switch from idle
515 to pad mode by rebooting once the rocket is oriented
516 for flight, or to confirm changes you think you saved
521 This closes the dialog. Any unsaved changes will be
524 The rest of the dialog contains the parameters to be configured.
526 include::config-device.raw[]
529 === Configure AltosUI
531 .Configure AltosUI Dialog
532 image::configure-altosui.png[width="2.4in"]
534 This button presents a dialog so that you can
535 configure the AltosUI global settings.
537 include::config-ui.raw[]
540 === Configure Groundstation
542 .Configure Groundstation Dialog
543 image::configure-groundstation.png[width="3.1in"]
545 Select this button and then select a TeleDongle or
546 TeleBT Device from the list provided.
548 The first few lines of the dialog provide information
549 about the connected device, including the product
550 name, software version and hardware serial
551 number. Below that are the individual configuration
554 Note that TeleDongle and TeleBT don't save any
555 configuration data, the settings here are recorded on
556 the local machine in the Java preferences
557 database. Moving the device to another machine, or
558 using a different user account on the same machine
559 will cause settings made here to have no effect.
561 At the bottom of the dialog, there are three
565 This writes any changes to the local Java
566 preferences file. If you don't press this
567 button, any changes you make will be lost.
570 This resets the dialog to the most recently
571 saved values, erasing any changes you have
575 This closes the dialog. Any unsaved changes
578 The rest of the dialog contains the parameters
583 This configures the frequency to use for both
584 telemetry and packet command mode. Set this
585 before starting any operation involving packet
586 command mode so that it will use the right
587 frequency. Telemetry monitoring mode also
588 provides a menu to change the frequency, and
589 that menu also sets the same Java preference
594 The radios in every Altus Metrum device are
595 calibrated at the factory to ensure that they
596 transmit and receive on the specified
597 frequency. To change a TeleDongle or TeleBT's
598 calibration, you must reprogram the unit
599 completely, so this entry simply shows the
600 current value and doesn't allow any changes.
604 This lets you match the telemetry and packet
605 link rate from the transmitter. If they don't
606 match, the device won't receive any data.
611 This reprograms Altus Metrum devices with new
613 ifdef::telemetrum,telemini[]
614 TeleMetrum v1.x, TeleDongle v0.2, TeleMini v1.0
615 and TeleBT v1.0 are all reprogrammed by using another
616 similar unit as a programming dongle (pair
618 endif::telemetrum,telemini[]
619 ifdef::telemega,easymega,telemetrum[]
620 TeleMega, EasyMega, TeleMetrum v2,
621 EasyMini and TeleDongle v3 are all
622 endif::telemega,easymega,telemetrum[]
623 ifndef::telemega,easymega,telemetrum[]
625 endif::telemega,easymega,telemetrum[]
627 over USB (self programming). Please read
628 the directions for flashing devices in
629 <<_updating_device_firmware>>.
634 image::fire-igniter.png[width="1.2in"]
636 This activates the igniter circuits in the flight
637 computer to help test recovery systems
640 Because this command can operate over the
641 Packet Command Link, you can prepare the rocket as for
642 flight and then test the recovery system without
643 needing to snake wires inside the air-frame.
646 Selecting the 'Fire Igniter' button brings up the
647 usual device selection dialog. Pick the desired
648 device. This brings up another window which shows the
649 current continuity test status for all of the pyro
652 Next, select the desired igniter to fire. This will
653 enable the 'Arm' button.
655 Select the 'Arm' button. This enables the 'Fire'
656 button. The word 'Arm' is replaced by a countdown
657 timer indicating that you have 10 seconds to press the
658 'Fire' button or the system will deactivate, at which
659 point you start over again at selecting the desired
665 .Scan Channels Window
666 image::scan-channels.png[width="3.2in"]
668 This listens for telemetry packets on all of the
669 configured frequencies, displaying information about
670 each device it receives a packet from. You can select
671 which of the baud rates and telemetry formats should
672 be tried; by default, it only listens at 38400 baud
673 with the standard telemetry format used in v1.0 and
678 include::load-maps.raw[]
685 image::monitor-idle.png[width="5.2in"]
687 This brings up a dialog similar to the Monitor Flight
688 UI, except it works with the altimeter in “idle” mode
689 by sending query commands to discover the current
690 state rather than listening for telemetry
691 packets. Because this uses command mode, it needs to
692 have the TeleDongle and flight computer callsigns
693 match exactly. If you can receive telemetry, but
694 cannot manage to run Monitor Idle, then it's very
695 likely that your callsigns are different in some way.
697 You can change the frequency and callsign used to
698 communicate with the flight computer; they must both
699 match the configuration in the flight computer