"/usr/share/xml/docbook/schema/dtd/4.5/docbookx.dtd">
<book>
<title>The Altus Metrum System</title>
- <subtitle>An Owner's Manual for TeleMetrum, TeleMini and TeleDongle Devices</subtitle>
+ <subtitle>An Owner's Manual for TeleMetrum, TeleMini, TeleDongle and TeleBT Devices</subtitle>
<bookinfo>
<author>
<firstname>Bdale</firstname>
<surname>Towns</surname>
</author>
<copyright>
- <year>2012</year>
+ <year>2013</year>
<holder>Bdale Garbee and Keith Packard</holder>
</copyright>
<legalnotice>
</para>
</legalnotice>
<revhistory>
+ <revision>
+ <revnumber>1.2.1</revnumber>
+ <date>21 May 2013</date>
+ <revremark>
+ Updated for software version 1.2. Version 1.2 adds support
+ for TeleBT and AltosDroid. It also adds a few minor features
+ and fixes bugs in AltosUI and the AltOS firmware.
+ </revremark>
+ </revision>
+ <revision>
+ <revnumber>1.2</revnumber>
+ <date>18 April 2013</date>
+ <revremark>
+ Updated for software version 1.2. Version 1.2 adds support
+ for MicroPeak and the MicroPeak USB interface.
+ </revremark>
+ </revision>
<revision>
<revnumber>1.1.1</revnumber>
<date>16 September 2012</date>
support optional capabilities in the future.
</para>
<para>
- The newest device is TeleMini, a dual deploy altimeter with
+ Our second device was TeleMini, a dual deploy altimeter with
radio telemetry and radio direction finding. This device is only
13mm by 38mm (½ inch by 1½ inches) and can fit easily in an 18mm
air-frame.
</para>
<para>
- Complementing TeleMetrum and TeleMini is TeleDongle, a USB to RF
- interface for communicating with the altimeters. Combined with your
- choice of antenna and
- notebook computer, TeleDongle and our associated user interface software
- form a complete ground station capable of logging and displaying in-flight
- telemetry, aiding rocket recovery, then processing and archiving flight
+ TeleDongle was our first ground station, providing a USB to RF
+ interfaces for communicating with the altimeters. Combined with
+ your choice of antenna and notebook computer, TeleDongle and our
+ associated user interface software form a complete ground
+ station capable of logging and displaying in-flight telemetry,
+ aiding rocket recovery, then processing and archiving flight
data for analysis and review.
</para>
+ <para>
+ For a slightly more portable ground station experience that also
+ provides direct rocket recovery support, TeleBT offers flight
+ monitoring and data logging using a Bluetooth connection between
+ the receiver and an Android device that has the Altos Droid
+ application installed from the Google Play store.
+ </para>
<para>
More products will be added to the Altus Metrum family over time, and
we currently envision that this will be a single, comprehensive manual
<para>
The TeleMini battery can be charged by disconnecting it from the
TeleMini board and plugging it into a standalone battery charger
- board, and connecting that via a USB cable to a laptop or other USB
- power source
+ such as the LipoCharger product included in TeleMini Starter Kits,
+ and connecting that via a USB cable to a laptop or other USB
+ power source.
</para>
<para>
The other active device in the starter kit is the TeleDongle USB to
The latest version may always be downloaded from
<ulink url="http://altusmetrum.org/AltOS"/>.
</para>
+ <para>
+ If you're using a TeleBT instead of the TeleDongle, you'll want
+ to go install the Altos Droid application from the Google Play
+ store. You don't need a data plan to use Altos Droid, but
+ without network access, the Map view will be less useful as it
+ won't contain any map data. You can also use TeleBT connected
+ over USB with your laptop computer; it acts exactly like a
+ TeleDongle. Anywhere this manual talks about TeleDongle, you can
+ also read that as 'and TeleBT when connected via USB'.
+ </para>
</chapter>
<chapter>
<title>Handling Precautions</title>
flights, do what makes sense.
</para>
<para>
- If idle mode is entered, you will hear an audible "di-dit" or see
- two short flashes ("I" for idle), and the flight state machine is
- disengaged, thus no ejection charges will fire. The altimeters also
- listen for the radio link when in idle mode for requests sent via
- TeleDongle. Commands can be issued to a TeleMetrum in idle mode
- over either
- USB or the radio link equivalently. TeleMini only has the radio link.
- Idle mode is useful for configuring the altimeter, for extracting data
- from the on-board storage chip after flight, and for ground testing
+ If idle mode is entered, you will hear an audible "di-dit" or
+ see two short flashes ("I" for idle), and the flight state
+ machine is disengaged, thus no ejection charges will fire.
+ The altimeters also listen for the radio link when in idle
+ mode for requests sent via TeleDongle. Commands can be issued
+ to a TeleMetrum in idle mode over either USB or the radio link
+ equivalently. TeleMini only has the radio link. Idle mode is
+ useful for configuring the altimeter, for extracting data from
+ the on-board storage chip after flight, and for ground testing
pyro charges.
</para>
<para>
tower with a screw-driver trying to turn on your avionics before
installing igniters!
</para>
+ <para>
+ TeleMini is configured via the radio link. Of course, that
+ means you need to know the TeleMini radio configuration values
+ or you won't be able to communicate with it. For situations
+ when you don't have the radio configuration values, TeleMini
+ offers an 'emergency recovery' mode. In this mode, TeleMini is
+ configured as follows:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ Sets the radio frequency to 434.550MHz
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ Sets the radio calibration back to the factory value.
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ Sets the callsign to N0CALL
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ Does not go to 'pad' mode after five seconds.
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ To get into 'emergency recovery' mode, first find the row of
+ four small holes opposite the switch wiring. Using a short
+ piece of small gauge wire, connect the outer two holes
+ together, then power TeleMini up. Once the red LED is lit,
+ disconnect the wire and the board should signal that it's in
+ 'idle' mode after the initial five second startup period.
+ </para>
</section>
<section>
<title>GPS </title>
<section>
<title>Controlling An Altimeter Over The Radio Link</title>
<para>
- One of the unique features of the Altus Metrum system is
- the ability to create a two way command link between TeleDongle
- and an altimeter using the digital radio transceivers built into
- each device. This allows you to interact with the altimeter from
- afar, as if it were directly connected to the computer.
+ One of the unique features of the Altus Metrum system is the
+ ability to create a two way command link between TeleDongle
+ and an altimeter using the digital radio transceivers
+ built into each device. This allows you to interact with the
+ altimeter from afar, as if it were directly connected to the
+ computer.
</para>
<para>
Any operation which can be performed with TeleMetrum can
</para>
</section>
</chapter>
+ <chapter>
+ <title>AltosDroid</title>
+ <para>
+ AltosDroid provides the same flight monitoring capabilities as
+ AltosUI, but runs on Android devices and is designed to connect
+ to a TeleBT receiver over Bluetooth™. Altos Droid monitors
+ telemetry data, logging it to internal storage in the Android
+ device, and presents that data in a UI the same way the 'Monitor
+ Flight' window does in AltosUI.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This manual will explain how to configure AltosDroid, connect
+ to TeleBT, operate the flight monitoring interface and describe
+ what the displayed data means.
+ </para>
+ <section>
+ <title>Installing AltosDroid</title>
+ <para>
+ AltosDroid is included in the Google Play store. To install
+ it on your Android device, open open the Google Play Store
+ application and search for "altosdroid". Make sure you don't
+ have a space between "altos" and "droid" or you probably won't
+ find what you want. That should bring you to the right page
+ from which you can download and install the application.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+ <section>
+ <title>Connecting to TeleBT</title>
+ <para>
+ Press the Android 'Menu' button or soft-key to see the
+ configuration options available. Select the 'Connect a device'
+ option and then the 'Scan for devices' entry at the bottom to
+ look for your TeleBT device. Select your device, and when it
+ asks for the code, enter '1234'.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Subsequent connections will not require you to enter that
+ code, and your 'paired' device will appear in the list without
+ scanning.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+ <section>
+ <title>Configuring AltosDroid</title>
+ <para>
+ The only configuration option available for AltosDroid is
+ which frequency to listen on. Press the Android 'Menu' button
+ or soft-key and pick the 'Select radio frequency' entry. That
+ brings up a menu of pre-set radio frequencies; pick the one
+ which matches your altimeter.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+ <section>
+ <title>Altos Droid Flight Monitoring</title>
+ <para>
+ Altos Droid is designed to mimic the AltosUI flight monitoring
+ display, providing separate tabs for each stage of your rocket
+ flight along with a tab containing a map of the local area
+ with icons marking the current location of the altimeter and
+ the Android device.
+ </para>
+ <section>
+ <title>Pad</title>
+ <para>
+ The 'Launch Pad' tab shows information used to decide when the
+ rocket is ready for flight. The first elements include red/green
+ indicators, if any of these is red, you'll want to evaluate
+ whether the rocket is ready to launch:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Battery Voltage. This indicates whether the Li-Po battery
+ powering the TeleMetrum has sufficient charge to last for
+ the duration of the flight. A value of more than
+ 3.7V is required for a 'GO' status.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Apogee Igniter Voltage. This indicates whether the apogee
+ igniter has continuity. If the igniter has a low
+ resistance, then the voltage measured here will be close
+ to the Li-Po battery voltage. A value greater than 3.2V is
+ required for a 'GO' status.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Main Igniter Voltage. This indicates whether the main
+ igniter has continuity. If the igniter has a low
+ resistance, then the voltage measured here will be close
+ to the Li-Po battery voltage. A value greater than 3.2V is
+ required for a 'GO' status.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ On-board Data Logging. This indicates whether there is
+ space remaining on-board to store flight data for the
+ upcoming flight. If you've downloaded data, but failed
+ to erase flights, there may not be any space
+ left. TeleMetrum can store multiple flights, depending
+ on the configured maximum flight log size. TeleMini
+ stores only a single flight, so it will need to be
+ downloaded and erased after each flight to capture
+ data. This only affects on-board flight logging; the
+ altimeter will still transmit telemetry and fire
+ ejection charges at the proper times.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ GPS Locked. For a TeleMetrum device, this indicates whether the GPS receiver is
+ currently able to compute position information. GPS requires
+ at least 4 satellites to compute an accurate position.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ GPS Ready. For a TeleMetrum device, this indicates whether GPS has reported at least
+ 10 consecutive positions without losing lock. This ensures
+ that the GPS receiver has reliable reception from the
+ satellites.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ <para>
+ The Launchpad tab also shows the computed launch pad position
+ and altitude, averaging many reported positions to improve the
+ accuracy of the fix.
+ </para>
+ </para>
+ </section>
+ </section>
+ <section>
+ <title>Downloading Flight Logs</title>
+ <para>
+ Altos Droid always saves every bit of telemetry data it
+ receives. To download that to a computer for use with AltosUI,
+ simply remove the SD card from your Android device, or connect
+ your device to your computer's USB port and browse the files
+ on that device. You will find '.telem' files in the TeleMetrum
+ directory that will work with AltosUI directly.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+ </chapter>
<chapter>
<title>Using Altus Metrum Products</title>
<section>
<title>On the Ground</title>
<para>
To receive the data stream from the rocket, you need an antenna and short
- feed-line connected to one of our <ulink url="http://www.altusmetrum.org/TeleDongle/">TeleDongle</ulink> units. The
+ feed-line connected to one of our <ulink url="http://www.altusmetrum.org/TeleDongle/">TeleDongle</ulink> units. If possible, use an SMA to BNC
+ adapter instead of feedline between the antenna feedpoint and
+ TeleDongle, as this will give you the best performance. The
TeleDongle in turn plugs directly into the USB port on a notebook
computer. Because TeleDongle looks like a simple serial port, your computer
does not require special device drivers... just plug it in.
So, to recap, on the ground the hardware you'll need includes:
<orderedlist inheritnum='inherit' numeration='arabic'>
<listitem>
- an antenna and feed-line
+ an antenna and feed-line or adapter
</listitem>
<listitem>
a TeleDongle
Arrow Antennas.
</ulink>
The 440-3 and 440-5 are both good choices for finding a
- TeleMetrum- or TeleMini- equipped rocket when used with a suitable 70cm HT.
+ TeleMetrum- or TeleMini- equipped rocket when used with a suitable
+ 70cm HT. TeleDongle and an SMA to BNC adapter fit perfectly
+ between the driven element and reflector of Arrow antennas.
</para>
</section>
<section>
<section>
<title>Future Plans</title>
<para>
- In the future, we intend to offer "companion boards" for the rocket that will
- plug in to TeleMetrum to collect additional data, provide more pyro channels,
- and so forth.
+ In the future, we intend to offer "companion boards" for the rocket
+ that will plug in to TeleMetrum to collect additional data, provide
+ more pyro channels, and so forth.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Also under design is a new flight computer with more sensors, more
+ pyro channels, and a more powerful radio system designed for use
+ in multi-stage, complex, and extreme altitude projects.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ We are also working on alternatives to TeleDongle. One is a
+ a stand-alone, hand-held ground terminal that will allow monitoring
+ the rocket's status, collecting data during flight, and logging data
+ after flight without the need for a notebook computer on the
+ flight line. Particularly since it is so difficult to read most
+ notebook screens in direct sunlight, we think this will be a great
+ thing to have. We are also working on a TeleDongle variant with
+ Bluetooth that will work with Android phones and tablets.
</para>
<para>
- We are also working on the design of a hand-held ground terminal that will
- allow monitoring the rocket's status, collecting data during flight, and
- logging data after flight without the need for a notebook computer on the
- flight line. Particularly since it is so difficult to read most notebook
- screens in direct sunlight, we think this will be a great thing to have.
+ Because all of our work is open, both the hardware designs and the
+ software, if you have some great idea for an addition to the current
+ Altus Metrum family, feel free to dive in and help! Or let us know
+ what you'd like to see that we aren't already working on, and maybe
+ we'll get excited about it too...
</para>
<para>
- Because all of our work is open, both the hardware designs and the software,
- if you have some great idea for an addition to the current Altus Metrum family,
- feel free to dive in and help! Or let us know what you'd like to see that
- we aren't already working on, and maybe we'll get excited about it too...
+ Watch our
+ <ulink url="http://altusmetrum.org/">web site</ulink> for more news
+ and information as our family of products evolves!
</para>
</section>
</chapter>
once you enable the voice output!
</para>
</appendix>
+ <appendix>
+ <title>Drill Templates</title>
+ <para>
+ These images, when printed, provide precise templates for the
+ mounting holes in Altus Metrum flight computers
+ </para>
+ <section>
+ <title>TeleMetrum template</title>
+ <para>
+ TeleMetrum has overall dimensions of 1.000 x 2.750 inches, and the
+ mounting holes are sized for use with 4-40 or M3 screws.
+ </para>
+ <mediaobject id="TeleMetrumTemplate">
+ <imageobject>
+ <imagedata format="SVG" fileref="telemetrum.svg"/>
+ </imageobject>
+ </mediaobject>
+ </section>
+ <section>
+ <title>TeleMini template</title>
+ <para>
+ TeleMini has overall dimensions of 0.500 x 1.500 inches, and the
+ mounting holes are sized for use with 2-56 or M2 screws.
+ </para>
+ <mediaobject id="TeleMiniTemplate">
+ <imageobject>
+ <imagedata format="SVG" fileref="telemini.svg"/>
+ </imageobject>
+ </mediaobject>
+ </section>
+ </appendix>
<appendix>
<title>Calibration</title>
<para>
<appendix
xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
<title>Release Notes</title>
- <xi:include href="release-notes-1.1.1.xsl" xpointer="xpointer(/article/*)"/>
- <xi:include href="release-notes-1.1.xsl" xpointer="xpointer(/article/*)"/>
- <xi:include href="release-notes-1.0.1.xsl" xpointer="xpointer(/article/*)"/>
- <xi:include href="release-notes-0.9.2.xsl" xpointer="xpointer(/article/*)"/>
- <xi:include href="release-notes-0.9.xsl" xpointer="xpointer(/article/*)"/>
- <xi:include href="release-notes-0.8.xsl" xpointer="xpointer(/article/*)"/>
- <xi:include href="release-notes-0.7.1.xsl" xpointer="xpointer(/article/*)"/>
+ <simplesect><title>Version 1.21</title><xi:include href="release-notes-1.2.1.xsl" xpointer="xpointer(/article/*)"/></simplesect>
+ <simplesect><title>Version 1.2</title><xi:include href="release-notes-1.2.xsl" xpointer="xpointer(/article/*)"/></simplesect>
+ <simplesect><title>Version 1.1.1</title><xi:include href="release-notes-1.1.1.xsl" xpointer="xpointer(/article/*)"/></simplesect>
+ <simplesect><title>Version 1.1</title><xi:include href="release-notes-1.1.xsl" xpointer="xpointer(/article/*)"/></simplesect>
+ <simplesect><title>Version 1.0.1</title><xi:include href="release-notes-1.0.1.xsl" xpointer="xpointer(/article/*)"/></simplesect>
+ <simplesect><title>Version 0.9.2</title><xi:include href="release-notes-0.9.2.xsl" xpointer="xpointer(/article/*)"/></simplesect>
+ <simplesect><title>Version 0.9</title><xi:include href="release-notes-0.9.xsl" xpointer="xpointer(/article/*)"/></simplesect>
+ <simplesect><title>Version 0.8</title><xi:include href="release-notes-0.8.xsl" xpointer="xpointer(/article/*)"/></simplesect>
+ <simplesect><title>Version 0.7.1</title><xi:include href="release-notes-0.7.1.xsl" xpointer="xpointer(/article/*)"/></simplesect>
</appendix>
</book>
projects / fw / altos / blobdiff