- The +1g and -1g calibration points are included in each telemetry
- frame and are part of the header extracted by ao-dumplog after flight.
- Note that we always store and return raw ADC samples for each
- sensor... nothing is permanently "lost" or "damaged" if the
- calibration is poor.
- </para>
- <para>
- In the unlikely event an accel cal that goes badly, it is possible
- that TeleMetrum may always come up in 'pad mode' and as such not be
- listening to either the USB or radio interfaces. If that happens,
- there is a special hook in the firmware to force the board back
- in to 'idle mode' so you can re-do the cal. To use this hook, you
- just need to ground the SPI clock pin at power-on. This pin is
- available as pin 2 on the 8-pin companion connector, and pin 1 is
- ground. So either carefully install a fine-gauge wire jumper
- between the two pins closest to the index hole end of the 8-pin
- connector, or plug in the programming cable to the 8-pin connector
- and use a small screwdriver or similar to short the two pins closest
- to the index post on the 4-pin end of the programming cable, and
- power up the board. It should come up in 'idle mode' (two beeps).
- </para>
- </section>
- </section>
- <section>
- <title>Updating Device Firmware</title>
- <para>
- The big conceptual thing to realize is that you have to use a
- TeleDongle as a programmer to update a TeleMetrum or TeleMini,
- and a TeleMetrum or other TeleDongle to program the TeleDongle
- Due to limited memory resources in the cc1111, we don't support
- programming directly over USB.
- </para>
- <para>
- You may wish to begin by ensuring you have current firmware images.
- These are distributed as part of the AltOS software bundle that
- also includes the AltosUI ground station program. Newer ground
- station versions typically work fine with older firmware versions,
- so you don't need to update your devices just to try out new
- software features. You can always download the most recent
- version from <ulink url="http://www.altusmetrum.org/AltOS/"/>.
- </para>
- <para>
- We recommend updating the altimeter first, before updating TeleDongle.
- </para>
- <section>
- <title>Updating TeleMetrum Firmware</title>
- <orderedlist inheritnum='inherit' numeration='arabic'>
- <listitem>
- Find the 'programming cable' that you got as part of the starter
- kit, that has a red 8-pin MicroMaTch connector on one end and a
- red 4-pin MicroMaTch connector on the other end.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Take the 2 screws out of the TeleDongle case to get access
- to the circuit board.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Plug the 8-pin end of the programming cable to the
- matching connector on the TeleDongle, and the 4-pin end to the
- matching connector on the TeleMetrum.
- Note that each MicroMaTch connector has an alignment pin that
- goes through a hole in the PC board when you have the cable
- oriented correctly.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Attach a battery to the TeleMetrum board.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Plug the TeleDongle into your computer's USB port, and power
- up the TeleMetrum.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Run AltosUI, and select 'Flash Image' from the File menu.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Pick the TeleDongle device from the list, identifying it as the
- programming device.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Select the image you want put on the TeleMetrum, which should have a
- name in the form telemetrum-v1.1-1.0.0.ihx. It should be visible
- in the default directory, if not you may have to poke around
- your system to find it.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Make sure the configuration parameters are reasonable
- looking. If the serial number and/or RF configuration
- values aren't right, you'll need to change them.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Hit the 'OK' button and the software should proceed to flash
- the TeleMetrum with new firmware, showing a progress bar.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Confirm that the TeleMetrum board seems to have updated ok, which you
- can do by plugging in to it over USB and using a terminal program
- to connect to the board and issue the 'v' command to check
- the version, etc.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- If something goes wrong, give it another try.
- </listitem>
- </orderedlist>
- </section>
- <section>
- <title>Updating TeleMini Firmware</title>
- <orderedlist inheritnum='inherit' numeration='arabic'>
- <listitem>
- You'll need a special 'programming cable' to reprogram the
- TeleMini. It's available on the Altus Metrum web store, or
- you can make your own using an 8-pin MicroMaTch connector on
- one end and a set of four pins on the other.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Take the 2 screws out of the TeleDongle case to get access
- to the circuit board.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Plug the 8-pin end of the programming cable to the matching
- connector on the TeleDongle, and the 4-pins into the holes
- in the TeleMini circuit board. Note that the MicroMaTch
- connector has an alignment pin that goes through a hole in
- the PC board when you have the cable oriented correctly, and
- that pin 1 on the TeleMini board is marked with a square pad
- while the other pins have round pads.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Attach a battery to the TeleMini board.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Plug the TeleDongle into your computer's USB port, and power
- up the TeleMini
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Run AltosUI, and select 'Flash Image' from the File menu.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Pick the TeleDongle device from the list, identifying it as the
- programming device.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Select the image you want put on the TeleMini, which should have a
- name in the form telemini-v1.0-1.0.0.ihx. It should be visible
- in the default directory, if not you may have to poke around
- your system to find it.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Make sure the configuration parameters are reasonable
- looking. If the serial number and/or RF configuration
- values aren't right, you'll need to change them.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Hit the 'OK' button and the software should proceed to flash
- the TeleMini with new firmware, showing a progress bar.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Confirm that the TeleMini board seems to have updated ok, which you
- can do by configuring it over the RF link through the TeleDongle, or
- letting it come up in "flight" mode and listening for telemetry.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- If something goes wrong, give it another try.
- </listitem>
- </orderedlist>
- </section>
- <section>
- <title>Updating TeleDongle Firmware</title>
- <para>
- Updating TeleDongle's firmware is just like updating TeleMetrum or TeleMini
- firmware, but you use either a TeleMetrum or another TeleDongle as the programmer.
- </para>
- <orderedlist inheritnum='inherit' numeration='arabic'>
- <listitem>
- Find the 'programming cable' that you got as part of the starter
- kit, that has a red 8-pin MicroMaTch connector on one end and a
- red 4-pin MicroMaTch connector on the other end.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Find the USB cable that you got as part of the starter kit, and
- plug the "mini" end in to the mating connector on TeleMetrum or TeleDongle.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Take the 2 screws out of the TeleDongle case to get access
- to the circuit board.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Plug the 8-pin end of the programming cable to the
- matching connector on the programmer, and the 4-pin end to the
- matching connector on the TeleDongle.
- Note that each MicroMaTch connector has an alignment pin that
- goes through a hole in the PC board when you have the cable
- oriented correctly.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Attach a battery to the TeleMetrum board if you're using one.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Plug both the programmer and the TeleDongle into your computer's USB
- ports, and power up the programmer.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Run AltosUI, and select 'Flash Image' from the File menu.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Pick the programmer device from the list, identifying it as the
- programming device.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Select the image you want put on the TeleDongle, which should have a
- name in the form teledongle-v0.2-1.0.0.ihx. It should be visible
- in the default directory, if not you may have to poke around
- your system to find it.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Make sure the configuration parameters are reasonable
- looking. If the serial number and/or RF configuration
- values aren't right, you'll need to change them. The TeleDongle
- serial number is on the "bottom" of the circuit board, and can
- usually be read through the translucent blue plastic case without
- needing to remove the board from the case.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Hit the 'OK' button and the software should proceed to flash
- the TeleDongle with new firmware, showing a progress bar.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- Confirm that the TeleDongle board seems to have updated ok, which you
- can do by plugging in to it over USB and using a terminal program
- to connect to the board and issue the 'v' command to check
- the version, etc. Once you're happy, remove the programming cable
- and put the cover back on the TeleDongle.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- If something goes wrong, give it another try.
- </listitem>
- </orderedlist>
- <para>
- Be careful removing the programming cable from the locking 8-pin
- connector on TeleMetrum. You'll need a fingernail or perhaps a thin
- screwdriver or knife blade to gently pry the locking ears out
- slightly to extract the connector. We used a locking connector on
- TeleMetrum to help ensure that the cabling to companion boards
- used in a rocket don't ever come loose accidentally in flight.
- </para>
- </section>
- </section>
-
- </chapter>
- <chapter>
-
- <title>AltosUI</title>
- <para>
- The AltosUI program provides a graphical user interface for
- interacting with the Altus Metrum product family, including
- TeleMetrum, TeleMini and TeleDongle. AltosUI can monitor telemetry data,
- configure TeleMetrum, TeleMini and TeleDongle devices and many other
- tasks. The primary interface window provides a selection of
- buttons, one for each major activity in the system. This manual
- is split into chapters, each of which documents one of the tasks
- provided from the top-level toolbar.
- </para>
- <section>
- <title>Monitor Flight</title>
- <subtitle>Receive, Record and Display Telemetry Data</subtitle>
- <para>
- Selecting this item brings up a dialog box listing all of the
- connected TeleDongle devices. When you choose one of these,
- AltosUI will create a window to display telemetry data as
- received by the selected TeleDongle device.
- </para>
- <para>
- All telemetry data received are automatically recorded in
- suitable log files. The name of the files includes the current
- date and rocket serial and flight numbers.
- </para>
- <para>
- The radio frequency being monitored by the TeleDongle device is
- displayed at the top of the window. You can configure the
- frequecy by clicking on the frequency box and selecting the desired
- frequency. AltosUI remembers the last frequency selected for each
- TeleDongle and selects that automatically the next time you use
- that device.
- </para>
- <para>
- Below the TeleDongle frequency selector, the window contains a few
- significant pieces of information about the altimeter providing
- the telemetry data stream:
- </para>
- <itemizedlist>
- <listitem>
- <para>The configured callsign</para>
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- <para>The device serial number</para>
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- <para>The flight number. Each altimeter remembers how many
- times it has flown.
- </para>
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- The rocket flight state. Each flight passes through several
- states including Pad, Boost, Fast, Coast, Drogue, Main and
- Landed.
- </para>
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- The Received Signal Strength Indicator value. This lets
- you know how strong a signal TeleDongle is receiving. The
- radio inside TeleDongle operates down to about -99dBm;
- weaker signals may not be receiveable. The packet link uses
- error correction and detection techniques which prevent
- incorrect data from being reported.
- </para>
- </listitem>
- </itemizedlist>
- <para>
- Finally, the largest portion of the window contains a set of
- tabs, each of which contain some information about the rocket.
- They're arranged in 'flight order' so that as the flight
- progresses, the selected tab automatically switches to display
- data relevant to the current state of the flight. You can select
- other tabs at any time. The final 'table' tab contains all of
- the telemetry data in one place.
- </para>
- <section>
- <title>Launch 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 LiPo 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 LiPo 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 LiPo battery voltage. A value greater than 3.2V is
- required for a 'GO' status.
- </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>
- <title>Ascent</title>
- <para>
- This tab is shown during Boost, Fast and Coast
- phases. The information displayed here helps monitor the
- rocket as it heads towards apogee.
- </para>
- <para>
- The height, speed and acceleration are shown along with the
- maxium values for each of them. This allows you to quickly
- answer the most commonly asked questions you'll hear during
- flight.
- </para>
- <para>
- The current latitude and longitude reported by the TeleMetrum GPS are
- also shown. Note that under high acceleration, these values
- may not get updated as the GPS receiver loses position
- fix. Once the rocket starts coasting, the receiver should
- start reporting position again.