firing when in the Off position. The switch is in-line with
the positive battery terminal.
+ === Understanding Beeps
+
+ Altus Metrum flight computers include a beeper to
+ provide information about the state of the system.
+ TeleMini doesn't have room for a beeper, so instead it
+ uses an LED, which works the same, except for every
+ beep is replaced with the flash of the LED.
+
+ Here's a short summary of all of the modes and the beeping (or
+ flashing, in the case of TeleMini v1) that accompanies each
+ mode. In the description of the beeping pattern, “dit” means a
+ short beep while "dah" means a long beep (three times as
+ long). “Brap” means a long dissonant tone.
+
+ .AltOS Modes
+ [options="border",cols="1,1,2,2"]
+ |====
+ |Mode Name
+ |Abbreviation
+ |Beeps
+ |Description
+
+ |Startup
+ |S
+ |battery voltage in decivolts
+ |Calibrating sensors, detecting orientation.
+
+ |Idle
+ |I
+ |dit dit
+ |Ready to accept commands over USB or radio link.
+
+ |Pad
+ |P
+ |dit dah dah dit
+ |Waiting for launch. Not listening for commands.
+
+ |Boost
+ |B
+ |dah dit dit dit
+ |Accelerating upwards.
+
+ |Fast
+ |F
+ |dit dit dah dit
+ |Decelerating, but moving faster than 200m/s.
+
+ |Coast
+ |C
+ |dah dit dah dit
+ |Decelerating, moving slower than 200m/s
+
+ |Drogue
+ |D
+ |dah dit dit
+ |Descending after apogee. Above main height.
+
+ |Main
+ |M
+ |dah dah
+ |Descending. Below main height.
+
+ |Landed
+ |L
+ |dit dah dit dit
+ |Stable altitude for at least ten seconds.
+
+
+ |Sensor error
+ |X
+ |dah dit dit dah
+ |Error detected during sensor calibration.
+ |====
+
+ === Turning On the Power
+
+ Connect a battery and power switch and turn the switch
+ to "on". The flight computer will signal power on by
+ reporting the battery voltage and then perform an internal self
+ test and sensor calibration.
+
+ Once the self test and calibration are complete, there
+ are two modes that an Altus Metrum flight computer can
+ operate in:
+
+ Flight/Pad::
+ The flight computer is waiting to detect
+ launch and then fly the rocket. In this mode, the USB
+ link is disabled, and the radio goes into
+ transmit-only mode. The only way to get out of this
+ mode is to power the flight computer down.
+
+ Idle::
+ The flight computer is ready to communicate over USB
+ and in packet mode over the radio. You can configure
+ the flight computer, download data or display
+ the current state.
+
+ For flight computers with accelerometers (TeleMetrum,
+ EasyMega and TeleMega), the mode is selected by the
+ orientation of the board during the self test
+ interval. If the board is pointing upwards as if ready
+ to fly, it will enter Flight/Pad mode. Otherwise, it will
+ enter Idle mode.
+
+ For EasyMini, if the USB cable is connected to a
+ computer, it will enter Idle mode. Otherwise, it will
+ enter Flight/Pad mode.
+
+ For TeleMini v1.0, if a packet link is waiting to
+ connect when the device is powered on, it will enter
+ Idle mode, otherwise it will enter Flight/Pad mode.
+
+ You can see in <<_understanding_beeps>>
+ how to tell which mode the flight computer is in.
+
=== Using an External Active Switch Circuit
You can use an active switch circuit, such as the
=== Using a Separate Pyro Battery
- As mentioned above in the section on hooking up pyro
- charges, one lead for each of the pyro charges is connected
- through the power switch directly to the positive battery
- terminal. The other lead is connected to the pyro circuit,
- which connects it to the negative battery terminal when the
- pyro circuit is fired. The pyro circuit on all of the flight
- computers is designed to handle up to 16V.
+ As mentioned above in <<_hooking_up_pyro_charges>>, one
+ lead for each of the pyro charges is connected through
+ the power switch directly to the positive battery
+ terminal. The other lead is connected to the pyro
+ circuit, which connects it to the negative battery
+ terminal when the pyro circuit is fired. The pyro
+ circuit on all of the flight computers is designed to
+ handle up to 16V.
To use a separate pyro battery, connect the negative pyro
battery terminal to the flight computer ground terminal,
computer. When the pyro channel fires, it will complete the
circuit between the negative pyro terminal and the ground
terminal, firing the igniter. Specific instructions on how
- to hook this up will be found in each section below.
+ to hook this up for each flight computer will be found
+ in the section below for that flight computer.
=== Using a Different Kind of Battery
[WARNING]
TeleMega, EasyMega and TeleMetrum are only designed to
- use a single-cell Lithium Polymer battery and cannot
- be used with any other kind. Connecting a different
- kind of battery to any of these will destroy the
- board.
+ operate off a single-cell Lithium Polymer battery and
+ cannot be used with any other kind. Connecting a
+ different kind of battery to any of these will destroy
+ the board.
projects / fw / altos / blobdiff