[new OSD + IMU] techFX Motion OSD light

[drex]

heres some ground video of the techFX Motion OSD light version.

(the full IMU version is coming out in a few weeks in hardware only ..source code is from OSD light version...)

basically the OSD light version is the full IMU version without the 3 axis gyros. and the accelerometer is optional on the OSD light version if you want to use a tilt compensated compass from a 3 axis magnetomter.


hardware features:



-dspic 33 MCU at 40 mips
-zigbee comms
-etek eb 85 a 32 channnel GPS with DGPS upto 5 hz
-max 7456 OSD chipon SPI port
-USB 2.0
-RCA video in / video out
-256k eeprom I2C
-(8) 5 volt ouputs on OC pins (for servo control)
-I2C / UART / DGPS rtcm / SPI ports
-8 general IO

optional hardware items:




-3 axis gryos made of IDG 300's
-3 axis accelerometer with G select MMA 7260
-3 axis mini mag magnetometer for IMU and tilt compensated compass
-xbee module
-SCP1000 barometric pressure sensor for altitude (with pitot tube)
-SCP1000 baro for airspeed (with pitot tube)
-pan and tilt servos for camera, and RXmux for servo autonav switching
-current sensor for battery drain...

software fearures for OSD light version:



-selectable metric / english units...
-altitude from gps or baro alt in MSL or AGL (baro alt filtered to 1 foot accuracy)
-tilt compensation from 3 axis magnetometer for tilt compensated headings
-2 hz GPS rate with initial fix thresholds for highly accurate home point and altitude logging
-waypoint logging for importation into google earth
-distance to target (and soon to be waypoints) and home using accurate haversine formula
-bearings to home and waypoint using accurate algorithm
-180 or 90 degree compass heading bar with indicators
-battery amp hour meter for measuring battery drain
-DOP bar and sat mode info
-UTC bar
-speed
-distances switch automatically below 1 unit to smaller units (miles to feet) etc.
-distances blink when close to target / home coordinates


and many more features!!!

in this video we drive away from home coordinate, about half a mile or soo and return and get within about 5 feet of that coordinate.

approx 10 sats, DGPS (WAAS), and a PDOP of 1.43 got us this accuracy!!!

will get an aerial demo soon!!

this makes a great First Person View platform for UAV's!!!!

anyways, heres the link to the current video of the ground test #1.

there are still a few bugs i noticed in the test, but it will all be fixed!!!

http://www.thesiliconhorizon.com/motion.htm

[dmgoedde]

drex - what types of airframes does this fly... I didn't read the word "autopilot", but all of the other language alludes to it. Can it fly a-stable aircraft? Or, is there no autopilot functionality, just info on pitch/roll and other help for the RC pilot to navigate the course?

[drex]

hello :)

well the techFX Motion OSD light is about to be released.

it is a modular designed OSD as listed above..

basically it is the full IMU version without the 3 axis gryo's and the 3 axis accelo is optional.

so you could use the OSD light version for an OSD / and with zigbee comms you could have a telemtry or command link for a pan and tilt since u can control upto 8 servo lines. (could add an RX mux..)

it is a modular design also, so just use what sensors you want..

ie: the baro and airspeed of some SCP1000's...

current sensor

xbee for telemetry

also if you choose to have the 3 axis accelo installed, then you can use a 3 axis magneto (mini mag pny) for a tilt compensated compass for heading scroll bar...

as you can see in the video, the precision and accuracy is pretty nice with WAAS on.

with 10 sats and a PDOP of 1.43 we got about 5 feet accuracy returning to home (thats using a haversine formula for distance computation.)

a vincenty formula would be more accurate (that formula is good for about half a mm)....but rather processor intensive.

ive been reading your thread and great work you are doing!!!

oh btw: the full IMU version has all the bells and whistles, and this source code will be the base for that one... just add the IMU , filters , kalman etc...
so yes there will be an autonav in the future ...

the OSD light version currently supports 2 hz update rates using the san nav fm-v8 (formerly eb 85a) 32 channel GPS module.

:) :)

[_helitron_]

With a serial input for external data it would be a great addon for the Attopilot :) !

Erwin

[drex]

hahahah :) yah it would!!

it has SPI port to 10 mhz

I2C port to ~ 1 mhz

UART input to whatever..

and analog and digital inputs and outputs..

8 at 3.3 volt.

8 output only at 5 volt on OC pins (PWM for servos).


so yah it can talk to it no worries :)

id use SPI as its the fastest at 10 mhz. :) :) :)

[drex]

alot of details in our options and programming :)

one example:

how to get MSL altitude from a baro SCP1000 pressure sensor???

1. set really high threshold for initial GPS fix, thus our initial GPS alt reading will be pretty accurate... , we can set the threshold for min 10 sats, DOPS to appropriate values, and wait for WAAS fix./....

2. take that initial altitude and recomputer our sea level pressure for our current day readings.... (use our current pressure reading also...)

3. now computer new MSL altitude based upon the adjusted current day sea level reading, and the current pressure....

4. pass it through our software filter to get rid of noise...

and there we go!! now we have MSL altitude from a baro pressure sensor!!!

our firmware and software have tons of options to play with to make your readings as accurate and precise as possible.

the current video uses GPS altimeter as you can see it is annoted "fMg" which stands for feet MSL gps.

just wanted to show that weve put lots of details into the software :) and continue to make improvements before we release the product!!

thanks :)

[FAKHREALAM]

heres some ground video of the techFX Motion OSD light version.

(the full IMU version is coming out in a few weeks in hardware only ..source code is from OSD light version...)

basically the OSD light version is the full IMU version without the 3 axis gyros. and the accelerometer is optional on the OSD light version if you want to use a tilt compensated compass from a 3 axis magnetomter.

http://www.thesiliconhorizon.com/motion.htm

Please share basic system block diagram if you can, so we see what it is, also give some details of what you are offering with the basic version. I have few question.

1) For development what kind of tools are needed.
2) What kind of tech support thesiliconhorizon.com can provide, if one.
3) What kind of basic functionality it is coming with (in term of firmware).
4) Is any examle code thesiliconhorizon.com is providing along with
basic kit.
5) How much the IMU will cost to add to the basic system.
6) What is the price range we are looking for basic unit only.

Fakhre Alam

[drex]

website is back up :)

our ISP should do maintenance at night!!

[drex]

fahkre:

to answer your questions....

1) for development, it uses free compilers from microchip, student versions of mplab c30 c compiler and mplab ide. Also you can buy a cheap clone ICD2 or Pickit 2 for about 20-30 dollars on ebay, it has an ICSP port to program the chip. sorry no USB bootloader this time!! we wanted to use the programmer.

2)support: we provide free controller repair for life just for ship and cost of parts. we also provide support on our firmware and source code limited to what we have written so far and suggestions for additions.

3)functionality: currenty the OSD light will support most of the listed optional addons, and the full IMU version wont have firmware to support autonav functions until we test it out...

4)the full source code is included with each controller on a CD.

5) the only way to add the IMU is to send it to us and we can add the chips with out hot air rework station, or if the user has one he can do it himself (that is if you dont purchase the full IMU version to start with...). the cost is about 90 dollars in chips (2x idg300 and 1x MMA 7260 and some OP amps.)

6) initial price range should be around 100-120 dollars (for the no IMU OSD light version). and all modules are optional so you add what u want. most of the modules are sold through sparkfun and we will try and get it distributed there to save on shipping.

[FAKHREALAM]

fahkre:

to answer your questions....
.

Thanks a lot for all that information, I think thermopile addition will be good to or some kind of FMA sensor board interface to this system, will be good. Please update all when your product will available.

Fakhre Alam

[drex]

well with the PIC 32 on this board, the processing power will be increased to 120 DMIPS...

that will be plenty for the OSD and the autopilot.

already have all the A2D coded using DMA for the gyro , accelo and such.

the framework is already there.

just gotta do it.

[drex]

the gps logger data parsing windows application is done!!!

with the 256k of eeprom on the techFX motion you can store about 450 waypoints.

sometime in the future we will switch to the 512K eeprom and it will be good for 900 waypoints.... that can be logged from 1 min intervals to 1 hour intervals.

anywhooo..

the gps logger software has virtual earth built in, and can convert data for google earth and google maps also.

heres the pics!!

http://www.thesiliconhorizon.com/images/logger3ddsidem.jpg

http://www.thesiliconhorizon.com/images/logger3drsidem.jpg

http://www.thesiliconhorizon.com/images/logger3dhsidem.jpg



should be getting our 1st shipment of OSD chips in a week!!!

after that, this board will be finally released!!

lots of great software and lots more great software to come!!

will work on the pan and tilt application with the Xbee interface next

so you can pan and tilt that camera and get live GPS feeds through Xbee updated through virtual earth upto 15 miles away!!!


:) :)

[FAKHREALAM]

the gps logger data parsing windows application is done!!!

the gps logger software has virtual earth built in, and can convert data for google earth and google maps also.

:) :)

Seems very good. Please explain what kind of data your PC software need, it will be good for using it with my system too. What is the data format and what BPS, what kind of format u are expecting for gps logger PC software. Need your protocol info. Your work will help all of us too.

Fakhre Alam

[drex]

well it only reads data from the techFX motion OSD becuase it uses a protocol...

with the time u spend trying to use that protocol, you might as well do your own!!

basically it uses some commands... and send out

time, lat, long, altitude


but will add COG, and speed to it also.

then after loading up that data it parses.


now if you want to put your data in a file then yes you could use this application.


it will open all RTF files formatted like this..

name,time,latitude,longitude,altitude
1,10:08:23,29.898948,-86.105598,72.2
2,10:08:40,29.898855,-86.105598,59.7
3,10:09:41,29.898878,-86.105629,60.0
4,10:10:42,29.898880,-86.105636,60.4
5,10:11:42,29.898862,-86.105629,56.1


then will add COG,speed to end of those columns soon.

:) :)

[drex]

oh yah it works at 115200 baud... any com port.

was gonna use a DLL but already had the serial port framework done from another application i wrote a while back..

[drex]

finished writing the 1st revision of the manual.

took a few hours :)

[drex]

our OSD is now out (non-IMU version)

www.TheSiliconHorizon.com

plenty more updates coming!!

we love writing software for this thing :)

:D :D

[Unterhausen]

is there a due date for the IMU version?

[drex]

as soon as we order the gryoscope chips

gonna order a whole bucket full of them hahaha

a coupla weeks or less :)


might get a few on there before then.

[FAKHREALAM]

as soon as we order the gryoscope chips

gonna order a whole bucket full of them hahaha

a coupla weeks or less :)


might get a few on there before then.

I am kind of interested in one without IMU, let me know when it will be available. Good job Drex.

Fakhre Alam

[drex]

the OSD version without IMU are already in our online store!!

www.TheSiliconHorizon.com

thanks

[drex]

will have the tilt compensated compass code done soon!!

working on it now!!

that is usually a 400 dollar part!


but with our controller, just add the accelerometer 3 axis for $13 dollars installed. then buy a micromag PNI 3 axis mag and you have a tilt compensated compass.

it can be used all the time or just below a cutoff speed.

[drex]

well be reducing our prices today to be more competitive :)

[drex]

we will have some xbee support software releases for the techFX motion OSD coming out this week.

namely

1) servo over xbee control upto 8 servos with sourcecode included visual c# program.


2) moving map program updated once per second via Xbee telemtry link.


really great releases coming!!

:D :D

[FAKHREALAM]

we will have some xbee support software releases for the techFX motion OSD coming out this week.
:D :D

If you can add some new features.

1) FMA sensor interface (use for pitch and roll stabilization) along with just yaw gyro for heading correction.
2) Return to Home functionality (if auto pilot signal lost, plane will come to home GPS position and it will fly in big circle).

Your product will shine further.

Fakhre Alam

[drex]

we are offering the full IMU boards now with a small lead time

still working on the Xbee code and moving map application.. / servo application is next..

my progress has gotten a little slower yes as i have had some consulting jobs...

:D :D

[drex]

heres the moving map Xbee program.

working great!!!

ok dont have a route on there cuase i was stationary.

guess i should put it in something and move it. hahaha

well all we have here are xbee pro's anyways. that might be good for a congested 2 blocks... but its better than nothing??

good enough to get a picture of.

well until i get that heres a pic of the moving map display..

http://www.thesiliconhorizon.com/images/movingmap.jpg


there will be tons of updates in the next release including this one!!

also want the servo app to be there...

tons of new options....

tons!!

sale sale sale!!!


if you havent bought your techFX Motion OSD then what are u waiting for?

GPS logging, real time moving map, OSD....

and still cheaper than the competitors.



oh yah... we are enabling the watchdog timer feature just in case you guys create custom code and it crashes... this will have it automatically restart the system and u wont be left with a crashed OSD and no data!!!

see we think of everything.

:D :D :D

[drex]

the camera control application (over Xbee XSC upto 15 miles) will be driven by the http://www.3dconnexion.com 3d mouse!!!

this will allow pan, tilt , zoom along 6 axis's...as much as you have control over in your hardware camera focusing system!!!!

this will allow 6 DOF movement for your camera....

if you can hook up enough servos hahahahha

hmmm does anyone make a camera ball mount??

:D :D :D

[drex]

okay got the final version of the Xbee moving map utility done... it will be in the next release package!!


made some pretty cool status bars to show received data and such....

its pretty nice..

http://www.thesiliconhorizon.com/images/movingmapf.jpg

[drex]

Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 186 okay the new release is out in our forums (must register!!)

the new features:

-more settings and baudrate selectable in settings util
-servo functions added over Xbee
-moving map utility using virtual earth over Xbee
-watchdoggie timer enabled in firmware.
-tons more small changes


you can send servo commands over Xbee!!!!!

this is how you do it.


< command byte> <servo # from 0x01 to 0x08> <ascii data high nibble> <ascii data low nibble> <0x33>


the possible 8 bit servo position values are from 0x00 to 0xff.

so setting servo #1 to position 0xff would be as follows:


<0x19> <0x01> <0x3f> <0x3f> <0x33>


so yah its 5 bytes long!!!




the servo visual c# example application and the 3d connexion mouse application to drive camera servos will be coming out in a little bit... (well see about later this week....)


thanks for the wait guys!!

its worth it.

[drex]

okay PIC 32 is coming to the techFX Motion!

120 DMIPS of power and 32 bits.....

we have to do another board revision however as the progamming pins didnt make the "compatability" list from dsPIC to PIC 32... oops.

plenty of power for the toughest kalman u want.

[Armer175]

Hey any updates on your progress with updates/revisions?

[drex]

Yep :)

we are starting work on a 2nd revision, to be out in 3-4 months time since the IDG300 gyros are going bye bye!!!

the new revision will be a complete makeover:

-pic32 at 80 mips
-dsPIC at 40 MIPS (total of 120 together)
-dual rail switching power supply (low heat!!)
-IDG650's for 3 axis gyros
-ADXL 345's all digital accelo upto 16 G selectable!! upto 13 bits
-microMAG 3 axis for tilt comp compass
-LOCOsys and SANNAV GPS plugs
-support for the biiiig Xbee's like the new 868 upto 20 miles
-text OSD chip included.
-8 servo lines....

this will pack plenty of punch for a very nice kalman doing full floating point calc's...

new gyro's, new accelo :)

the accelo is digital which is cool ... more accuracy too more bits...

adding much better heat design, and ability to support those power hungry Xbee XSC's and the 868's....

really not a revision, but a whole new board.

:)

[drex]

the reasoning for 2 processors is to have the dsPIC handle the servo lines and any other TTL IO (IC for radio PWM?) while the pic32 handles the kalman and the other sensors..

they will be linked via the SPI bus.

probably will have 12 servo lines,,, well c.