Originally Posted by Menno

I think I got the entire 'spaghetti' board figured out. Thank for clearing that up. There is just one thing that keeps bugging me lilvinz. How do you power your board?

I guess the board can be powered in numerous ways but I just can't see any connections from the pins where you have your ESC's connected (apart from the signal wire).

Great. Would you mind then doing a writeup or schematic for me to include in the wiki? Obviously this is needed.

The board is powered by wiring one of the ESC +5V lines to the 5V line of the discovery. I think for the F3 i took the pictures before i set up that wire.

Originally Posted by lilvinz

Great. Would you mind then doing a writeup or schematic for me to include in the wiki? Obviously this is needed.

The board is powered by wiring one of the ESC +5V lines to the 5V line of the discovery. I think for the F3 i took the pictures before i set up that wire.

I'm trying to do a pcb layout with the info I'm collecting but I'm stuck because I'm not able to figure out what are those 3 3x1+4x1 connectors? Are they the Mainport, Flexiport and Receiver Port? What about the other pins that you don't use? Can they be used in other UART, I2C and SPI connectors for posterior use?

If you please explain me those I'll send you a board layout file so it can be posted in your wiki and used to create a PCB of your board.

Thanks! Regards,

TSC21

Originally Posted by TSC21

Where is SBUS_ENABLE (PD7) pin!?

Looks like no one has noticed yet that the F3 USART has build in inverters for the RX and TX lines, see USART_CR2 bit 16+17, so an external inverter is not needed.

Originally Posted by ala42

Looks like no one has noticed yet that the F3 USART has build in inverters for the RX and TX lines, see USART_CR2 bit 16+17, so an external inverter is not needed.

Very good catch. Actually ive noticed that when checking the features of the new F3 peripherals but didnt bother to implement software support for it yet.
So without software support for the UART builtin inverter, usage of an external one is still necessary

Anyone?

I was just able to make a pre-layout of the board. It has to be a double side pcb so it can keep a small size and doesn't have a huge amount of jumper wires. Just waiting for someone to help with the USART of Flexiport equivalent, Mainport equivalent, (Receiver Port equivalent!?), or other possible connectors...
lilvinz can you help me with those, please? You're using USART3 for Flexiport and USART4 to Mainport but you have a 3rd connector in your perfboard? Is it just a simple USART that is unused? What about Mainport equivalent pin SBUS_ENABLE (PD7)? Is it necessary or not, since we have a built in inverter on F3 USART? If necessary, where does it fit in the configuration of the USART connector you gave (with the +3V/+5V selector)?

Thanks!

Finally received my F3 boards today. The supplier had send them to the billing adress instead to the shipping adress (my home)



Can't wait to load the Openpilot firmware to this board. I will also upload a schematic drawing of the PCB print.

I still have some doubts on the proper way to power this board. If you have servo's connected to the board (e.g. tricopter or camera gimbal) while it's powered throught the USB connector of your PC you are likely going to draw a lot more than the alowed 100 mA.

I think the most simple solution is putting a diode between the + 5v pin of the ESC and the board. Anyone else got thoughts on this?

it's alive.

At first I could not get the CGS to recognize the board. It was because I still had the USB plugged in to the USB-ST link connector. After I connected the board with the USB user connector it recognized the board right away.

Now of to building the PCB board with the PCM in and outputs.

what are the recommend pull-up resistors to add to the I2C SDA and SCL? In the .h files of the discovery board it recommends the use of 4.7KOhms.

Thanks!

hmm, i have connected everything on the board using female jumper wires (soldering the pcb board is a bit more work than i thought). All connections look ok. I can calibrate my transmitter channels etc. but......... right now the setting are not saved to the board. Whenever I cycle the power al my settings are gone. Does this have anything to do with the jumper setting of the ST-Link,

Can anybody help on this?

Nope I have tried everything that I can think of.

- First I flashed the F3 board through the ST Link USB connector ( bl_disocoveryf3.bin file)
- After that I start the CGS firmware.
- CGS only recognizes the board if I connect it to the user USB connector. So I switch the cable.
- I can than push the rescue button, select fw_discoveryf3.opfw file and flash it to the F3Discovery.
- The board reacts to movement and I can callibrate the RC input and motor outputs.

All seems fine. I can push disconnect in the bottom of the CGS, connect again and it will remember the settings. However, once I disconnect the USB or push the black button on the F3discovery board al the settings are forgotten.

What am I missing. Why will it flash the firmware but refuse to write the settings?

Is this a jumper setting or do I need to connect both USB plugs at the same time? (I hope not because I only have on mini USB (who still uses mini USB when everything is micro USB)

Originally Posted by Menno

Nope I have tried everything that I can think of.

- First I flashed the F3 board through the ST Link USB connector ( bl_disocoveryf3.bin file)
- After that I start the CGS firmware.
- CGS only recognizes the board if I connect it to the user USB connector. So I switch the cable.
- I can than push the rescue button, select fw_discoveryf3.opfw file and flash it to the F3Discovery.
- The board reacts to movement and I can callibrate the RC input and motor outputs.

All seems fine. I can push disconnect in the bottom of the CGS, connect again and it will remember the settings. However, once I disconnect the USB or push the black button on the F3discovery board al the settings are forgotten.

What am I missing. Why will it flash the firmware but refuse to write the settings?

Is this a jumper setting or do I need to connect both USB plugs at the same time? (I hope not because I only have on mini USB (who still uses mini USB when everything is micro USB)

Should not be a jumper problem. Which software version are you using?

I have tried the 2 latests from the Github downloads:

discovery_20121101_b8eb2d56e8
discovery_20121024_3152318bc9

I have also loaded the firmware on my second board. No wires attached, just flashed the firmware and connected it to the CGS firmware. It does exactly the same thing. I can flash FW on it but I can't write settings to it.

As soon as the power is cycled the flighttime returns to zero and all settings are gone.

Is it also normal for the CGS to only recognize the board through the user USB connection? It does not recognize the boards through the USB ST Link.

Originally Posted by Menno

I have tried the 2 latests from the Github downloads:

discovery_20121101_b8eb2d56e8
discovery_20121024_3152318bc9

I have also loaded the firmware on my second board. No wires attached, just flashed the firmware and connected it to the CGS firmware. It does exactly the same thing. I can flash FW on it but I can't write settings to it.

As soon as the power is cycled the flighttime returns to zero and all settings are gone.

Is it also normal for the CGS to only recognize the board through the user USB connection? It does not recognize the boards through the USB ST Link.

I can confirm, that it doesnt work. Hold on, im investigating.

Originally Posted by lilvinz

I can confirm, that it doesnt work. Hold on, im investigating.

New binaries are up. Please confirm that it has been fixed.

Originally Posted by lilvinz

New binaries are up. Please confirm that it has been fixed.

yes it works! Thank you for the quick help. All the settings can be saved and I managed to perform the setup and transmitter wizard. Tomorrow I will put some propellers and see if i can give it a maiden flight.