Crius AIOP V1,V1.1 MegapirateNG V2.7r4 Firmware

[Gaza07]

Heres a copy of the megapirateng v2.7r4 firmware already set up for the Crius AIOP V1 flight controller and any ublox based Gps module 
I have tested this with the Rctimer cn-06 v1 Gps the firware sets the gps to 115200 baud and it works very well 

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[Gaza07]

How to upload the MegapirateNG firmware

1. Create a folder in my documents called Arduino
2. Extract the MegaPirateNG_2.7_R4_AIOP.zip  file top the arduino folder you created
3. Browse to this folder "My Documents\Arduino\MegaPirateNG_2.7_R4_AIOP\libraries" and select all folders and copy them to the libraries folder of the Arduino app and allow it to replace any exisitng files, you must do this step as the megapirate firmware has its own library files and will not compile with the standard arduino libraries,
4. Load the arduino app and click file on the top menu then select sketchbook
like in the picture
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Click where it says arducopter at the end of the sub menus and you than have the megapirateng source code loaded in to arduino, set your com port and board type as Arduino Mega 2560  or Mega ADK and then click upload if you downloaded the file from the forum it is already edit to suit the AIOP and is set for a gps on serial 2 using the ublox protocol which automatically sets up any of the ublox gps modules that have no eeprom 

If you not going to use a gps then you need to set the gps protocol to none look in the picture at the <<<<<<<<<

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Click the upload button and if all goes well you will have the megapirate firmware on your board 

if your connecting a gps then connect vcc/vcc  gnd/gnd  rx/tx  tx/rx

hope this helps I will be creating a full manual

next step is the planner

[pheasant_plucker]

Cheers Gaz.

Gerry

[Gaza07]

Once you have installed the planner select the com port and 115200bps and click connect, you should see a dialog box appear with stuff loading as the planner reads the firmware from the controller, once your connected
The first step I recommend is to click the terminal button this will take you to the cli (commad line interface) you may have to hit return 3 times to get the prompt,
if it fails to connect to the terminal just re connect and try again it can be a little tempremental at times,

One in the terminal type setup then hit return, the prompt should now say setup, then type erase this will earase the storage area of the 2560 chip and make sure there isnt any data left in there that mat corrupt the megapirate settings, once this has completed then type reset and followthe propts to reset the flight controller, following these steps will make sure the chip has no corrupted data from any previous set ups which I have seen happen, heres a screen shot of the cli

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As can be seen the above command have been used in this capture except earse as this board has already been done 

[pheasant_plucker]

Firmware uploaded, Dead simple I just plugged the usb straight in to the bare board and followed Gary's steps. After the reset on the terminal I had to update the Planner before it would connect. Now to try the GPS, will that take power from the USB too?

Gerry

[Gaza07]

No your going to need the extended power connecting for that its fine to have that and the usb plugged in together 
It can take a while to get a fix for the first time and the cn-06 v1 doesnt like being indoors mine has never got a fix indoors except for the shed 

[pheasant_plucker]

OK no problem but I think I'll fasten everything down to a piece of ply, Battery, Board, GPS and usb cable to make it easier to move around without damaging the USB port. Do you have a connection diagram for the GPS, which serial port to use?

Gerry

[Gaza07]

yea good idea to support things the usb is very weak
for the gps use  AIOP / GPS  rx2 / tx     tx2 / rx   5v / 5v   Gnd / Gnd
its exactly the same as the multi wii uses 

[pheasant_plucker]

Cheers mate, sorry to be a pest. I thought I had read somewhere about using a specific serial port, thanks for confirming that.

Gerry

[Gaza07]

No worries at all Gerry wait untill you get to the weird way MPNG sets the modes of dear 
Its quite good that both firmwares use the same serial 2 port and also the same prop layout for quadx but the layout changes on other set ups 

Cheers mate, sorry to be a pest. I thought I had read somewhere about using a specific serial port, thanks for confirming that.

Gerry

[pheasant_plucker]

Clear now and thoughtfully the wire colours match on the boards. 

Gerry

[pheasant_plucker]

No your going to need the extended power connecting for that its fine to have that and the usb plugged in together 
It can take a while to get a fix for the first time and the cn-06 v1 doesnt like being indoors mine has never got a fix indoors except for the shed 

Does this have to be from the extended port or will powering by the ESC BEC do the same job. It seems a bit daft to use two regulators when powering the extended power via a UBEC. My preference would be to use one of the ESC's Becs with no extended power, will this work ok?

Gerry

[Gaza07]

No the esc bec doesnt power the whole board I think it puts power to the i2c port you could take the 5v volts from there, I havent got the jumper on mine and use the extended power and a ubec, it is a strange way to power things, I have see a picture where some one run a couple of wires under the board from the esc bec pins to the extended port and removed the jumper so the esc bec was powering every thing 

[pheasant_plucker]

Cheers, I have used the external power input to power the board. the reason I asked is that i did a boob and pluged the power plug in the wrong way round. This results in the magic smoke coming out of the 10uf tantalum smd and shorting it. I have now replaced it with a mini radial tant which fits with no issues and the board fires up ok.
Back to the gps, When it's connected and powered the green light comes on but the mission planner still says "No GPS" is this normal until a lock is obtained or should it detect the GPS serial stream?

Gerry

[Gaza07]

Look on the status screen its one of the tabs under the HUD look through and you should see gps status 1 which means a gps is present but no fix yet status 2 is a 2d fix and staus 3 is a 3d fix, once you get a fix you will see your position in the planner the green light on the gps is only power as fas as I know 

if you have a gps status 0 your gps isn't being detected

[pheasant_plucker]

GPS status is 0 in the status Gaz. Everything checks out correctly. Tx to RX and visa versa. External power is on and the jumper removed. Any ideas?

Gerry

[Gaza07]

There is a bug with the ublox gps modules some times they dont startup unless unplugged and then plugged in again give it a try 
mine has done that bit of a pain but no fix for it

[pheasant_plucker]

Do you mean while the AIO is powered up?

[Gaza07]

Sorry I mean unplug the power and re plug in 

My wii install has just done the same thing on first power up nothing no green flashing packet light, unplug and re power it light is now flashing no fix though well not yet 

[Gaza07]

Hi Gerry not heard back from you so im guessing you got a fix, I just flashed MPNG back on to my AIOP and it wasnt working untill I did the power thing,
the green staus light on the board is the gps led it flashed when its searching and should remain lit when there is a fix 

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[pheasant_plucker]

I didn't get chance to try it again until late on. Plugged in usb and external power then connected the planner. No GPS connection with solid light on GPS. cycled the power to the external port and still the same. Tried this several times. Any ideas where i'm going wrong?

Gerry

[Gaza07]

Just a thought but was the usb in when you cycled the power, give it another go but also unplug the usb then cycle the power, although this would indicate the bug is in the firmware and not the gps if it works 

[pheasant_plucker]

It's working now!
Just got in from work and decided to power up with the external supply first then plug in the USB and it's on. No fix indoors though, pity.

Gerry

[Gaza07]

Im afraid the little rctimer gps modules are a bit small and dont perform well in doors
Pleased to hear you have it working now, the green status light flashing then ?

[pheasant_plucker]

The one on the AIO labeled "C" is the one on the GPS is solid green.

Gerry

[Gaza07]

The one on the Gps is only a power indicator, the one on the AIOP is the Gps staus blinking is searching solid lit is Gps fix 

[pheasant_plucker]

Thanks, thought that was the case 

Gerry

[Gardo]

Hi guys!

I loaded the MegaPirateNG_2.7_R4_AIOP onto my Crius AIOP - works like a charm. Thanks!
One question though - Does this fw set the Crius Extend board GPS to 1 Hz update interval?

/Peter

[Gaza07]

Hi Gardo as far as I know it sets it to 5hz 

[Gardo]

Great, thanks