CRIUS AIOP IO Addon Board.

[robshaw]

Just ordered one of these from rctimer. Can';t find anything on the net about them.
Just a description and a schematic on the rctimer web site.
Appears to be able to plug into the 2x 8 way molex connections and offer a more user friendly way of hooking your devices up.
Also has a Darlington array for driving LEDs. Costs next to nothing and as I have 3 crius boards lying around doing nothing I thought why not have a play.

Will be good for experimenting without having to worry about those pesky molex plugs.

http://www.rctimer.com/download/AIOPIO_Board.pdf

[cgcrute]

That';s exactly what it is, mine arrived yesterday. No more cludged connectors or 3rd party leads that only enable 2/3 of the ports!

I';ll probably still use neater cabling but it';s very useful given the way everything seems to come with the wrong connector!

If you work out what/ how to use its other features I';d be interested!

[Lars]

I am also interested in all of the properties on this board.

[cgcrute]

Lars,

I didn';t really get very far, I wanted to use it to control LEDs but the ones I had were 12v and the power for this board is 5v according to the diagram, I didn';t want to fry my FC by putting 12v through it so removed it until I have more time to play with it. I may just desolder the chip and make my own LED controller.

I also couldn';t get the GPS to work when connected to it. Shame, it looked such an elegant solution.

[robshaw]

I still havent got around to having a play with it. Im hoping to use it for LED control too. But will be connecting leds through a darlington array to deal with the voltage issue. But I guess if theres an issue with the gps connection then I wont be getting that far.....
Been busy with home inprovements for last few weeks. Hopefully back to tinkering with my multis next week. :-)

[Carlthepilot]

Hey guys, new to the forums but saw this thread and had to register and comment.
I got this add on board last week and noticed the 2 of the solder jumpers are mislabeled on the schematic.
SJ4 and SJ5 are around the wrong way.
SJ4 is for 5v and SJ5 is for tx1 to frsky telemetry not the other way as in the schematic.

Cgcrute, how did you have the board powered to power the gps? Did the gps have power to it?

What I think I found with the multimeter is all GND pins are common across the board but all 5v pins are common to the 5v EXTERNAL INPUT. To power the board (and gps/3dr etc) from the crius you have to solder SJ4. NOT SJ5.

Hope this helps and please correct if wrong

[Carlthepilot]

Another update for anyone interested.

I have GPS and LEDS(5v) working through this board but the FrSky telemetry port is useless.
Could be just the board I got but the resistor/transistor array is not scaling the signal low enough. The output on the signal pin to hook to input of the receiver is up over 3v+.

If I connect the circuit I built per guides to S1 TX the output starts at around 0.50(ish)v and hits around 3v.

I know a bit about electronics but other than packaging type I don';t know how the MMBT3904LT1G SMD transistor on the board compares to a BC377 when it comes to function.

[robshaw]

Thats good info mate cheers. Cant help you with frsky stuff im afraid tho.
Apart from the jumper mix up& was the LED control as straight forward as it is on APM?

[Carlthepilot]

I don';t have any experience with APM but all I did was enable them in the MPNG sketch (AMP_Config.h and config.h) before I compiled/uploaded. Set 115 in MP (AdvParameter List LED_MODE) as I don';t have buzzer sorted yet. Wired them up and off they went. 1 cluster of 3 red for arm/disarm and another cluster of 3 green for GPS.
Seemed pretty easy.

Looked pretty  too before I pulled it all apart to try and sort the telemetry.

And on that note I am going (try) to replace the transistor that';s on the board with a BC817 SMD. Which I believe is closer equivalent to a BC337 TO-92 than what';s there now.

[robshaw]

Same as APM then. What version firmware have you got uploaded to your crius? Im gonna have a play this evening.

[Carlthepilot]

I';m only on 2.8_R3 for now. That';s what I had already downloaded.

Not running telemetry for flight battery info on your Turnigy 9XR?

[robshaw]

No. Didnt know i could..... I use the power module for voltage and current on my tbs disco and APM through my goggles. I would imagine I would need more hardware for my crius controlled hex??

[robshaw]

Your right with the SJ4 and SJ5 mix up.  Bridged SJ4 and GPS working ok.  Now for the LED control.....

[cgcrute]

Cgcrute, how did you have the board powered to power the gps? Did the gps have power to it?

5v feed from the bec that also powers the AIOP.

[Carlthepilot]

5v feed from the bec that also powers the AIOP.

Ok cool. Just to check but did you notice the labeling near the edge of the board is for the solder pads not the pins on the side?
So S2 is actually the top pin headers not bottom. Which is why I couldn';t get it going to start with too. .

[Carlthepilot]

No. Didnt know i could..... I use the power module for voltage and current on my tbs disco and APM through my goggles. I would imagine I would need more hardware for my crius controlled hex??

I wouldn';t bother if you already have it and are happy with it through your OSD. I';m only having the tx/rx telemetry because I don';t have goggles yet and won';t always be flying fpv styles when I get them but still want the battery info at least.

And hardware depends on what tx module and rx you';re using now. AFAIK telemetry like this is only supported with FrSky

[Carlthepilot]

Ok so I replaced the original transistor, MMBT3904LT1G, with a BC817-25(10 for a whole $1.95 at jaycar) as highlighted in the picture below.


Plugged it back into my Crius, checked the voltage between SIG and GND on right 3 headers. Looked good so into the Rx port it went.

Boom. All telemetry data on my FLD-02.

I don';t know why they are selling this board saying it can do Frsky telemetry by just soldering a couple of pads together(ignoring the schematic and finding the correct 1!)
because it can';t without other modification.

Robshaw, how ya get on with LEDs through it?

[robshaw]

Hey matey. Cheers for the info. I didnt do too well with LEDs last night.
In fact I failed miserably. Tried to make the changes you mentioned to config.h in version 3.0.1 mpng before compiling. All uploaded ok then changed the LED_copter in mission planner as I did when I set it up on my APM and got nothing. No lights at all. I am driving the outputs from the io board through a darlington array so I can drive my 12v strips but I know what im doing with this part of it as have done it several times before. I think I may be going wrong with the sketch changes. Any chance you could point me in the right direction please mate. Aldo what pins did you use for your outputs? I have tried 1 to 7 but I am guessing its meant to be 5 6 and 7.....

[robshaw]

Ps Im gonna give the telemetry mod a go which you mentioned as I dont plan on using my goggles etc with this hex im building with the crius.

[Carlthepilot]

 

Ok, I';ll have a look at 3.0.1 and let you know what I find. Are you using R1 or R2?

Now to pins on the board.
To use A1 A2 and A3 through the onboard ULN2003 the SJ1-3 pads must be soldered. Have you soldered any of these? If not only A4-A7 are going through and will give an output on the headers.

Because I will be using an Attopilot-style V/I sensor which needs to connect to A0, which goes straight to the header pins, and A1, I DID NOT solder SJ1 to connect A1 from the Crius to the darlington array but It goes straight to the header pins too.

I only have 2 sets/strips running so using the default A5 and A6(no change in config.h).

I can';t for the life of me see a "LED_copter " field under the Full Param. list in the MP I';m using(1.2.83 build 1.1.5036.12264).
Did you mean LED_MODE?

By your description you have Crius --> Darlington Array on addon board --> your darlington array. Could you do a circuit diagram?
I ask because the array on the addon board connects the LED1-7 headers to GND ie. not putting a signal OUT to trigger your array just connecting your IN pins to GND.
Therefore no light from LEDs.....

[Carlthepilot]

PS I';m still researching but thus far I can';t think of/find a reason why we can';t run LOWish mA 12v LEDs through this board.
Now I have mine working I might tinker....

[robshaw]

Thanks for your reply.  Im using R2.

I think with 3.0.1 there are some quite big differences with the LED code.

Theres nothing in APM_Configh to do with LEDs.  and config.h looks like this.....



Looks like the pin numbers are all wrong to me.  I tried changing them to A1 - A7 but that created errors when compiling because they hadnt been defined.....

I changed COPTER_LEDS DISABLED to ENABLED (obviously, although my screen shot doesnt show it)

I have linked out SJ2 and SJ3.  I only plan on using the 2 strips like you and a buzzer (which Ill tackle once I get LEDs working)

Sorry I meant LED_MODE, LED_copter (ooops) This is set to 115.

Yes I have a darlington array connected to IO board. My neutral/GND on the array is the UBEC neutral. So I cant use the output to trigger my external array?? Does that mean I have no way of driving my 12v LED';s? Either way I cant see any output on my voltage tester from the io board.

Thanks again mate.

[robshaw]

Ok, I seem to have got it working. See image below for the changes I made. Just need to work what Im outputing on what pin. Ha.



Like you said Carl, I didnt need to second darlington array.  I am just driving the GND';s of the 12v LED strips straight from the IO board';s darlington. I have a flashing signal on pins 5, 6 and 7. I know 2 of those will be ARM and GPS. What is the 3rd?

Thanks

Rob

[sevet]

Anyone managed to get the peizo buzzer working on 3.0.1? didn';t work on 3.0.1-r2, r3b, 3.1-r1.......

[robshaw]

Im just onto that now. Have set it to pin AN5. Just wiring my rx up so I can arm it.

[Carlthepilot]

Awesome!! Glad you got it working.

Your screen caps. are too blurry to read even when I click on them. I can';t see the code clear enough to see what changes you made. Can you upload again at a higher res.?

And it sounds like you';ve confirmed what I suspected. As long as its ONLY a common GND between the 5v circuit for GPS etc and a higher voltage(say 12v) for LEDs, keeping the supply (or +ve';s) of each "circuit" separate, should mean we can run both through it at the same time. So you have 12v LEDs blinking?

I just D/L';d 3.0.1 R2 and started looking though it. Hmm different indeed. At least what I';ve seen so far.(Which isn';t much. Lol)

[Carlthepilot]

Im just onto that now. Have set it to pin AN5. Just wiring my rx up so I can arm it.

Can I ask which physical pin on the Crius did you assign AN5 to?

[robshaw]

Any better.....

[robshaw]

Grrrr.  Not having fun with this anymore.  Cant get this version to recognise any input from rx.  On the radio calibration page all the bars are blank.  No PWM values.  Just tried another crius board and same thing.  Uploaded a 2.8 hex I already had and it worked so its definately the 3.0.1 thats the problem.

Ive not done much compiling of my own sketches before.  Have always got hex ready done.  Is there other stuff I need to do before compile??

[Carlthepilot]

Yea good enough. Ignore my question before re. AN5. I';m still learning the differences in code between 2.8 and 3.0.1.

Did you change SERIAL_PPM to disabled to have individual PWM inputs for each channel?

http://www.megapirateng.com/how-to-configure-mpng-3-0-1-firmware/

Quote from Number 3) By default, Serial PPM on A8 pin selected