AntennaTracker: added documentation about compass calibration to AntennaTracker.txt

This commit is contained in:
Mike McCauley 2014-03-27 09:04:36 +10:00 committed by Andrew Tridgell
parent 2e3989f78d
commit 7116fdecde
1 changed files with 48 additions and 9 deletions

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@ -54,9 +54,9 @@ tracker hardware. The servos are moved until the yaw and pitch of the processor
(and therfore of the antenna itself) matches the bearing and elevation to the
tracked vehicle.
How does AntennaTracker know where it is?
How does AntennaTracker know where it is on the earth?
- If the tracker is equipped with a GPS and it has a good 3D fix, the most
- If the tracker is equipped with a GPS and it has had a good 3D fix, the most
recent good GPS fix is used.
- If the tracker is equipped with a GPS and it has lost its fix, the most
@ -72,7 +72,17 @@ Longitude, 0 Altitude are used (which is probably not very helpful)
How does AntennaTracker get GLOBAL_POSITION_INT messages from the tracked
vehicle?
<more here>
mavproxy, when it runs the tracker module, intercepts all GLOBAL_POSITION_INT
messages received from its master vehicle, and sends them to the tracker. It
knows how to connect to the tracker with the set port and set baudrate
commands, for example to connect by a USB-Serial radio, such as the 3DR Radio
on port /dev/ttyUSB0:
(after starting mavproxy)
module load tracker
tracker set port /dev/ttyUSB0
tracker set baudrate 57600
tracker start
Mounting
@ -127,13 +137,42 @@ available)
You can find the complete set of configuration items I used for my Flymaple
tracker mounted on an Eagle Tree tracker WHERE?????
Compass Calibration
AntennaTracker uses its internal magnetic compass to determine where North is
and therefore where to point for each bearing to the target vehicle. (On other
ardupilot vehicles, the yaw is also calibrated by the current GPS track. This
is not possible for AntennaTracker, so the compass is the only possible source
for absolute bearing)
The compass magnetometer is exquisitely sensitive to nearby magnetic fields from
wires, metal fittings, servos, radios etc. Therefore is it VITALLY ESSENTIAL that you
calibrate the compass. Further, it must be calibrated outdoors, while installed
in situ in the tracker, with all other equipment installed, fastened down and
ready to operate.
Failure to calibrate correctly will result in the tracker pointing in the
wrong direction, or the azimuth/yaw and elevation/pitch drifting.
Use Mission Planner to calibrate the tracker:
- Assemble the completed tracker, complete and ready to operate.
- Power up the tracker
- Connect to it with Mission Planner
- On Mission Planner->INITIAL SETUP->Compass, click on Live Calibration
- click on OK
- rotate the complete antenna tracker assembly around, in 3 dimensions, making sure to
rotate the tracker to every possible orientation in the 1 minute you have
available. DONT just move the yaw and pitch motors around. You will probably have to
pick the whole thing up.
- At the end of the minute, Mission Planner will update AntennaTrackers compass offsets.
Levelling
Since AntennaTracker uses its internal accelerometers to determine the current
elevation/pitch of the antenna, it is important to 'level' the AntennaTracker
before use so the accelerometers are calibrated. Failure to do this will
result in the antenna constantly pointing a bit high or a bit low compared to
the tracked vehicle.
Since AntennaTracker uses its internal accelerometers (amongst other things)
to determine the current elevation/pitch of the antenna, it is also important
to 'level' the AntennaTracker before use so the accelerometers are
calibrated. Failure to do this will result in the antenna constantly pointing
a bit high or a bit low compared to the tracked vehicle.
You can do this by connecting to the AntennaTracker with mavproxy and issuing
these commands:
@ -152,7 +191,7 @@ Operation
After powering up AntennaTracker, it may take up to 1 minute while it
automatially calibrates the compass before it points in the expected
direction.
direction. Moving the tracker around will speed up this process.
How to set the HOME location