ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

erskyTx runs on many radios and upgrade boards
ersky9x was a port of er9x for use on the sky9x board.
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SkyNorth
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ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by SkyNorth »

This is were to post any questions / issues with the Beta run of ERSKY9x.
Board ID
Board ID
Here is the Bare board for reference.
ERSKY9x_Rev_B1_Bare_PCB.pdf
Bare ERSKY Board
(409.51 KiB) Downloaded 981 times
Here is the Link to the Programming Software.
http://www.atmel.com/tools/ATMELSAM-BAI ... AMMER.aspx

Here is the Link to the Code
http://ersky9x.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ersky9x_rom.bin


-Brent
Last edited by SkyNorth on Fri Jun 15, 2012 12:06 am, edited 6 times in total.

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Re: Care and Feeding of Your ERSKY9x

Post by SkyNorth »

1: Download and install the SAM-BA program. You must also instal the USB drivers that come with it.

SAM-BA User Guide:
http://www.cs.jhu.edu/~cliang4/public/d ... rguide.pdf

2: Now that you have SAM-BA installed , you need to go the folder where it is installed. Now locate the tcl_lib folder , and save the ZIP in it.
NOTE: This a New Version ..Do not use the orginal I posted , it will cause a Error.
tcl_lib.zip
Ver 2
(9.96 KiB) Downloaded 857 times
3: unzip the file in the tcl-lib folder , it should rewrite the "boards.tcl" file , and create an new folder called at91sam3s4-9x
4: Now if you run the SAM-BA program you should see "at91sam3s4-9x" in the selection menu.

When you get the board:
1: The board can be programmed outside of the radio , with just a Micro USB cable and the SAM-BA software.
2: Before starting the SAM-BA program , insert the USB cable into the USB connector on the Board (the other end should be plugged into your computer)
If you have the USB driver software installed properly , you will get the USB connection sound from your computer.
3: Run the SAM-BA program , you should see a new COM port connection for the USB.
4: Now with the USB port selected , and the at91sam3s4-9x board selected , press the Connect button.
Note: Windows 7 could take up to a minute to display the Box ... be patient.
5: This will bring up the programming screen. It should show the at91sam3s4-9x Board
The middle area of the screen is what your interested in.
Sam-Ba.JPG
To Load a new version of the software , you enter the New file name in the "Send File Name" Box and click the "Send File" button
You should see the file upload in the dialog box at the bottom....it only take a couple of seconds to program.

After its done programming, it will come up with a Lock option. Select the "No" button ...programming is complete.

Sam-Ba_wr.JPG
6: If you did select the YES button and "LOCKED" the chip. To re-program the chip, you will need to short out the ERASE jumper . and power up the board
by plugging in the USB connection...you now can remove the jumper. The board is returned to its factory default values.
Because you have erased all of the chip , you need to tell the chip what to do at power up. There is a selection BOX labeled "Scripts" , select the "Boot from Flash (GPMVN1)" and click "Execute" . The chip will now run the program loaded in flash memory at power up.

7: After you are done programming , terminate the SAM - BA program. Then you can disconnect the Board.
The SAM-BA program only works the ONE time , You must EXIT it , and re-insert the USB , THEN run the SAM -BA program.

YOU Must follow this procedure if not, then you are going to have trouble with the SAM - BA program.

Battery Requirements:
The ERSKY board is a 3.3V design , it uses "low dropout" 1Amp regulators. It will run fine on any voltage input above 5V.
The Input voltage should also be kept below 10V. The regulator must get rid of the "voltage difference" through heat.
The regulator contains circuitry to protect itself from overheating. It does this by shutting off the output voltage....NOT GOOD
This being said a 3S Lipo is TO LARGE for this application .... a fully charged 3S Lipo is over 12 Volts !
The regulator would have over 10 Volts to dissipate as heat !

I included a 3 pin Battery connector shell , and some contacts , as well as a 2 pin shell for the LCD connector.
The Two pin RED female connector with yellow wires is for a 8 ohm Speaker. It connects to the Two pin male connector beside the RED
jumper wire.

The Red jumper wire hooks up the internal buzzer, there is a menu selection for speaker or buzzer.
Remember to turn up the volume in menu screen.

Connecting the Stock LCD.
The Stock LCD connects to the LCD connector at the top edge of the board.
This connector works differently then the one on the stock board.
The connector uses a Brown Latch to secure the cable.
The ribbon cable is inserted ON TOP of the Brown Lever into the slot. (you will still see some of the Gold contacts on the cable)
Press down on the Brown Lever Tabs on each side of cable. It should lock down the cable in place.
To unlock , Pull up gently on each tab , this will unlock and release the cable.
Stock 9x LCD Connection.JPG
Connecting The Optrex LCD
The Optrex LCD connects to the LCD connector that is set behind where the Stock LCD connects.
There is a little Brown level that you flip up with your finger nail it snaps open ...
You insert the Ribbon cable , and push down on the lever and it should lock in place.
Optrex Connection.JPG
J19 is a Battery output (to drive other things) it goes through the current sensor , so you can monitor its current draw.
Do NOT use this to supply power to the board.


Telemetry
The Telemetry connection from the FRSKY RF module , connects to COM1 serial port.
The connections can be accessed through the 2.5mm Stereo jack.
The tip of the jacK plug is the TXD
The Middle ring is the RXD
The Base ring is ground (GND)

You need to make a cross connection when connecting.
That is the TXD of the RF module goes to the RXD of the radio , and the TXD of the radio goes to
the RF Module.

Backlight
The LED Backlight Connector has a 200 Ohm surface mount resistor in series with the 5V supply.
There are two larger holes on each side of it. This has a 68 ohm resistor mounted on the key switch side of the board .
The boards are shipped , with both resistors installed.
This arrangement works with the Optrex LED backlight , but the The HK backlight , needs the 68 ohm resistor removed.
A small pair of cutters , can snip it off the board.

DIN / USB expansion cable:
Remove back of case:
Charger-Jack.JPG
Pull out the DC power connector.
Charger-Jack2.JPG
Clip the two wires. ( these two wires could be hooked up to the yellow / white wires on the DIN cable ,this would allow you to keep the charger connection.
Charger-Jack4.JPG
Remove the wires , or tape them to the back (allows future use if needed)
DIN connector sits in the old Charger Port hole. Fix it in place with some Hot Glue or epoxy
DIN-MOUNT2.JPG
DIN-MOUNT3.JPG
The 4 pin connector plugs into the connector directly BEHIND the USB port.
Make sure you plug it in as shown (it CAN be plugged in backwards) - you dont want to do this.
Acc_hook.JPG
The 3 pin connector (with white and yellow wires) can be used to bring the Telemetry serial port connections to the spare pins on the DIN jack.
Plug in as shown
The Encoder is also shown plugged into the Aux port.
ERSKY9x_CONNECTIONS1.JPG
Attachments
DIN-USB_Port.JPG
Last edited by SkyNorth on Sun Jun 17, 2012 8:26 pm, edited 29 times in total.
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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by cre8tiveleo »

Can we have links to the sam-ba firmware updater software.

Welcome Beta Rev B1. users. This is going to be a fun run!
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First Impressions of ersky9x

Post by PNaz »

I got my beta board from Brent on Monday evening. I followed some very large footprints over to the workshop. There was still a whiff of beer and BBQ in the air. The bare boards look like excellent quality and all that gold looks great. Too bad most of it will be covered by parts and solder. The finished boards look great as well. Brent showed me his shop and we discussed the fantastic potential of this board. I think I know why cre8tiveleo is so keen about this board. Hmm. Beer in one hand and BBQ food in the other doesn't leave any hands free for flying the model, but this board just may be able to accept a thought control headset input via the bluetooth module so the hands can be used for other things. The headset may need lots of filtering on the inputs from the looks of the posts around here LOL.

Issues

Brent had loaded the 13 march firmware on the board and had it running in his transmitter when I arrived. It was hooked up to his Optrex LCD and looked great. When I installed it in my transmitter with the regular screen I got a slightly screwed up display. The last five vertical lines on the right side of the screen have random pixels and it looks like the whole display is dispaced to the left by the five pixels
P1040112.jpg
I tried a good display from another transmitter and same problem. I checked the area around the connection and couldn't find any solder bridges or unsoldered connections.

On startup the throttle stick is checked for the idle position but the switches are not checked for correct position. This is probably not coded yet.

Can we get a list at the start of this topic of what should be working so far and then we can assume everything else is not working?

The inactivity alarm counts down to 0 ok but cannot be reset with control stick movement. The only way to shut off the warning is turn the transmitter off.

I tried to load the latest firmware (18 March) with SAM-BA but couldn't get it to work (connection error).see my post in the ERSKY9X Coding topic. Brent had already flashed the previous version into the board so I have to assume it's a software problem on my computer.

I cut some holes in the bottom of the case for the USB port, headphone jack, and com ports. While I was doing that I inserted a micro SD card and cut a hole for that as well. The SD card is going to be a problem because it can be inserted but it is so far in the case that you cannot get it out without some very fine tweezers or make a very large hole. The other connections are not too bad because they will always stick out of the case. Just be sure to make the whole large enough to ensure a complete connection.

Brent suggested the screw hole in the top right of the board was off center on the mount and may need to be enlarged. I found that to be true with my case. I had to remove about 2 mm on the left side of the hole to get the screw in.

No other problems so far but I haven't tried a module in it yet to see if I can actually transmit something to a servo.

Paul
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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by MikeB »

I have updated the code several time since March 13, a number of the issues you raise have been fixed. The display problem is due to a slight difference between the Optrex display and the stock display. They need different code to drive them. Since march 13, I have added a menu option to select the display type, previously it was a differently compiled version.
Check my reply in the other topic.

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ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by Rob Thomson »

Can't wait for my board to arrive :)


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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by SkyNorth »

Your LCD is ok . the new software has a option screen to select the LCD type.

You need to get the SAM BA program and USB drivers installed... I will write up procedure on this , now that I have most of the Betas shipped (not ALL)

The board will run stand alone with a usb connection and the LCD connected , outside of the radio to program and test operation.

A small piece of tape attached to the SD card would allow you remove it through the slot.

-Brent
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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by MikeB »

Just found the reason for the switch warning not working. Some of the buttons share the LCD data lines, so after sending data to the LCD, the lines have to be turned round to inputs, with pullup resistors, to be able to read the switches. In the switch routine the LCD was updated immediately before checking the buttons and the pullups did not have time get the lines high, so it seemed one, or more, buttons had been pressed. I've made the LCD routine drive the lines high before turning them round. This makes sure 'off' buttons are read as off.

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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by Reacher10 »

My board hasn't arrived yet however I installed Samba 2.11. Which chip do I need to select, there's allot to chose from?
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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by SkyNorth »

select "at91sam3s4-ek" This will let you program the board , but not allow you to access the EEprom applet that Mike wrote.

There is a small modification needed so that the ERSKY board comes up on the programmer ...I posted it in the other thread for PNAZ to try.

I'm working on a care and feeding guide for the board...as they will start arriving next week...and they will be hungry for new code after their long trip !

-Brent
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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by cre8tiveleo »

mmm.. feed them bbq.

I busted one lcd display, hunting for a new one (I have four lying around somewhere... ) ack. Clumsy fingers.
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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by PNaz »

All of the issues I mentioned above have been fixed with the latest revision.

Paul
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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by MikeB »

Welcome to the world of erSKY9x. Be prepared for significant changes, the software is still under development. We may well make major changes to the EEPROM structure in these early days, and we don't have eepe to save and migrate models. This is an area that needs addressing if any programmers out there are interested.

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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by PNaz »

I just got back from flying my ersky9x transmitter. I used a FrSky DHT-U transmitter module with a FrSky VD5M receiver. Proto was set at PPM 6CH 250uSec. PPM FrLen was set at 18.5mSec. The hardware worked perfectly.

I found a couple of issues with the timers. I had timer 1 set up for 7:00 minutes with trigger A set for Th% and trigger B blank. timer 2 was off. That worked fine until I landed to adjust the control throws. Changing the control throws worked ok but I also changed timer 1 to have trigger B set for THR and timer 2 set to 0:00 with trigger A at ABS. I lost use of the timers on the main screen. I also found that if you scroll the selection for the triggers too far then you get Alert Press any key to continue at 3 characters at a time. Turning the transmitter off and back on got the timers back.

I took 2 models to the field. A Durafly Slick 360 and a Durafly Edge 540. They have identical control layouts but slightly different wing and fuselage so I programmed the Slick and then tried to copy it to the model 2 slot in case the Edge had slightly different trim settings. I could not copy the model even thought I got the copy menu selection.

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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by MikeB »

I haven't completed the model copy operation, only got the new file system running a few days ago. I'll look into adding model copy when I get a moment.
I'll check the timers, I just set the same as you have, I didn't lose the timers, I did notice that TH% seemed to work like THs, I'll check it out, and the scroll bit as well.

I think I've got the FrSky version running in general, it will be on the next commit. It's permanent at the moment, but I intend to put in a menu option to enable it. We should be able to do the same with the NMEA and Ardupilot versions, have all the code, just select which you want. Thinking . . . . they could be model specific perhaps. . . so much to sort out!!

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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by PNaz »

I just tried my transmitter here at home and had no problem with the timers except for the scrolling issue. Maybe the transmitter didn't like being used at 0 degrees C.The scrolling is only screwed up on trigger A of both timers. Trigger B goes through all of the switch selections.

Paul
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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by MikeB »

I've got a fix for the scroll problem, it should have listed c1% through c16% for the channel outputs to be used like TH%. This is partly what Beta testing is all about. We are testing the hardware, and writing the software at the same time. It will be a while before the software catches up with er9x, and then improves on it.

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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by MikeB »

Latest sources committed, new download in the download area.

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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by PNaz »

Hi Mike

I just downloaded the latest source and have a big problem. The transmitter looks like it is resetting itself every 20 seconds or so. It beeps, goes to the splash screen and then to the initial start screen. I can leave it on one screen or scroll through the screens and it always does the same. I tried re-flashing with no fix. It's definitely re-setting because I moved the throttle up and set the rudder d/r switch on and got the switch and throttle position warning.

My son Mike was on the technical support team for the beta testers at Research in Motion (Blackberry) so I am quite aware that new hardware and software are works in progress and I should expect a lot of surprises. He was also an alpha tester.

You and Brent have put a lot of work into this. Thank you both very much.

Paul
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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by MikeB »

I just enabled the watchdog, it was tripping every 17 seconds. I thought I had tested it OK.
Fixed source and .bin download already up.

Mike.

Edit: At least we know the watchdog works, we probably need to reduce the time, if the program crashes, we need to get it rebooted and running sooner than 17 seconds!
I think I'll go for 1 second, any comments? The watchdog is NOT enabled on startup if the USB power is active to ensure the USB does not get reset. My Tx was still OK after 6+ minutes.
The watchdog only gets triggered if both setUpPulses() and the 10mS timer are both running.
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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by PNaz »

It's still rebooting the same with new source on my transmitter. I downloaded and flashed the new .bin twice to make sure I got the update. You have the alpha board and at91sam3s2 and I have the beta and 3s4. Could that be the difference why yours runs for 6+ minutes?

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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by MikeB »

The .bin you need is "ersky9x_rom_frsky.bin", just checking this is the one you are loading. I actually have a beta board, but still with a "3s2". I'll check what is happening when I get a moment.

Mike.

Just downloaded the .bin, it loads and runs fine, no resets. Not sure why you have a problem.
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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by SkyNorth »

I tried it on a Rev B board , no problems.

-Brent
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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by PNaz »

I erased the old file on my computer and downloaded the new FrSky version for the third time and flashed it. Everything is working fine now. I will go out now and try flying with it. I don't know what happened as I renamed the first FrSky file and then renamed the updated file tio a different name when I saved it. I still have the original version on the disk and it definitely reboots. The latest version was not renamed this time and works fine. All I can think happened is I thought I was loading the newest file and was actually loading the earlier one.

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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by SkyNorth »

The watchdog is timing out on the ALERT screen
-Brent
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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by PNaz »

I Flew today with the latest telemetry version and all went well so I came home and installed my FrSky DJT transmitter module, made a cable, connected it to to the Com 1 port and telemetry worked great. I haven't installed my FrSky hub yet, so I was only able to read A1 battery voltage, TX and RX signal levels, and the A2 temperature probe on a FrSky D6FR receiver. I did a range check and the receiver signal warning worked correctly.

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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by MikeB »

I'll sort the Alert watchdog problem, it was reset in there, but needed setUpPulses() running which isn't during alerts, easy fix.

PNaz: You're ahead of me there, I only just finished the telemetry additions, and tested them by cabling from the DJT module in another Tx. My test Tx for ersky9x has a non-telemetry hack module in it so I can't test fly the telemetry yet!
Useful feedback though.

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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by MikeB »

The alert watchdog problem is now fixed. I'm also sorting the stamp (appears on the version menu) so it properly reports the svn revision number.
I took the opportunity to slim the program a little bit. Sources committed, and a new .bin available.
When we are happy the watchdog is OK, I'll reduce the timeout to around 1 second. I can also tell the watchdog has caused the reset, so I think if I detect that has happened, I'll skip the splash screen and all the alerts to get back running as quickly as possible.

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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by PNaz »

I just entered the settings for my 450 Heli. Sure glad the throttle safety switch works. I assume the heli functions are not programmed yet.

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Re: ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Post by MikeB »

I thought the heli functions were in, just copies of the er9x functionality. Is there something not working?
I don't have any helis, so I need the input for testing and checking.

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