ERSKY9x Rev. B1 User Area

Reacher10 · Post by **Reacher10** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 3:47 pm

Thats the one I DL'd...I'll tripple check it. BRB

Just DL'd it again and checked it and it has no reference to the 3s4 board.

I'll be back on in while...need to go to the LHS.

Here's the ZIP.

tcl_lib.zip: (9.96 KiB) Downloaded 234 times

Here's the TCL file thats in it.

at91sam3s4-9x.tcl.txt: (6.81 KiB) Downloaded 320 times

Post by **ShowMaster** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 4:09 pm

I just installed the latest update, r51 with the haptic option added and reconnected my haptic device. The motor no longer runs so I know it’s all talking to the update. I see the haptic options in the radio menu. My questions,
It there a way to force the haptic feature to work without using a receiver and spoofing the alarm values?
In er9x the TX battery low voltage alarm could be set to follow the various alarm audio options as well as the haptic vibration being linked to that alarm. I realize this is not driven the same way but having the box shake a lot when the tx battery was getting close or at the selected cutoff is a great feature at a noisy field. If it’s there I just need directions, if not and other agree, and it’s doable, I’d like to request it as a future option since mike has so much free time, ha.
SM

Post by **MikeB** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 4:30 pm

SM: I think it may well be working already, the haptic should be a function of the audio for the TX battery low, the code is a copy of er9x. Try setting your battery alarm voltage higher than the actual voltage. It may, of course, need debugging.
You might also try turning 'FrSky internal alarm' ON, then when you step through the settings (e.g. ROBOT, SCIFI) the give you a sample sound, at the end of the list are one or two haptic options so you may find these give you a test method. I don't have a haptic fitted so I would need to 'scope the output to test.

OK, there isn't a problem with saving models, I must have had a problem in the past, and my EEPROM was confused.

I've fixed a minor bug (timer2 time setting), and I've added the .bin file to the repository, in the trunk (not in the downloads section), and a link to it on the front page. There can be problems downloading such binary files, they have been truncated in the past, but the link on the front page should get the file correctly.
Bertrand: This might help Companion finding the 'latest' binary, let me know if I can improve on this.

Mike.

SkyNorth · Post by **SkyNorth** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 4:46 pm

Reacher..
The zip file creates the proper directory , and Boards.TCL entry.

Dont worry about whats in it , Thats the only " TCL" file we have for the chip , It was copied and renamed so that the programmer would run.

Mike has said he is working on a new one.

The proper board name needs to be used from the list
DO NOT use the at91sam3s4-EK , this was just to get you started.
You need the one that says at91sam3s4-9X
This will point the programmer to the proper directory.

Post by **bertrand35** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 4:55 pm

Mike, excellent idea, leave it with me, you are already busy with so many things!

Bertrand.

PS: By the way you are commiter now. It will be useful for next EEPROM modifications. Have a look in ersky9xeeprom.*, ersky9xinterface.* , you will easily understand.

Post by **Rob Thomson** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 5:11 pm

Simplest way to force the haptic to run is to scroll through the sound options on the radio setup page.

Now...

Not sure if this is a bug. I dont normally fly power so it may be me being an idiot.

I setup what I thought was a throttle cut. Throttle on Channel 1, with the switch set as throttle. The idea being that the throttle would not work if the switch was not in the correct direction.

Quick flight today and discovered the switch would actually reverse the action of the throttle!

So... throttle was down. toggle switch.. instant full throttle.

Any thoughts?

Rob

pmackenzie · Post by **pmackenzie** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 5:32 pm

Wrong sign for the mix weight?

should be something like

ch3 100% THR
R -100% HALF Switch(THR) (Full also will work in this case)

Post by **Rob Thomson** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 5:38 pm

Will check - most likely me being an idiot. Never do that sort of mix when you fly gliders

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Post by **ShowMaster** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 6:06 pm

Haptic fixed!
Sorry for the Alarm" that it wasn't working. I forgot to go to the radio setup screen #2 and turn the haptic strength value up from 0 to 5. I'm good, it's good.
Another question for later. with all the ram and cpu headroom is there a max model memory greater than the 16 we're used to or will that be part of the Micro SD's purpose? I'm just asking because others at the field ask me and I don't know.
SM

Post by **ShowMaster** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 6:23 pm

Ok another haptic question(s).
What is the max safe current that can be drawn? I never gave it much thought but I know the transistor and 3.3v regulator will have to supply the current. I see a resistor in circuit that may limit the max current but what about taxing the 3.3 volt regulator? I hate to have the tx be taxed while my case vibrates. Is it possible to use another source for the voltage and still use the transistor control without damaging it or the cpu? again all this is just gathering up data for mins and safe max currents and voltages. Since we're not using a recommended haptic device the numbers can be all over the place as users get on board. Maybe worth looking at since I'd hate to do SMD repair on such a nice board right off.
Again posted for discussion if anyone has explored this already.
OK I see the limiting resistor is 10 ohms and that limits the current max at 3.3v to 330Ma. Is that within safe limits for the power of the 10 ohm SMD as I'm new to them? Is 330Ma hard on the 3.3v regulator if it's drawn? I'm using two 1/4 x 1/8 inch haptic devices, one in each hand grip in the case. One draws 150Ma and on my er9x I use them in parallel (300Ma to really shake things up if needed. They are using the 5v buss. In the ersky9x build wired them in series to drop back to 150 Ma but they seem a little sluggish to start with the shorter haptic alarm options, better at a setting of 5 on the level menu.
Again, just fact finding and reporting what I'm doing. I'd like to use them in parallel if I'm safe to do so?
SM

Post by **MikeB** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 6:32 pm

The max current probably depends on the battery supply voltage, the higher the voltage, the hotter the regulator will get while driving the current.
Alternative supplies:
J19 is Aux Power, this is the soft switch battery supply.
J25 is the output of the 5 volt regulator, also used to power the LED backlight.
either could be used, as long as the haptic motor can handle the higher voltage.

I'll be getting the current measurement calibrated soon, with an actual calibration option. I'll look into adding a 'max current' value so you can see what the haptic or sound peaked at.

Mike.

SkyNorth · Post by **SkyNorth** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 6:54 pm

SM - each model uses 4K of EEPROM storage , we have a 4Mb EEPROM ,
So there would be room for about 1000 models ...will this be enough?

The Haptic drive transistor switches to ground , so its possible to use Pin 1 on the Haptic connector and Pin1 on J25, +5V terminal beside the 5V regulator.
Or pin 1 on J19 Aux Battery output , to power the motor and bypass the 3.3V regulator.

-Brent

SkyNorth · Post by **SkyNorth** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 6:56 pm

Mike - Could there be alarms for max current draw? and max CPU temp?

Post by **bertrand35** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 6:58 pm

Companion9x version 0.53 should now be able to read / write ersky9x EEPROMs !
I have removed "available size" displayed, the number was too big

Bertrand.

Post by **MikeB** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:10 pm

Its 4Mbit = 512kbyte. Currently we use 8k for each model so we can save a new version BEFORE erasing the original stored data. This would allow 63 models, we need somewhere to store the radio setup as well. This could be re-written to provide more models if needed!

SkyNorth: Yes we can add those alarms.

Mike.

Hexperience · Post by **Hexperience** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:35 pm

MikeB wrote:
This would allow 63 models
Mike.

How about 16 or 24 models, but with "undo" function? That's a lot of work, but I know I've made changes to a model only to wish I hadn't.

Also, we will have the ability to save models to flash card at some point in the future right? So 63 models internal is... well, a lot. More than I would ever need. (My wife told me I have to stop at 62

)

Post by **Rob Thomson** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:45 pm

I think we need to re-think the menu structure slightly.

Seems to me that things are not really in the correct places.

For example: contrast, brightness, backlight options are all split over two screens. Yes... Easy to find, but still a little disjointed.

I think a re-grouping of these into more logical sections may make sense.

I can do this easily enough if no-one has any objections?

Rob

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

pmackenzie · Post by **pmackenzie** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:47 pm

Sounds like a single step undo might be possible, since there is 8K set aside per model, but only 4K used?
Or perhaps a "don't save this model (yet)" option if you don't like the changes you made?

Pat MacKenzie

pmackenzie · Post by **pmackenzie** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:50 pm

I was thinking that perhaps the "flipping through the pages" menu structure could be improved by going to a table of contents style.

Post by **ShowMaster** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:54 pm

Ok on all my answered questions. Now we all know more, thanks. Yes as far as the tx battery voltage used and the disapated heat due to regulating higher battery voltage. Same for the max current draw. I figured out up front that if another voltage source was used for the haptic device more current could be drawn but wanted a second opinion by those that designed all this. Some safe value that is tied to the battery voltage used if the haptic connector is used maybe is a good idea. Anything outside that level would require using a differant voltage source on the board or an external regulator by it's self. I may want a strobe light in the future to wake me up on long flights and no stick movement for 10 minutes.
SM

Post by **MikeB** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 8:09 pm

Bertrand: I've loaded companio9x 0.53, it downloaded the EEPROM ok, just took a long time (on Win 7) for SAM-BA to run (10 secs or more). I did find this workaround:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=545&start=240#p7926
Would it be possible to add killing off the tasklist task? SAM-BA loads sooo much quicker if it goes!

Rob: I agree, I started the second setup menu as I felt the first was getting too long anyway. Feel free to re-arrange them. For information, the third setup screen is debug for me to keep an eye on the file system, it will not be needed soon.

Pat: Interesting, but may not work. When a change is done to a model value, an EEPROM write is scheduled. This happens 5 seconds later, unless you change something else, when the 5 seconds starts again. When the 5 seconds has passed the EEPROM is updated, so if you do a change, wait 5 seconds, then do another change, you won't be able to undo the first change. Thinking about this, maybe the 5 seconds could be longer (much longer)? When you switch off, any pending writes take place as we have the soft power off option, so we keep the power running until the writes have finished. The only other time we have to do a write early is when you want to load a new model, then we make sure any pending writes complete before we read the new model in. At present, I do erase the previous copy as soon as I finish writing the new copy, but, as I check the block is erased before I write it, this could easily be removed. Anyone else any comments on this?

A 'table of contents' menu would make it easier to configure the menus to leave out those you didn't want e.g. FrSky telemetry, if a particular model doesn't have it.

SM: The current that is measured is the total current from the battery. Where it goes is not known. Some to the Tx module, the rest to the 5V and 3.3V regulators and the Aux power pins.

Mike.

SkyNorth · Post by **SkyNorth** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 8:11 pm

Opps ...Bits not bytes.

Here you SM...I drew you a picture...3 ways to power..

: Haptic Power Supply Mod

The 3rd way:
If you remove R63 , then Pin 2 of the Haptic socket is not connected to any power , but still has
the reverse protection diode attached. So all you have to do is run a jumper wire between the 5V output
and pin 2 on j24.

-Brent

Post by **MikeB** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 8:23 pm

I think this is the correct setup for the '3s4 processor, it seems to work for me. We were only using part of the flash and ram before, I will change the build to use the 's34 fully as well.

tcl_lib.zip: (10.03 KiB) Downloaded 182 times

Mike.

pmackenzie · Post by **pmackenzie** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:01 pm

What I was thinking was that you could set something so that changes were not stored, but just kept in RAM.
Then if you like it you go back and turn the setting off.

Another option would be to set aside one or more slots for model back up and provide a save/restore function.

However all you really need to do is make a copy of your model and make the changes there.
Only problem would be model match in DSM2 mode, since that goes by model slot, but that could be solved with some sort of override for model match numbers.

Post by **MikeB** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:23 pm

We have a receiver number option in for PXX, maybe that idea could be used for DSM model match, what range can the DSM model match number take?

Mike.

Post by **cre8tiveleo** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:36 pm

pmackenzie wrote:Sounds like a single step undo might be possible, since there is 8K set aside per model, but only 4K used?
Or perhaps a "don't save this model (yet)" option if you don't like the changes you made?

Pat MacKenzie

I always copy the model before I do major changes, so I would have Corsair 001 and Corasir , coarsair 001 is the backup of the original before i do the mods to the settings, if I like them, then I delete the backup. problem solved.

pmackenzie · Post by **pmackenzie** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:37 pm

Good question!
Model match uses one byte, so 0-255 would be the limit. I would have to do some testing to make sure it is using all the bits.
I think for safety the number should default to the model slot number and deliberate action be taken to override that.

Post by **MikeB** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:49 pm

On er9x, PXX reuses the number of channels parameter to store the model number, we can easily provide a new location to store this on ersky9x. So, if you create a new model, then this value needs to default to the slot number, but have the menu option available to set it to something different, and prevent you setting it to a value that corresponds to an occupied model slot. Maybe we should check it is a value not in use by ANY model in the EEPROM?

Mike.

pmackenzie · Post by **pmackenzie** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:57 pm

If you wanted to duplicate an existing model and not have to rebind then you would need to be able to set it to a number that was already in use.
Perhaps just a warning that the number you have chosen is used by another model would do?

The routine to change the number could even ask you to chose another number to copy based on the existing models, since that is the most likely reason for wanting to override the default.
Or the model copy routine, if it notices that you are using DSM2 or Pxx, could ask you if you want a new default model match number, or use the existing one.

Pat

Post by **ShowMaster** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 10:15 pm

Re 3 ways to power picture,
I'm adding this to my notebook. Thanks
SM

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