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OpenTX 2.1: A Basic Telemetry Tutorial for a Naze with Cleanflight

Started by quadfather, Sunday,August 09, 2015, 18:30:51

Previous topic - Next topic

quadfather

If you have a Taranis or you';re using OpenTX then you may have heard of the recent OpenTX 2.1 release.  For any examples given below I';m using the latest version, which is v2.1.1 at time of writing.

The telemetry aspect of OpenTX 2.1 was redesigned from the ground up.  Unfortunately, this meant that any telemetry setups for v2.0.x models can';t be converted to v2.1.  While model conversion now works properly in v2.1.1 (there was a bug in v2.1 where trims were lost) anything related to telemetry will have to be set up from scratch.  These changes are also affecting Lua scripts and the SD card folder structure for scripts.  I';d go out on a limb and say that most people don';t use Lua so these changes don';t affect them, and it';s also beyond the scope of this tutorial.

For an OpenTX 2.1 telemetry preview have a look at this thread: http://openrcforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=6887

I';m going to give an example for setting up telemetry in OpenTX v2.1.1 with an AcroNaze running Cleanflight and a D4R-II receiver.  It';s assuming a basic setup, with no other sensors.  However, any additional sensors will be just as easy to set up, for example current sensor, compass, GPS, baro, etc.  Consider a sensor any device that sends telemetry data.

The beauty of this new system is that it configures most of the telemetry for you.  It auto detects sensors from the telemetry stream and populates the model with all sensors it was able to identify.  If you add more sensors to your aircraft later, they will be picked up automatically.

Consider this new model I just created on the Taranis.  I bound the D4R-II and set up a flight mode switch, SC, and nothing else.  The RX is connected to the telemetry pins on the Naze.

If you flick to the telemetry page and your RX is powered on you';ll see this


"Where are all the other bits I used to have?" you say.  Arm the Naze and after a second or two you';ll see this


If you have your telemetry connected to a soft/serial port you should see the second image straight away.  The dedicated telemetry pins only send data when the board is armed.

These are all the telemetry sensors the Naze sends back at all times.  Since mine is an AcroNaze I don';t have a baro and compass, yet the telemetry sensors for it are there (Alt, Temp, Hdg).  You also see the Curr and GPS sensors, even though I don';t have them.  The reason for this is that the Naze acts as a virtual hub for sensors, and it emulates proper FrSky sensor IDs which are then detected by OpenTX.  BTW, Date refers to how long the Naze is armed for.  It doesn';t reset when you disarm, only when you power cycle.

You may notice the discrepancy between Cels and VFAS.  This is because they are calculated differently in Cleanflight.

I went ahead and measured my actual battery voltage with a DMM, which was 11.15V.  The VFAS sensor allows you to adjust the reported voltage, so this is the one I';m using, and I';m not going to bother with Cels.

Scroll down to the VFAS sensor.  Press and hold Enter until you get a pop-up menu, where you select Edit.  Navigate to Offset and change the value there until the VFAS output at the top matches what you measured earlier.


You could change the Name of this sensor here if you wanted.  PREC2 means it will show two decimal places, other options are PREC1, and PREC0 for integers.

Exit out of the VFAS screen and scroll down to Top Bar.  The top bar is what is shown at the top of the main screen, next to the Taranis'; own voltage.  Here you can select VFAS as Voltage Source.  If you have a Baro you can select it for Altitude, and it will show the height next to the voltages.  Unfortunately, my screenshot didn';t capture this, but I think you can abstract that much information.  If you don';t care for the top bar, simply skip this step.


Next is the telemetry screen setup.  OpenTX offers four screens and three display options.  These options are Nums, Bars or Lua scripts.  If you';re a scripter, this is where you set it up.  I went for just one screen with numerical values, and selected the following items


Obviously, you';ll select whatever you find useful.  Time is the Taranis'; internal clock.  I wouldn';t normally display accelerometer values, but I wanted something to populate the screen.  :tongue:

With the telemetry screen set up, press Exit until you';re back at the main screen.  Take a look at the top bar if you have set it earlier.

Press and hold Page and the Taranis will display the telemetry screen, which now looks like this


Once the telemetry sensors are populated you can use these in the custom functions as well, for example play an alarm when the voltage dips below a certain value, etc.

I hope you';ll find this useful, and it shows that the new telemetry system isn';t that complicated.  In fact, I find it easier than the old system.  It shouldn';t really matter what RX or flight controller you';re using, as long as the telemetry data sent is compatible with FrSky telemetry.

I';ll do another tutorial in the near future whitch will use the FLVSS voltage sensor and some GPS data extrapolation.

:beer2:

-rw-rw-rw-  –  The Number of the Beast

Hands0n

Nice one Tim - that backs up everything I frantically ::) learned last night and sums it up succinctly in one easy to follow article. 

I';ve said it a couple of times in the past 24 hours - the OpenTX Developers do not do themselves a justice to the user community by not documenting their efforts at all well.   As you very rightly say, the new Telemetry and Sensors paradigm is a vast improvement over 2.0 and earlier.

--
Danny
"Its better than bad, its good"

Current FCs: Pixhawk, APM 2.6, Naza M V2, Naze32, Flip32+ CC3D, KK2.1.5
Aircraft: miniMax Hex, DJI 550 (clone) TBS Disco, 450 Firefly, 250 Pro, ZMR250, Hubsan X4, Bixler 2

Rammylad


QuoteI';ve said it a couple of times in the past 24 hours - the OpenTX Developers do not do themselves a justice to the user community by not documenting their efforts at all well.   As you very rightly say, the new Telemetry and Sensors paradigm is a vast improvement over 2.0 and earlier.

I must agree with you there, you shouldn';t have to search the web for bits and bats of information it should be on an up to date Wiki.
Thanks Tim for your easy to understand tutorial.  :beer2:

friesianflyer

Thanks for this, updated last night and didn';t think to arm and then search!
Have you also noticed that the announced values are only the integer? For example, my voltage is 11.47V, but the value is announced as 11Volts.....

quadfather

Quote from: friesianflyer on Wednesday,September 09, 2015, 20:53:32
Thanks for this, updated last night and didn';t think to arm and then search!
Have you also noticed that the announced values are only the integer? For example, my voltage is 11.47V, but the value is announced as 11Volts.....

Mine reads decimals as well.  Did you update the sound files?
-rw-rw-rw-  –  The Number of the Beast

friesianflyer


Hands0n

--
Danny
"Its better than bad, its good"

Current FCs: Pixhawk, APM 2.6, Naza M V2, Naze32, Flip32+ CC3D, KK2.1.5
Aircraft: miniMax Hex, DJI 550 (clone) TBS Disco, 450 Firefly, 250 Pro, ZMR250, Hubsan X4, Bixler 2

quadfather

A quick update.

As of OpenTX v2.1.3 sensors don';t populate automatically, but you need to press Discover new sensors.  After a couple of seconds, or when you see all sensors that should be there, press Stop discovery.  You';ll need to repeat this process if you add additional telemetry sensory to your aircraft.
-rw-rw-rw-  –  The Number of the Beast

eatkabab

Quote from: quadfather on Sunday,August 09, 2015, 18:30:51
Once the telemetry sensors are populated you can use these in the custom functions as well, for example play an alarm when the voltage dips below a certain value, etc.


I';ve had to update to 2.1.8 on my taranis plus and I';ve gotten the A2 to populate but I can';t figure out how to get it to play a low voltage alarm when it hits some voltage numbers I indicate to it.    PLEASE help  :-(  I thank you very much.

eatkabab