Crius MultiWii SE V1.0 with NAV Board and Crius GPS CN-06 V2

[bunnygirl80]

Hi,

Who was it that told me ... now that it';s built, let the fun begin!!! LOL. I wish it was that simple! 

Well, I';m going to try and be as precise as possible here...

I wonder if someone can help with getting my Crius Multiwii SE V1.0 board connected and talking to my Crius NAV board and Crius CN-06 V2 GPS.

http://www.multi-rotor.co.uk/index.php?topic=389.0

Here is a summary of what i have and what I';ve done.

Thanks,

Stef

[bunnygirl80]

OK, So far, I';ve posted photos above showing what FC, NAV and GPS equipment I have. You will notice the NAV board doesn';t normally come with the header pins for the FTDI connector attached and this was something i soldered on myself (took me back to the electronic engineering part of my computing degree at uni and wow am I sooo glad I don';t have to do this for a living - i can iron, but soldering is another thing! lol). One photo I have not included is a cross over cable where pins 2 and 3 (TX and RX) were swapped - this cable could be fitted between the FTDI card and the header pins on the NAV module.

So far, i haven';t got anywhere with it and everything I';ve tried has failed. 

1. I connected the FTDI interface directly to the NAV Module (not the MultiWii board as I originally thought).
2. I get a flashing red light (1s on 1s off) on the NAV module, solid green light on the GPS module and flashing blue light (1s on 1s off) on the MultiWii. Not sure if this is ok!
3. Downloaded the ucenter ublox software.
4. Tried connecting using COM5 and baud 9600. Nothing on screen in the ucenter software.
5. Tried connecting using COM5 and baud 115200. Nothing on screen in the ucenter software.
6. At this stage not sure whether the ucenter software should be showing me anything or what to expect.

I also tried using the ucenter --> view --> configuration viewer to update the PRT to 115200, Rate to 5Hz and Save. But no indications that this worked.

I also tried using the ucenter --> tools --> GPS configuration to upload the firmware txt file, but this errors. THIS SEEMS LIKE A TIMEOUT ERROR.

I';ve tried all the above with and without the cross over cable.

See below...

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I then resorted to trying to upload the EOSBandi Arduino Sketch to the NAV board, but this failed with the stk500_getsync() not in sync error. I tried various board types but none seemed to work.

See below...

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I';ve done all the above whilst the GPS NAV Module was connected to the MultiWii.

[paulcobra]

Hi dont know how much help this will be, i am just building my quad using the crius Aio v1.1, i was told by gaz that i didnt need the nav board but to wire it direct to the s1~s3 socket, also my crius has the i2c socket on it so should you not have connected to that instead of the ftdi? Gaz would be the man to talk to or check my post about the cn-06 gps in the general section, hope it helps, im still a mewbie so not execting to solve this for you but if it points you in the right direction then alls well. And good luck

[bunnygirl80]

Hi Paul, Thanks for the reply. I';ve been discussing things with Gary for the past week or so. I just throught I';d bring my problem into the public domain, hopefully so that it can help other people too. I do intend to write some sort of useful guide once i have it all working. I';ve seen a lot of posts from a lot of people that are having problems connecting these GPS modules to their boards. Regarding your comment about the GPS - I have been connecting it to the I2C socket. It is only the FTDI programming card that I';ve been connecting to the FTDI socket. Thanks again and good luck with your build, keep us all posted on your progress. Speak soon, Stef

[paulcobra]

Do you need the nav board ? Gaz told me i didnt need that, although i had already ordered one with my initial purchase, so if you need a spare give me a shout as mine is slowly becoming a dustbunny, still in antistatic bag though.

[bunnygirl80]

Hi again, As far as I';m aware I do need the NAV Board. From everything I';ve read the MultiWii SE 328 processor isn';t powerful enough to do all the GPS processing and that is why there is a seperate NAV board with it';s own 328 processor. This has to be loaded with the separate GPS control software. This can be downloaded from http://code.google.com/p/i2c-gps-nav/downloads/list. This software communicates with the MW2.1 software which runs on the MW board. I';m not sure why Gary would have told you that you don';t need yours - he definitely knows a lot and knows what hes talking about, perhaps your FC board is quite different to mine! Not sure there!

[Gaza07]

Paul doesn';t need the nav board because he has a Crius AIOP with a 2560 processor that has enough resources for 3 com ports and many more pins, Stefs board is a much lower spec board with the 328 processor which doesnt have enough resources for the comports or extra pins, so has to use the i2c nav board to convert the serial signal coming from the gps to i2c for her board to be able to use it 

I haven';t forgotten your problem Stef I';ve just been so tired as I';m not sleeping well 

[bunnygirl80]

Hi Gary, Oh! Thanks, but hey you make sure you have some sleep! I struggle with sleep myself sometimes, but I usually find some exercise helps. I';m at my worse when I';ve been sat in my office or in front of a pc all day! Sat here now with a horlicks and book!  Just email me when you';re free! Thanks.  Speak soon, xx

[marckatzenmaier]

Hij Stef,

Looks like you and me have same setup. I followed pm1 tutorial on rcgroups forum and got mine working just fine. Here';s a link.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1724694&highlight=crius+multiwii+gps

All credits off course to pm1.

Greetings Marc

[bunnygirl80]

Hi Marc, Thanks for the link. Funnily enough, that is the same link Gaza gave me two days ago and I';ve tried it over and over with no luck. Can I ask what operating system you are doing all this from? I am running on Windows 7 and am now starting to suspect that! Thanks.

[Gaza07]

Thats because I got the link from marc  ::)

[bunnygirl80]

Hiya, Oh! I think you did mention it in one of your emails. I';ve read sooo much and been trying sooo hard to get things working my brain is blotto';d. lol. Do you know if all this will work on Windows 7? Thx.

[Gaza07]

All the programs should work on windows 7 its what I use,

Forget this step for now I only just read your post properly and didn';t realise you had not got the nav board flashed yet, I have made a post later about the nav board


when you load the config file to the gps and it goes red, have you tried to then reset the program to the new baud rate and then upload the file again, If i remember right as you upload the config file it makes the changes and the red parts are failures because it changes the baud and the second part of the config cant work as the communication speed is wrong, so basicly upload the file, then change to the new speed then upload the file again Im sure this used to work for me 

[marckatzenmaier]

i use w7 too,
have you checked your cables, i just remembered that i had to switch 2 cables from mine, and i am not shure if it was from the crius board to the i2c or from the i2c to the gps. I noticed that a cable was going from tx to tx, i just tried and switch te cables so that it from rx to tx and vice versa

[marckatzenmaier]

mayby third time uploading pictures will work,
i made a few pics of my cablejungle, hope this will help you.

[marckatzenmaier]

just compared pictures and cables, looks the same as i have, but know i am thinking where i changed those cables 
or was it with programming the navboard<>ftdi...
ahh, my memory isnt what it used to be.

[Gaza07]

Hi Stef in one of the emails i sent you there was a picture showing how to connect the FTDI to the nav board, there is no need for any sort of cross over cable, you need the nav board disconnected from any thing else, and then load the nav board sketch in to the arduino app, you set the board type to the same board as your flight controller the Arduino Pro or Pro Mini (5V, 16 MHz) w/ ATmega328
Once you have flashed the nav board reconnect every thing and re test 

[bunnygirl80]

Okay, my girly approach to soldering or lack thereof is what caused all my problems. Yes, one of the pins on the board had not been soldered properly! Doh! Once checked and re-soldered by a man it was all okay! What would we do without them! :)

It was sooo nice to see those little flashing TX and RX lights on the FTDI module. I was like a kid in a candy store!

[teslahed]

One tip when soldering - Blue tack!

You can use blue tack to wedge things in position before applying solder. The heat wont unstick the blue tack and it will help keep things in place and at the right angle (without risking burning your fingers) until you are done and the solder is cool. You can always buy yourself a soldering ';helping hands'; device if you want - also useful - but blue tack is cheaper and can work better for some things.

If you find it difficult to get hot blue tack of stuff just use a piece of cold blue tack - the hot blue tack sticks better to cold blue tack than whatever you';ve just soldered so you can get it all of easily.

[bunnygirl80]

Whippee! I';ve managed to get the NAV board programmed through Arduino. Boooo! I';ve not managed to get the GPS firmware updated through uCenter.

Help needed again I';m afraid! I';ve uploaded the NAV BOARD firmware, but cannot get the GPS firmware uploaded. Any more tips before i top myself???  Quckooo!

I';ve tried the uCenter @ 9600 34000 and 115200. Also tried 9600 and then 115200.

[marckatzenmaier]

Hi stef,

i remember that i connected the ftdi directly (via cable) to the gps.
You have to watch that you cables are right.
I used a male PCB Header Connector to connect the FTDI to the cable from the gps.

[Gaza07]

Marck Is right you need to connect to the gps with the ftdi this is where you may have to connect the rx and tx to opposites to get them to talk, you can then use ucenter to flash the Gps,
The pins on the nav board are only for programming that 

You will have to use the original lead the came with the gps and use the small adapter lead you made to connect it to the ftdi 

[bunnygirl80]

OMG! Come on guys! You';re mocking me... lol... You want me to do some more soldering! I hope my house insurance covers me for this. Ah! ha! I was kidding, I have a man with a soldering iron available tonight and we';ve made a cable for the GPS, connected and programmed it. It was a doddle once the cables were sorted... All my problems stemmed from bad soldering and I';ve now decided I';m no good at soldering and going to leave it to the men in my life. LOL I programmed the GPS to use the UART1 at 15200 at 10Hz. Can someone confirm if these settings are okay? I did this from the View --> Configuration of the uCenter.  Thanks.

[paulcobra]

tried emailing you regarding the nav board, not sure if the last email got through, did you want the board as is or would it be easier if i soldered some wire tails to the ftdi holes for you? if so what colour wires and what colour to what pin?

[bunnygirl80]

Hi Paul, I didn';t get your last email. I';ve just checked my junk folder and it';s not in there either!  Ooo! It would be great if you could solder some pink wires on it, it will look all colourful! ) HA! HA! I';ll go take a photo and show you what I';ve done so far. I';ll post it later. Stef

[paulcobra]

Mmm sadly im clean out of pink wire lol, ive got the plug with the wires in off my crius board if that helps?

[bunnygirl80]

Oh! I';m not sure what to say about the cables as I';m not sure what your cable looks like or if it will come in useful. I am going to go through the entire setup process again and document it all for followers!  This should make other peoples lives a little easier.

[paulcobra]

Its one of the little patch leads that came with the crius main flight controller, it has the white plug on the end that plugs into the ftdi socket and about 4 inch long

[bunnygirl80]

Oh! Yes, that little cable with the white socket on one end and an FTDI adaptor on the other would be superb. Thanks. I';m not sure if the colours on yours are the same as mine! I have black, yellow, green and red on the small end and on the FTDI end. The black is ground and goes to pin 6 of the FTDI, yellow to pin 3, green to pin 2, and red to pin 4. I';m not sure if this was the info you required. Pins 1 DTR and pins 5 CTS are not used. Did you get me email with my address and stuff?

This is where I am at the moment... see photo below... So, all the GPS stuff is working, but a nightmare to program as I have to hold the cable at a funny angle! I still need to put some mods into the settings, but not sure which yet!

[Gaza07]

oooh you got a gps reading