Finalize testing communication between flightcontrollers using latest serial protocol with CRC
What's done so far
- Against background of issue #29 (in HIGHWIND/Groundstation) we advanced the serial protocol (sproto.c/.h) to calculate and verify CRCs for transmitted telegrams.
- The integration of the updated sources (sproto.c/.h) into embMasterDude and HIGHWIND/Groundstation was done yesterday (20.05.16) by @jonas.schlagenhauf and @Martin.dold. In embMasterDude feature/sproto-crc is even merged back to develop.
- We had the flightcontroller board(s) in the lab for testing. We saw that MPU9250 data sent from FC to GS was visualized correctly -> communication from FC to GS works fine so far.
Remaining TODOs
What remains as TODOs for testing is:
- Communication from GS to FC: Sending servo values to the FC is not tested yet. However, this is expected to be working fine with high probability.
- Communication from FC_arm (= FC board plcaed on the arm) to FC: the serial protocol is used between communication of TAS data from FC_arm to FC too. This communication currently is unidirectional, i.e. from FC_arm to FC only. It can be tested by flashing the latest sources to FC_arm, connecting both boards and turn on both boards. The FC is already flashed with latest sources during testing yesterday (see above).
- Remount everything in hangar again and check if using CRCs solves issue #29.
Concrete task of this ticket
@jonas.schlagenhauf and @benedikt.schleusener agreed to meet up on Monday (23.05.16) at 11.00 in the lab. They would like to finalize the testing tasks described above. @evileli : Please assists the guys! Otherwise, I would be available Monday (23.05.16) at 15.30 for assistence.
- @benedikt.schleusener : Please mount a new cable to connect FC_arm and FC boards over UART connectors mounted on the boards. We should have such a cable in the lab to have a similar setup like in the hangar.
- @evileli / @benedikt.schleusener : Please check how to power up the FC_arm board in the lab using the lab power supply. The FC_arm has no voltage regulator (small TI PCB) mounted on the board. Can we simply connect the board to the power supply? Or do we need to take the regulated power from the FC and forward it to FC_arm? I powered up FC_arm in the lab a few weeks ago but I wasn't sure about it anymore, sorry. And I didn't want to brick the board yesterday as there was no UART cable available for testing anyway.
- @evileli : Checkout 965a617c
- @evileli : Compile the testapp test-tube-angle-sensor and flash it to the FC_arm board. (Yes, the main() to be run on the FC_arm is currently still named testapp. I will rename the file and move the main() to proper location once everthing is working fine!).
- @evileli : Connect FC_arm and FC using new UART cable provided by Ben. Connect FC UART 1 connector to FC_arm UART 1 connector.
- @evileli / @jonas.schlagenhauf : Test complete communication flow! The GS should see MPU9250 data and TAS data in the visualizer!
Debug connection to FC boards
Our wiki holds a picture that shows how to connect the debugger to FC boards: http://wiki.syscop.de/RS485-GS-to-FC
Additionally, attached picture shows the connection of debug pins on the FC board: