Veronte products

DRX

DRx is a redundant system composed of three 1x autopilots. Each autopilot is individually configurable and they communicate with each other via CANFD.

The DRx architecture consists of three units serving the following roles:

• Primary Unit: The default command unit. It acts as the lead controller during standard operations.

• Recovery Unit: The backup (failover) unit. It takes command instantly if the Primary unit fails or exceeds defined error thresholds.

• Monitor: The system supervisor. It does not pilot the vehicle; instead, it executes the arbitration algorithm to assign command to the most suitable unit.

Communication Configuration

• Go to Input/Output → I/O Setup to configure individual units.

• Go to Input/Output → CAN Setup → Configuration and configure the following parameters:

• In both Consumer, select the CANFD A port.

Below is a configuration example illustrating the ID assignment for each DRx unit:

• In the Serial to CAN settings, enter the 'Sends To' IDs (in this example, for the Primary Unit).

• In the Input Settings, enter the 'Receives From' IDs (in this example, for the Primary Unit).

• In the Producer settings enable reception of arbitration message. In this example, ID 127 is selected.

• Go to Input/Output → CAN-FD A Setup and configure the CAN FD mailboxes to accept the incoming messages defined. According to this example, the corresponding ID is 127.

• Go to Ports to configure the physical port for outgoing messages to a specific Unit Address.

• Route 1 (red): Establishing communication port between the Primary and Recovery units.

• Route 2 (yellow): Establishing communication port between the Primary and Monitor units.

• Route 3 (blue): Establishing communication port between the Primary and other system components.

Unit Identification

The following data provides an example of the addresses for each unit:

• Primary Unit: 0x00008001

• Recovery Unit: 0x00008002

• Monitor Unit: 0x00008003

• DRx: 0x00008000

• Go to Veronte → Vehicle information.

Assign a unique Address to each hardware unit so they can be individually targeted if necessary.

• Go to Control → Redundancy setup.
  Enable the redundancy feature and input the corresponding unit addresses.

Monitor Logic

The Monitor Logic is the core decision-making process of the DRx system. It is responsible for evaluating the operational integrity of the flight controllers and managing the transition of command.

• Implementation: Configured via Block Programs in the PDI.

• Flexibility: The user defines the criteria for a "Healthy" vs. "Failed" unit.

• Binary Approach: Simple Pass/Fail flags (e.g., "If IMU Status is failed -> Unit unhealthy -> Switch").

• Score-Based Approach: Weighted average of multiple variables.

• Data Inputs: The Monitor receives health flags and sensor data from Primary and Recovery via custom messages in CANFD.

An example is provided below. Access the Core 2 - Blocks menu to perform the configuration.

Monitor Message

The Monitor must inform both the Primary and Recovery units of the current command status.

• Go to Input/Output → CAN Setup → Custo message 0 → TX and select the icon to add a field. Enter the corresponding CAN ID, in this example 127.

• If the variable is FALSE: Primary unit selected.

• If the variable is TRUE: Recovery unit selected.

• Go to Input/Output → CAN Setup → Configuration to configure the Primary and Recovery units to accept and interpret the arbitration message (using ID 127 in this example).

Synchronization

• Automation: To guarantee that a Phase Change command triggers the exact same state across all three units simultaneously.

If an event is assigned ID 55 (in this example) on the Primary unit, it must be assigned the same ID on both the Recovery and Monitor units.
Verify that every major system event (Phase changes, Flight Mode switches) has the identical ID number across all three configurations.

• User Variables: Ensure that shared commands modify the same parameter in every unit.
  Go to UI → Variables and ensure that the same variables are configured with the identical ID across all units.

• Telemetry: To ensure that only the Active Unit transmits data to the Ground Control Station (Veronte Ops), choose 4x Selected.

CEX/MEX

As it is sometimes not possible to connect a CEX/MEX directly to the PC in order to configure it (access CEX/MEX PDI Builder), the Veronte Autopilot 1x is connected to the computer and a connection is made between CEX/MEX and Veronte Autopilot 1x via CAN.

To be able to communicate with CEX/MEX via CAN, the following connection is necessary:

First, connect the CEX/MEX to the Autopilot 1x via CAN. Detailed information on this connection can be found in the:

• CEX connection - Integration examples section of the 1x Hardware Manual.
• MEX connection - Integration examples section of the 1x Hardware Manual.

Then, follow the steps below to make this configuration:

1x PDI Builder side

1. Go to Input/Output menu I/O Setup panel.

   Check the connection between the computer and the 1x (usually via RS232 or RS485 are also possible).

   

2. Go to Communications menu Ports panel.

   Remove Port 5 from the Forward group and add Port 5 to the Route group, with target CEX's Address:

   Address = 44000 + Serial number.

   The CEX address must be in the range 45000 - 49999.

   Note

   • For MEX, the address should look like this:

     • Address = 42000 + Serial number.
     • The MEX address must be in the range 43000 - 43999.

   • If the theorical address does not work, 999 (unknown) can be used as sometimes the address has not been set in CEX/MEX.

   

3. Go to Input/Output menu I/O Setup panel.

   Connect Commgr port 5 to Serial to CAN 1 consumer:

   

   Then, connect CAN to serial 1 to Commgr port 5:

   

4. Go to Input/Output menu CAN Setup panel Configuration tab.

   Connect a Serial to CAN with the right Id (CAN ID 1302) to an Output filter.

   In addition, connect an Input filter with the right Id (CAN ID 1301) to a CAN to serial:

   

   

   

5. Go to Input/Output menu CAN Setup panel Mailboxes tab.

   Finally, configure the reception mailbox with ID 1301, assign at least 4 mailboxes:

   

CEX PDI Builder side

6. Go to Input/Output menu CAN I/O panel Configuration tab.

   Connect a CAN Input Filter with the right CAN Address (CAN ID 1302) to CAN to Serial 0.

   In addition, connect Serial to CAN 0 with the right CAN Address (CAN ID 1301) to a CAN Output Filter port:

   

   

   

7. Go to Input/Output menu I/O Setup panel.

   Connect CAN to Serial 0 to any Commgr port, in this case Commgr port 0 is used.

   In addition, connect Commgr port 0 to Serial to CAN 0 consumer:

   

8. Go to Input/Output menu CAN Setup panel.

   Finally, configure the reception mailbox with ID 1302, assign at least 4 mailboxes:

   

MC01

In order to communicate a Veronte Autopilot 1x with a MC01 via CAN, the following connection is required:

First, connect the MC01 to the Autopilot 1x via CAN. Detailed information on this connection can be found in the MC01 connection - Integration examples section of the 1x Hardware Manual.

Then, the following steps explain how to configure the communication between an Autopilot 1x and a MC01.

MC01 PDI Builder side

1. By default, MC01 is configurated with a connection Serial to CAN, with the following Standard CAN IDs:
   • Tx CAN Id: 1301
   • Rx CAN Id: 1302

1x PDI Builder side

2. Go to Communications menu Ports panel.

   Remove Port 5 from the Forward group and add Port 5 to the Route group, with target MC01's Address. This address must be chosen in the destination path of the MC01 (40117 for the example).

   

3. Go to Input/Output menu I/O Setup panel.

   Connect the Commgr port 5 to the Serial to CAN 1.

   

   Then, connect CAN to serial 1 to Commgr port 5:

   

4. Go to Input/Output menu CAN Setup panel Configuration tab.

   Connect a Serial to CAN with the right Id (CAN ID 1302) to an Output filter.

   In addition, connect an Input filter with the right Id (CAN ID 1301) to a CAN to serial:

   

   

   

5. Go to Input/Output menu CAN Setup panel Mailboxes tab.

   Finally, configure the reception mailbox with ID 1301, assign at least 1 mailbox:

   

MC110

In order to send commands from a Veronte Autopilot 1x to a MC110 via CAN and vice versa, the following connection is required:

First, connect the MC110 to the Autopilot 1x via CAN. Detailed information on this connection can be found in the:

• MC110 connection - Integration examples section of the 1x Hardware Manual.

CAN commands from Autopilot 1x to MC110

Follow the steps below to make this configuration:

1x PDI Builder side

1. Go to Input/Output menu CAN Setup panel Configuration tab.

   Connect a CAN custom message producer (in this case CAN custom message 1 is used) to an Output filter consumer, in this example Output filter 3.

   In addition, configure the Output filter with the correct CAN Bus, in this example CAN A has been selected:

   

2. Go to Input/Output menu CAN Setup panel Custom message 1 tab (since the producer CAN custom message 1 has been connected to the output filter).

   • Add a new message in TX (as it is for tranmission) with CAN ID 1434. More information on the configuration of CAN messages can be found in the TX/TX Ini Messages (Custom Messages) - Input/Output section of this manual.

   • Next, configure the message to be sent with whatever variable users wish to use to command. The variable should be set to compressed signed 32-bit.

     Users should send the values from 0 to max_rpm (or from -max_rpm to max_rpm if negative commands are desired to be allowed).

     To do this, it is recommended to control the variable internally as a throttle, for this set the Encode from 0 to 1 (or from -1 to 1 for negative speeds).

     And for decode it to rpm values, the Decode parameter must be configured from 0 to max_rpm (or from -max_rpm to max_rpm if negative commands are allowed):

     

     For more information on configuring CAN custom messages, refer to the Custom Messages types - Input/Output section of this manual.

MC110 PDI Builder side

3. Go to Input/Output menu CAN I/O panel Configuration tab.

   Connect an Input filter producer, in this example Input filter 1, to the CAN Cmd consumer.

   In addition, configure the input filter with the following parameters:

   • Port: CAN B
   • CAN Id 1434
   • Mask: 2047 dec
   • Filter type: Standard

   

   

4. Go to Input/Output menu CAN I/O panel Mailboxes tab.

   Configure at least 4 reception mailboxes with ID 1434 in the CAN B bus:

   

5. Go to MC menu FOC Control panel Control Input.

   Make sure that m_CAN or m_CAN_PPM mode is selected. For more information on these parameters, refer to the Control Input (FOC Control) - MC section of MC110 PDI Builder user manual.

CAN commands from MC110 to Autopilot 1x

Follow the steps below to make this configuration:

MC110 PDI Builder side

1. Go to Input/Output menu CAN I/O panel Configuration tab.

   Connect CAN custom message 0 producer to an Output filter consumer, in this example Output filter 1.

   In addition, configure the Output filter with the correct CAN Bus, in this example CAN A has been selected:

   

2. Go to Input/Output menu CAN I/O panel CAN custom message 0 tab.

   Add a new message in TX with the variables the user wishes to send back to Autopilot 1x.

   In this example, the message with CAN ID 100 is sending the power input as well as the board temperature as uncompressed variables.

   

   For more information on configuring CAN custom messages, refer to the Custom Messages types - Input/Output section of this manual.

   Note

   If the variables are compressed/encoded on the MC110 side when sent, they must be decompressed/decoded on the Autopilot 1x unit on reception.

1x PDI Builder side

3. Go to Input/Output menu CAN Setup panel Configuration tab.

   Connect an Input filter producer (in this case Input filter 3) to a Custom message consumer (Custom message 1 has been selected).

   

   In addition, according to the send message set in the MC110 PDI Builder software, configure the input filter with the following parameters:

   • Port: CAN A
   • CAN Id 100
   • Mask: 1110000 bin
   • Filter type: Standard

   

4. Go to Input/Output menu CAN Setup panel Custom message 1 tab (since the input filter has been connected to the Custom message 1 consumer).

   Users can configure the reception of MC110 variables and store them internally for other uses in the configuration.

   To do this, add in RX fields the same messages that have been configured in the MC110 PDI Builder as TX Messages:

   

   For more information on configuring CAN custom messages, refer to the Custom Messages types - Input/Output section of this manual.

5. Go to Input/Output menu CAN Setup panel Mailboxes tab.

   Finally, configure the reception mailboxes.

   In this case, CAN messages with ID 100 and with ID 103 to 109 (8 messages in total) are being sent, which in binary is: 0110 0100 and from 0110 0111 to 0110 1101.

   Therefore, 8 mailboxes are configured with ID 01100100 and mask 1110000 in the CAN A bus:

   

   For more information on mailboxes, see the Mailboxes (CAN Setup) - Input/Output section of this manual.

Veronte Gimbal

This section explains the configuration required to control and operate Veronte Gimbal 10z or Veronte Gimbal 30z.

On the one hand, the following diagram illustrates the communication required between a Veronte Autopilot 1x and the Veronte Gimbal to control its movements:

On the other hand, to allow communication between Veronte Autopilot 1x and the video board integrated in the Veronte Gimbal camera the following connection is required:

In the 1x PDI Builder software there is already a template with the required configuration shown in the diagrams above. Users can access it in the following way:

1. Open 1x PDI Builder app.

2. Click '1xVeronte' option.

   

3. In the initial menu of the app, import a configuration from the repo clicking on .

   

   The following window will appear while the templates are being downloaded:

   

4. In the templates menu, select the Veronte Gimbal configuration template and press Import to import it to the app.

   

Now, users have to add the Veronte Gimbal control aspects of this configuration template to their own Autopilot 1x configuration.

Controlling Veronte Gimbal movement

Concerning the movement control of the Veronte Gimbal, these are the relevant parts of the configuration:

• In the Input/Output menu CAN Setup panel Configuration tab.

  A CAN custom message producer must be connected to an Output filter consumer. In this example, CAN custom message 0 is connected to Output filter 2 and CAN A bus has been chosen.

  

• In the Input/Output menu CAN Setup panel Custom message 0 tab (since the producer CAN custom message 0 has been connected to the output filter).

  The following parameters must be set for 2 CAN messages on TX (as they are for tranmission) with CAN ID 0 and 1. More information on the configuration of CAN messages can be found in the TX/TX Ini Messages (Custom Messages) - Input/Output section of this manual.

  Warning

  These specific CAN IDs are entered because they have to match the ones configured in the Gimbal, which are configured by default with these ids.

  • Can id: 0 / 1
  • Endianness: Little endian
  • Period: 0.01 s

  

  Click on to access their configuration. This is almost the same for both messages but changing the variable:

  

  1. Matcher

     • Value: 3
     • Bits: 8

  2. Variable

     • Variable: Joint 0 of Gimbal 0
     • Compression: Compress - Bits Signed
     • Bits: 24
     • Encode - Min/Max: 0.0/3.1416
     • Decode - Min/Max: 0/8388608

  

  1. Matcher

     • Value: 3
     • Bits: 8

  2. Variable

     • Variable: Joint 1 of Gimbal 0
     • Compression: Compress - Bits Signed
     • Bits: 24
     • Encode - Min/Max: 0.0/3.1416
     • Decode - Min/Max: 0/8388608

Communication with Veronte Gimbal camera video board

The following are the configuration aspects of the communication with the gimbal camera video board.

CAN commands sent by Autopilot 1x

• In the Input/Output menu I/O Setup panel.

  A RS custom message producer is connected to a Serial to CAN consumer. In this example, RS custom message 0 is connected to Serial to CAN 1.

  

  Click on to access the RS custom message configuration. It consists of 4 messages for request variables, i.e. they request information from the video board of the gimbal camera.

  

  Message	Endianness	Period
  00	Little endian	0.2 s
  01	Little endian	0.5 s
  02	Little endian	0.5 s
  03	Little endian	0.5 s

  
  

• In the Input/Output menu CAN Setup panel Configuration tab.

  A Serial to CAN producer with Id 1304 must be connected to an Output filter consumer. In this example, Serial to CAN 1 is connected to Output filter 1 and CAN A bus has been chosen.

  

  

CAN commands received on Autopilot 1x

• In the Input/Output menu CAN Setup panel Configuration tab.

  An Input filter producer with Id 1303 must be connected to a CAN to serial consumer. In this example, Input filter 1 configured to CAN A bus, is connected to CAN to serial 1.

  

  

• In the Input/Output menu CAN Setup panel Mailboxes tab.

  20 reception mailboxes with ID 1303 are configured in CAN A bus (as the input filter has been configured to CAN A):

  

• In the Input/Output menu I/O Setup panel.

  A CAN to serial producer is connected to a Y splitter consumer. Then, a Y splitter A producer is connected to a RS custom message consumer and a Y splitter B producer is connected to a Tunnel consumer, configured to Address 2 (App) (App 2).

  This connection is made in order to read and process the information received from the video board (RS custom message consumer) while sending this information to Veronte Ops. So Autopilot 1x is acting as a tunnel between the video board and Veronte Ops.

  In this example, CAN to serial 1 is connected to Y1 splitter, Y1 splitter A to RS custom message 2 and Y1 splitter B to Tunnel 0.

  

  Click on to access the RS custom message configuration. It consists of 4 messages to read the video board information from the gimbal camera that has been previously requested.

  Important

  They must be configured as Little endian.

  

  Finally, click on to access the Tunnel configuration:

  

  • Veronte ID: App
  • Parser: No protocol
  • Destination tunnel: Tunnel producer 0
  • Time between messages: 0.01 s
  • Bytes to send: 22 byte

Gimbal block program

Finally, in the Block Programs menu, a Gimbal program has also been created to allow a correct communication between Veronte Autopilot 1x and the video board integrated in the Veronte Gimbal camera.

VSE (Veronte Stick Expander)

To configure the VSE in 1x PDI Builder it is only needed to follow the steps explained in the Ground unit configuration of the General case - PPM Stick integration example.