Veronte products

Autopilot 4x

Veronte Autopilot 4x is a redundant system that includes 3 complete Veronte Autopilots 1x modules fully integrated with dissimilar arbiters.

Normally, the configuration development is done for one Autopilot 1x unit, however, to integrate it into a Veronte Autopilot 4x, several modifications must be made to the 3 units for a correct operation of the 4x system.

This section presents:

• Autopilots 1x configuration Configuration required on an Autopilot 1x as far as being part of an Autopilot 4x is concerned:
  • Definition of the 4x group
  • Control and communication between autopilots within the 4x group
  • Communication between Autopilots 1x and Arbiter

• Configuration for external radio communication through RS232 Configuration to establish communication between Autopilot 4x and an external radio connected to its multiplexed RS232, as well as CAN communication between the Autopilots 1x.
• Arbiters communication Configuration necessary to establish the connection between the PC and Arbiters using one of the Autopilots 1x as a "tunnel".

Autopilots 1x configuration

This example describes the steps necessary to adapt a complete and functional configuration of an Autopilot 1x to that of an Autopilot 1x within an Autopilot 4x.

The following schema broadly summarizes the configuration that will be explained:

Definition of the 4x group

Firstly it is necessary to indicate that this Veronte Autopilot 1x is part of a Veronte Autopilot 4x.

For this purpose, go to Control menu Modes panel 4x Veronte tab:

1. Enter the Arbiter address:

   Arbiter A address = 50000 + Serial number of 4x

   Arbiter B address = 54000 + Serial number of 4x

   Note

   Arbiter A is configured in this example.

2. Activate the Enable output overwrite so that the autopilots that are not in command (the ones not selected) give the same control output as the selected autopilot.

   This way, when the selected autopilot changes (due to arbitration), the transition in control commands is smooth.

3. Add the 3 Autopilots 1x that are part of the Autopilot 4x by clicking on Add UAV and specifying their addresses (address = Serial number).

4. For each autopilot set the CAN Id to be used for the control messages.

   Note

   Control Ids described above have been entered here.

Control and communication between autopilots within the 4x group

Then, in order for the Autopilots 1x to send control commands to each other, it is necessary to configure the CAN communication. To do this:

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

   • For sending commands from this autopilot, connect the CAN 4x producer to an Output filter consumer configured to CAN A, in this case Output filter 5 has been selected.

   • For receiving commands from the other autopilots, connect an Input filter producer to the CAN 4x consumer, in this case Input filter 0 has been selected.

     Therefore, in order to read control command messages from all autopilots, it is necessary to correctly configure the Id and mask in this Input filter.

     That is, by setting the Id to 48 and the mask to 2044 (decimal format), command messages from 48 to 50 will be read.

     Note

     The following table shows the Ids and mask in binary and decimal format used in this example.

     
     

     	Decimal format	Binary format
     AP 0 control Id	48	000 0011 0000
     AP 1 control Id	49	000 0011 0001
     AP 2 control Id	50	000 0011 0010
     Mask	2044	111 1111 1100

   

   

   

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

   Configure at least 4 mailboxes in CAN A bus with the same configuration as the Input filter to correctly receive the control command messages:

   ID: 48 DEC

   Mask: 111 1111 1100 BIN

   

7. Go to Block Programs menu.

   • In all programs using "Control Output uX" variables, it is necessary to add the AP Selection block between these variables and the corresponding control block, usually the PID Static block. For example:

     

     This connection is performed to always use the control output of the selected AP as input to the corresponding control block, usually the PID Static block.

     Therefore, the input of the AP Selection block is the control output of the AP in the configuration and the output is the control output of the selected AP.

     
     

     In the configuration of this block, users only have to select the channel through which the information related to this control output is being shared. For example, if Control Output u1 is connected to this block, channel 1 must be selected. For more information on this block, see the AP Selection - Mode/AP Selection blocks in the Block Programs section of this manual.

     
     

     Warning

     This block only allows to select the same channel once in all programs, i.e. this block can only be used once for each control output.

     
     

     Consequently, if a control output is used more than once in the programs, users must create an auxiliary program in which they connect each Control Output uX to the AP Selection block and save this "transformation" in user variables. Then, they will be able to use these user variables throughout the programs as many times as they need.

     
     

     Below is an example in which all the control outputs used in the configuration have been associated to renamed user variables:

     

     These users variables have been previously renamed in the UI menu Variables panel Real Vars tab:

     

   
   

   • Furthermore, build the following library block, "AP Selected", to be used as the respect input of the corresponding control block, usually the PID Static block.

     1. Go to the Library tab.
     2. Add a new block by clicking on and rename it as desired, in this example AP Selected.
     3. Insert in this custom block the "NOT" and "Read Bit" blocks.
     4. Right click on the custom block and add an output to it.
     5. Connect the "Read Bit" block as input of the "NOT" logic block and as iy¡ts output, the output that has been added to the custom block.
     6. Finally, select the 4X Selected variable for the "Read Bit".

     For more information on library blocks, see Library blocks - Block Programs section of this manual.

     

   
   

   The overall result of these blocks related to 4x should look like this:

   

   With all this block configuration, the expected behavior is to avoid jumps in the control commands when the selected autopilots change (due to arbitration). This is achieved by always having as usat input of the PID Static block the control output of the selected AP, since the integral term of the 3 Autopilots 1x of group 4x always remains the same.

   
   

   And the logic that follows is this:

   

Communication between Autopilots 1x and Arbiter

Finally, the CAN communication must be correctly configured to be able to send the Ready and Arbitration messages from the autopilots to the arbiter and to read the Status and Score messages from the arbiter:

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

   • For sending messages to the arbiter, connect a CAN custom message producer to an Output filter consumer, in this case CAN custom message 0 and Output filter 1 have been selected.
   • For receiving messages from the arbiter, connect an Input filter producer to a Custom message consumer, in this case Input filter 2 and Custom message 0 have been selected.

   

   • The Output filter is configured to both CAN ports:

     

   • The Id set in this Input filter must match the status Id set in the arbiter configuration. In this example Id 255 has been chosen:

     

9. Go to Input/Output menu CAN Setup panel Custom Message 0 tab (since CAN custom Message 0 has been connected to the output filter) TX to configure the messages to be sent to the arbiter.

   • In this example, 5 messages with CAN ID 8 (arbitration Id of the AP 0), Little endian and Period 0.05 s have been added. More information on CAN messages configuration can be found in the TX/TX Ini Messages (Custom Messages) - Input/Output section of this manual.

     

   • Then, to create each message, click on its corresponding button:

     • ID 00 Ready message. It must be built following the Ready Message - CAN Bus protocol section of the 4x Software Manual.

       

     • ID 01-04 Arbitration variables messages. They must be built following the Arbitration Message - CAN Bus protocol section of the 4x Software Manual.

       In this example, Roll, Pitch, Position not fixed and a Custom Arbitration Variable have been configured as arbitration messages:

       

       

       Note

       The "Position not fixed" variable, which is of type bit, has had to be "converted" as follows to a real variable (single-precision float), since that is the type of variable expected by the arbiter.

       

       

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

10. Go to Input/Output menu CAN Setup panel Custom Message 0 tab (since Custom Message 0 has been connected to the input filter) TX to configure the messages to be read from the arbiter.

    • Add 4 messages and configure them as follows:

      
      

      ID	Can id	Endianness	Time out	Bit ID
      00	255	Little endian	1.0 s	0
      01	255	Little endian	4.0 s	1
      02	255	Little endian	4.0 s	2
      03	255	Little endian	4.0 s	3

      
      

      More information on CAN messages configuration can be found in the RX Messages (Custom Messages) - Input/Output section of this manual.

      

    • Then, to create each message, click on its corresponding button:

      • ID 00 Status message. It must be built following the Status Message - CAN Bus protocol section of the 4x Software Manual.

        

      • ID 01-03 Scores messages. They must be built following the Score Message - CAN Bus protocol section of the 4x Software Manual.

        

        

        

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

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

    Configure at least 4 mailboxes in CAN A bus with the same configuration as the Input filter to correctly receive the messages from the arbiter:

    ID: 255 DEC

    Mask: 111 1111 1111 BIN

    Warning

    Remember that it is necessary to have at least 1 free mailbox for TX messages.

    

Configuration for external radio communication through RS232

The following is the configuration necessary to establish communication with an external radio connected to one of the multiplexed ports of Veronte Autopilot 4x, in this case RS232.

The purpose of this implementation is that the Autopilot 1x selected by the arbiter receives the communications from the other two autopilots via CAN and redirects them to the RS232 port to send them to the radio. As far as reception is concerned, this is not necessary since all 3 Autopilots 1x can receive communications over the RS232 port.

In addition, to avoid overloading the CAN bus with telemetry, the telemetry address has been changed to a dynamic address of Veronte applications and depending on whether the current autopilot is the selected AP or not, the routing of communications acts in one way or another:

• If it is the autopilot selected the telemetry is sent by the RS232.
• If it is not the autopilot selected the telemetry is redirected to a port that is not in use to avoid being sent by CAN.

The following schematic broadly summarizes the configuration that will be explained:

The explanation of everything shown in the diagram above has been divided according to the different parts to configure:

• Telemetry configuration
• I/O ports configuration
• CAN communication configuration
• Routing configuration

Telemetry configuration

First, configure the custom telemetry to be sent via radio by adding a Data vector with the desired variables to a dynamic address of Veronte applications. To do this:

1. Go to Telemetry menu Telemetry panel.

   • Click on to add a new data vector, which will be added by default with address 2 (App 2 Data to VApp).

   • Then configure it as follows:

     • Frequency: 15 Hz are recommended.

     • Address: Enter a dynamic address of Veronte applications, in this example 255 is used. For more information on the range of dynamic addresses and other available addresses, see List of Addresses - Lists of interest section of the 1x Software Manual.

       Note

       Users only need to enter the address, then the software will automatically recognize that it is a dynamic address of Veronte applications and replace it with "App dynamic address entered", in this case "App dynamic 255".

   • Add as much custom telemetry as needed.

   For more information on configuring data vectors, see the Data vectors - Telemetry section of the present manual.

   

I/O ports configuration

Then, it is necessary to perform the ports connections for the sending and reception of CAN communications between Autopilots 1x.

In addition, it is recommended to use a user bit, which is the negation of the "4X Selected" bit (usually renamed to "4x not selected"), to disable the sending of these communications in the case where the current AP is the one selected by the arbiter. This is done to reduce the CAN bus traffic load.

For this purpose:

2. Go to UI menu Variables panel Bits tab.

   Rename a user bit that is not being used for another purpose in the configuration to be the "4x not selected" bit.

   

3. Go to Block Programs menu.

   Create a program to store the negation value of the "4X Selected" bit in the previously renamed user bit. To do this:

   3.1. Add a new program by clicking on and rename it as desired, in this example AP Communication.

   3.2. Configure it as a continuously running program (it should appear as ).

   3.3. Add the blocks "NOT", "Read Bit" and "Write Bit" to the created program.

   3.4. Connect to the logic block "NOT" the "Read Bit" block as input and the "Write Bit" as output.

   3.5. Select the variable 4X Selected for the "Read Bit".

   3.6. Select for the "Write Bit" the user bit renamed as 4x not selected.

   For more information on blocks, read Block Programs section of the present manual.

   

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

   Several connections have to be made here for the different communications:

   
   

   • For the communicaction with the radio, a connection through RS232 port should be carry out:

     Bidirectionally connect the RS232 producer to a Commgr port consumer, in this case Commgr port 3 is selected.

     Then, the equivalent Commgr port producer (in this case Commgr port 3 producer) should automatically connect to the RS232 consumer.

     

     
     

   • For the transmission of CAN communications from the current Autopilot 1x to the other Autopilots 1x, the following operation must be performed:

     Connect a Commgr port producer to a Serial to CAN consumer, in this case Commgr port 4 and Serial to CAN 0 have been selected.

     In addition, to disable the transmission in case this is the selected AP, the user bit previously configured in Block programs should be assigned to the connection (in this case, User BIT 29).

     

     
     

   • For reception of CAN communications from the other Autopilots 1x on the current AP:

     Connect two CAN to serial producers to two Commgr port consumers. In this case, CAN to serial 0 and CAN to serial 1 have been connected to Commgr port 4 and Commgr port 5 respectively.

     

CAN communication configuration

Next, configure the sending of the CAN communication from the current AP to the other two Autopilots 1x as well as the reception of their communication.

In addition, it is also recommended to use the user bit "4x not selected" to disable sending CAN communications when the current AP is also the selected AP.

To do this:

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

   The following settings must be made here for the different communications:

   
   

   • For the transmission of CAN communications from the current Autopilot 1x to the other Autopilots 1x:

     Connect a Serial to CAN producer to an Output filter consumer, in this case Serial to CAN 0 and Output filter 0 have been selected.

     Note

     The Serial to CAN producer index must match the one previously selected as Serial to CAN consumer in the I/O Setup panel.

     In addition, to disable the transmission in case this is the selected AP, the user bit previously configured in Block programs should be assigned to the connection (in this case, User BIT 29).

     

     • Serial to CAN producer should be set to Id 100 as this is the Id that has been assigned to the current AP.

       

     • Output filter is configured to CAN A port.

       

     
     

   • For reception of CAN communications from the other Autopilots 1x on the current AP:

     Connect two Input filter producers to two CAN to serial consumers. In this case, Input filter 0 and Input filter 1 have been connected to CAN to serial 0 and CAN to serial 1 respectively.

     Note

     The CAN to serial consumers indices must match those previously selected as CAN to serial producers in the I/O Setup panel.

     

     Input filter producers should be configure with the following parameters in order to correctly receive communications from the other two Autopilots 1x:

     • Port: CAN A
     • Id: 101 / 102 CAN Ids assigned to AP 1 and AP 2 respectively
     • Mask: 2047

     

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

   Configure at least 4 mailboxes on CAN A bus for receiving messages from each of the other two autopilots. They must have the same configuration as the Input filters to receive them correctly:

   ID: 101 / 102 DEC

   Mask: 111 1111 1111 BIN

   Warning

   Remember that it is necessary to have at least 1 free mailbox for TX messages.

   

Routing configuration

Finally, the following steps represent the necessary configuration to be performed by users for routing communications.

7. Go to Communications menu Ports panel.

   2 routing configurations must be done:

   • Routing 0: This will be used when the current AP is also the selected AP. It is configured to output through PORT 3 (which is connected to RS232 on the I/O Setup panel) the following:

     • All messages with address 2 Status messages from both the selected AP and the other 2 Autopilots 1x.
     • All messages with address 255 Custom telemetry that has been configured to this dynamic address of Veronte applications.

   • Routing 1: This will be used when the current AP is not the selected AP. It is configured to force telemetry with address 255 (custom telemetry) to be redirected to a port that is not in use, in this case PORT 5.

   For more information on the configuration of this panel, see the Ports - Communications section of the present manual.

   

8. Go to Automations menu.

   To switch between both routing configurations it is necessary to create 2 automations that will be triggered depending on whether the current autopilot is the selected AP or not (with the value of the 4X Selected variable).

   
   

   First, create an automation to select the routing configuration when the current AP is also the selected AP Routing 0 configuration. To do this:

   1. Click on the New automation button and rename it as desired, in this example 4x routing table 0.

   2. Go to Events side and configure an Alarm event as follows:

      • Enter a custom name for this event, AP Selected has been entered.
      • Select All ok in the Type option, as it is desired that the action is triggered when the bit is in the "true" state.
      • Click on to add the variable that has to activate the alarm 4X Selected bit.

      

   3. Go to Actions side, add a new Ports action and configure it as follows:

      • Enter a custom name for this action, Routing 0 has been chosen.
      • Select the Routing 0 option as this is the automation to select the previously defined Routing 0 configuration.

      

      For more information on the configuration of these automations, see Automations section of this manual.

   
   

   Repeat the same steps (with slightly differences) to create the automation in case this is not the selected AP and the Routing 1 configuration must be used:

   4. Click on the New automation button and rename it as desired, in this example 4x routing table 1.

   5. Go to Events side, select the previously created event "AP Selected" and add to it the NOT boolean operation.

      Therefore, the action will be triggered when the 4X Selected bit is in "false" state.

      

   6. Go to Actions side, add a new Ports action and configure it as follows:

      • Enter a custom name for this action, Routing 1 has been chosen.
      • Select the Routing 1 option as this is the automation to select the previously defined Routing 1 configuration.

      

Arbiters communication

As it is sometimes not possible to connect the Arbiters, which are inside the Veronte Autopilot 4x, directly to the PC to configure them (access 4x PDI Builder), Veronte Autopilot 1x is connected to the PC and a connection is made between Arbiters and Autopilot 1x via CAN.

To be able to communicate with Arbiters via CAN, the following connection is required:

Follow the steps below to make this configuration:

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

   Check the connection between the computer and the Autopilot 1x (usually via USB, but RS232 and RS485 are also possible).

   

2. Go to Communications menu Ports panel.

   Remove Port 4 and 5 from the Forward group and add Port 4 and 5 to the Route group, with target Arbiters' Address:

   • Address of Arbiter A: 50 000 + Serial number of 4x
   • Address of Arbiter B: 54 000 + Serial number of 4x

   

   Note

   This is just an example, users can choose Ports other than 4 and 5.

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

   Connect Commgr port 4 to Serial to CAN 1 consumer and Commgr port 5 to Serial to CAN 2 consumer:

   

   Then, connect CAN to serial 1 to Commgr port 4 and CAN to serial 2 to Commgr port 5:

   

   Note

   This is just an example, users can choose Serial to CAN and CAN to serial other than 1 and 2.

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

   • Connect Serial to CAN 1 to Output filter 1 and Serial to CAN 2 to Output filter 2.

     In addition, connect Input filter 1 to CAN to serial 1 and Input filter 2 to CAN to serial 2:

     

   • Set for both Serial to CAN 1/2 the same CAN ID: 1302.

     

   • Select for Output filter 1 the CAN A, as this is the CAN of Autopilot 1x that is connected to Arbiter A:

     

   • Select for Output filter 2 the CAN B, as this is the CAN of Autopilot 1x that is connected to Arbiter B:

     

   • Configure both Input filter 1/2 with CAN ID: 1301.

     Select for Input filter 1 the CAN A, as this is the CAN of Autopilot 1x that is connected to Arbiter A:

     

     Select for Input filter 2 the CAN B, as this is the CAN of Autopilot 1x that is connected to Arbiter B:

     

   Note

   This is just an example, users can choose Input filter and Output filter other than 1 and 2.

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

   • Set the Baudrate for both CANs, CAN A: 1 000 000 and CAN B: 500 000.
   • Configure at least 10 reception mailboxes with ID 1301 for both CAN A and B:

   

   

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 USB, but RS232 and 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/MC24

In order to send commands from a Veronte Autopilot 1x to a MC110/MC24 via CAN and vice versa, the following connection is required:

First, connect the MC110/MC24 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.
• MC24 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 A
   • 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 A 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 1 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 input command value 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 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 2
  • 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.