R-DAS GPS V2.0 (38 mm) - 1 May, 2005 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This manual summarizes the major differences between the V1.2 GPS hardware covered in the manual and the new V2.0 GPS system. -1- Physical appearance The V2.0 GPS will fit in a 38 mm rocket. The unit also has an additional 10-pole boxed connector similar to the serial connector of the R-DAS. This connector can be used for field upgrades of the firmware of the GPS as well as future features such as stand-alone operation. -2- New features - Will fit in a 38 mm rocket - Field upgradable Firmware - LED indication of number of satellites - Serial output for future options (such as stand-alone operation) - Optional battery back-up for faster GPS lock at power-up -3- LED's The interpretation of the LED's is as follows: 1) When powered up: the GPS enters a bootloader mode. In this mode, the green LED is always on and the red LED is off. 2) During bootmode: when new GPS firmware is detected at the serial port of the GPS board, the red LED starts flashing. 3) When no new firmware is uploaded: Bootmode is ended after 3 seconds. Normal mode is entered. 4) In normal mode: First a self check is done. If this fails, both LED's will be on immediately after bootmode. If this happens try to upload new GPS firmware. 5) During normal mode: The LED's have the following function - RED off: initialising one flash: ready for take-off two flashes: flying - GREEN off: no satellites one flash: 1D view two flashes: 2D view on: 3D/3D+ view -4- Operation 1) Configure the GPS using R-DAS user interface (Configure -> Configure R-DAS menu) and select 'Enable GPS' on the GPS tab. Make sure the rest of configuration is OK, and select 'Store Configuration'. 2) Install the R-DAS, GPS and antenna in your rocket. Make sure your power supply has sufficicient capacity to power the electronics. The R-DAS+GPS+antenna use about 200 mA. A NiCd/NiMh battery pack is recommended. 3) Install the rocket on the launcher. 4) When ready to fly, switch on the electronics. 5) Wait for the GPS to obtain a lock. The GREEN LED indicates the number of satellites in view. When a 3D(+) lock is obtained, the R-DAS will notify you by a three-tone signal. 6) Launch the rocket. 7) After recovery, the R-DAS data is downloaded. The user interface will then ask if the GPS data should also be downloaded. Select 'get index'. Only one flight will be shown. Select this record and then select 'download'. The data will now be downloaded. 8) The GPS data can be viewed in the 'GPS' tab of the user interface. A 3D trajectory plot is available in the '3D' tab. There is no need to erase the data anymore with the V2.0 hardware. The FLASH is automatically erased at the next lift-off. The definition of the flight phases is as follows: 0: waiting for lift-off 1: lift-off detected, flying 10: drogue parachute has been deployed 11: main parachute has been deployed -5- Tech tip The version of the GPS bootloader and GPS firmware can be viewed by plugging the R-DAS serial cable in the serial port of the GPS. Select the terminal view from the User Interface, and switch on the GPS. The output should look like: GPSboot v1.0 *VERSION: GPS-rdas v2.1 *READY