I’ve got a Benwake TFmini-s installed which works well but there are a couple of issues with the data display. On the mission planner HUD screen the information overlays another parameter and is badly positioned on the default screen. Is there a way to move positions of user data?
What I really want is a way to get that information into my VTX OSD, or a pixhawk compliant OSD that can do that. I’m currently using a Holybro MicroOSD V2 - the editing program is ArduCAM OSD Config but doesn’t have a parameter for range finder?
Bit of a bodge, but still no way of getting that parameter into OSD. No response whatsoever to my message regarding Arducam OSD. I can only assume that is a dead application and no longer supported by the lack of activity on it for years
The screen positions should ideally be editable by user, as they are in Arducam OSD and MWOSD.
it‘s been years without active development on long deprecated 328p-type OSD hardware.
there is ardupilot onboard OSD now, as for now it runs on boards with onboard 7456-type video chipsets only.
as a matter of fact, i have a local branch with a RNGFD panel added: https://github.com/vierfuffzig/ardupilot/tree/PR_RNGFD
if you have respective hardware available, you might build a fw from this branch.
however i’m not sure how much value that panel really adds. it‘s nice to see RNGFD readings on landing approach, but what you really want to know is how target alt is handled, and you‘ll likely want to check that in your flight logs.
No just the one 12m range LIDAR at the front. It’s capable of turning tank style on the spot even though it’s wheeled and it’s not been a problem so far negotiating obstacles except for distance in confined areas. The camera is a wide angle, low light unit, IR capable also and the vision is good, it will have pan, tilt and level too, when I’ve finalized the mount design, but the wide angle lens distorts the image and it’s hard to judge any accurate distance with it. The 1m minimum avoidance distance is too far for anything but RTH on open ground. Control is Cube black on a Pixhawk 2.1 mount and uses Here2 GPS on CAN. It’s not practical to be looking at a laptop, even though I have full telemetry onboard and can remotely configure it etc. It’s intended use is as a remotely moveable (if needed) game/surveillance system in agricultural and forestry areas mainly at night, last thing you need is the light off a laptop screen and all the leds are enclosed or switched off
all i can offer is a rangefinder panel for the current ardupilot onboard OSD, but that likely isn’t particularly helpful with regard to your hardware choice.
if you’re familiar with arduino, adding that panel to your osd code will likely be your best bet,
I’m not very familiar with arduino or any other type of coding to be honest, I can modify well documented code, recompile and load it as firmware but that’s about my limit. I’m a hardware guy by trade.
wow, excellent find! i got a load of old standalone osd hardware collecting dust, might give that a try.
most likely it’s the usual 328p on the holybro board.
this wasn’t exactly trivial though. the mavlink rangefinder option has been added 2 yrs ago and obviously isn’t supported on current relase version anymore.
what i did was:
git checkout 2bf8277d32f432b86c9916a8a35724c1c9ec2077
set the required defines (hardware type, protocol etc) and, most importantly, uncomment: #define MAVSENSORGPSACTIVE 5 and #define MAVSENSOR173
code builds fine on current arduino.
for setup you’ll need to use GUI version 1.8, it’s in the respective git repo if you checkout the above hash. it’s pretty picky about using the matching GUI.
you’ll want to set the GPS altitude panel active (it isn’t by default). it will display rangefinder distance while GPS alt is below what you’ve set MAVSENSORGPSACTIVE to.
in you’r special rover usecase you might want to det this to a very high value as you want to keep displaying RNGF no matter what altitude.
Thanks for that - I’ll have a look when the spare arrives. I may have some questions For instance, I dont understand the git checkout bit? Where do I put that?
Well I spent about six hours trying every conceivable permutation to install MWOSD with no luck. Tried the firmware you sent. According to a Vid on Youtube it’s an Arduino Pro 5V 16Mhz with ATMega 328. Ardupilot OSD will connect and write firmware no problem, MWOSD or Arduino IDE fail and cant write to it? The little red com Led stops flickering with both but on Ardupilot it stays active and flashes brightly when writing. It uses DTR and I suspect that’s where the error lies? Here’s the error from Arduino.
i’m using arduine IDE 1.8.13 with the following upload options:
FTDI with DTR connected. for me MWOSD actually was the first code EVER in roughly a decade that compiled and flashed without any issues at first try without additional settings, fixes or reading required.
open MWOSD configurator
select the com port you’ve got your FTDI and OSD conected to and check baudrate is set to 57600
press “flash” button
press “load HEX fw from disk” and select the fw file i sent
press “flash FW”
red and green progress bars should fill as expected
close “flash” splash screen
go back to configurator and press “connect”
check if “read” works and returns appropriate info about fw and hardware version
if so, proceed with uploading the desired font file and adjusting your screen settings, that should be self explanatory.
if not, please drop a link to what exact holybro OSD hardware version you’ve got.
Hi basti - With MWOSD GUI V1.8 - no, exactly same behaviour I’ve seen on V1.9.1. It appears it’s working but fails on connect after it thinks it’s flashed it with “Waiting for OSD”. Hardware is Holybro Micro OSD V2. It has an AT7456E and an ATMEL 328P on it. I’ve ordered another FTDI usb adapter in case that’s the problem.