Display data send by companion computer in Mission Planner quick tab

[starter-one (Thomas E.)]

Hello guys,

I want to display sensor data send from my Arduino to Mission Planner.
In the Mavlink Inspector I can see the data but how to display it on the quick tab?
So far I think that the data from the Pixhwak gets displayed there but is there a way to display the sensor data without getting into the MP code and build a customized version of the MP?

Thanks in advance!

[Eosbandi (Andras Schaffer)]

Use NAMED_FLOAT messages they will be displayed in the quick tab with MAV_ prefix.

[starter-one (Thomas E.)]

Thanks for your advice!
Currently I’m using RAW_PRESSURE messages and I want to display several sensor values, do you think it is also possible with NAMED_FLOAT messages?

Did I get it right that Mission Planner only shows the vehicle 1 messages on the quick tab?

@Eosbandi

MAV_ prefix

Sorry but I didn’t get that

[Eosbandi (Andras Schaffer)]

You can send as many named_float as you want the first 10 (based on the name field) will be shown in the quick tab with MAV_name

[starter-one (Thomas E.)]

Sounds like a solution!

@Eosbandi

will be shown in the quick tab with MAV_name

You mean by doubleklicking on the value and selecting MAV_name?

[Eosbandi (Andras Schaffer)]

Yep.

[starter-one (Thomas E.)]

Thanks a lot that’s really very helpful!
In my view I can not choose MAV_… will it appear automatically by sending named_float messages from my companion computer?

[Eosbandi (Andras Schaffer)]

Exactly. First you need to send some data…

[starter-one (Thomas E.)]

Update:
I could display the name of my variable but the value is 0,00… The Mavlink Inspector shows the true value (wich is 123,45)… Should I configure something else in MP?

[starter-one (Thomas E.)]

@Eosbandi any idea how to fix this? The goal is very close

[Eosbandi (Andras Schaffer)]

It is working at me. I send it from a lua script…

[Yuri_Rage]

Your message is likely malformed. It could be your use of the colloquial comma rather than decimal point. Or it could be that you are sending the value in the wrong part of the data frame.

[starter-one (Thomas E.)]

@Eosbandi could you provide me your code please?
@Yuri_Rage
Maybe it’s helpful to show you my code, if I change the value from 129.8 to 129,8 I get an error message:

#include "mavlink.h"

const uint8_t pixhawk_sysid = 2;
const uint8_t pixhawk_compid = 2;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
}

void loop() {
  sendNamedValueFloat();
  //delay(1000);
}

void sendNamedValueFloat() {
  mavlink_message_t msg;

  uint32_t time_boot_ms = millis();
  const char* name = "TEST_VAL";  // Variablen Name
  float value = 120;          // Wert

  // Nachricht Packen
  mavlink_msg_named_value_float_pack(pixhawk_sysid, pixhawk_compid, &msg, time_boot_ms, name, value);

  // Nachricht schicken
  uint8_t buf[MAVLINK_MAX_PACKET_LEN];
  uint16_t len = mavlink_msg_to_send_buffer(buf, &msg);
  Serial.write(buf, len);

}

[Eosbandi (Andras Schaffer)]

Now I see what’s wrong. you sending a message with sysid 2 and component Id 2. Mission Planner handles different components separately. Use your drop-down below the connect button and select your component to display data from it. Note: this will display ONLY data from the selected component.
If you want to display the data alongside with the flight controller you have to send messages with the same sysid and component id as the flight controller.
This is not the best solution because it will generate some false packet errors on non sequential packet sequence numbers, but at least it will work.
For the best solution communicate onboard with a LUA script and send data to the GCS from the script.

[starter-one (Thomas E.)]

Unfortunately my drop down menu doesn’t show me different components (see attached image).

I changed the sysis and compid to 1 (same as the FC) but that didn’t help since there was no data on the quick tab also the variable can’t be choosen.
This is very confusing…

But you think with the LUA script it will be possible to display both, the FC and the companion computer on quick tab?

[starter-one (Thomas E.)]

For my it is not clear why I can see the name of the value (MAV_…) but it is not possible to display the float value itself…

[starter-one (Thomas E.)]

@Eosbandi

Use your drop-down below the connect button and select your component to display data from it. Note: this will display ONLY data from the selected component.

Somehow this is not possible… I can just select “COM7-1-FIXED WING”

@Eosbandi

If you want to display the data alongside with the flight controller you have to send messages with the same sysid and component id as the flight controller.

Even if I use the same comp and sys ID, I can’t see any incoming data

@Eosbandi

For the best solution communicate onboard with a LUA script and send data to the GCS from the script.

Since I’m not that experienced, could you please explain it more to me?

[Eosbandi (Andras Schaffer)]

If you send the message from another sysid then you should send heartbeat messages as well.
There are one semi solution : You can send your messages with sysid=flight controller sysid and with component id = 0 (ALL) this will show up in the drop down

> If you want to display the data alongside with the flight controller you have to send messages with the same sysid and component id as the flight controller.
Sorry I was wrong with this one, the FC will not forward messages it got with it’s own sysid and compid.

Regarding LUA, YURI have an excellent tutorial in this topic.

Unsupported Sensors? Try Arduino + Lua!

[arduino-i2c] Some of you already know my enthusiasm for ArduPilot Lua scripting, and if you’re reading this, you’ll probably pick up on it pretty quickly. When I discovered the I2C, UART, and CAN bindings, the gears started turning, wondering how well we could leverage those comms protocols to expand the ArduPilot peripheral ecosystem without requiring firmware updates and dedicated, baked-in drivers. Today, I uploaded an Arduino library to speed that endeavor along. It allows you to use a…

[Yuri_Rage]

@starter-one, I edited this post with what I hope is helpful to you and will serve as an example to others.

The Arduino sketch writes a random value in 12-bit precision along with a 0xFF header byte and rudimentary single byte checksum.

The Lua script consumes that data, checking for validity, and passes it on to the GCS as named float values.

Follow the wiki instructions to enable Lua scripting and upload the script to your autopilot as a .lua file.

For the UART in use, set:
SERIALx_PROTOCOL,28
SERIALx_BAUD,115

Arduino C++ sketch:

#define TX_RATE_HZ 10
const uint8_t HEADER_BYTE = 0xFF;

uint32_t last_update_ms = 0;
uint8_t led_state = 0;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
  uint32_t now = millis();
  if (now - last_update_ms > 1000 / TX_RATE_HZ) {
    uint16_t sensorValue = random(0, 4096);
    uint8_t checksum = highByte(sensorValue) ^ lowByte(sensorValue);
    Serial.write(HEADER_BYTE);
    Serial.write(highByte(sensorValue));
    Serial.write(lowByte(sensorValue));
    Serial.write(checksum);
    led_state ^= 1;
    digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, led_state);
    last_update_ms = now;
  }
}

Ardupilot Lua script:

local RUN_INTERVAL_MS = 50  -- 50ms == 20 Hz
local MAX_BUFFER = 128 -- prevent Lua timeout

local port = serial:find_serial(0)
local bad_frames = 0

port:begin(uint32_t(115200))
port:set_flow_control(0)

function update()
    local bytes = {}
    while port:available() > 0 do
        bytes[#bytes+1] = port:read()
        if #bytes > MAX_BUFFER then
            return update, RUN_INTERVAL_MS
        end
    end

    if #bytes ~= 4 then
        return update, RUN_INTERVAL_MS
    end

    if bytes[1] ~= 0xFF or bytes[4] ~= bytes[2] ~ bytes[3] then
        bad_frames = bad_frames + 1
        gcs:send_named_float('BAD_FR', bad_frames)
        return update, RUN_INTERVAL_MS
    end

    gcs:send_named_float('VAL', bytes[2] << 8 | bytes[3])
    gcs:send_named_float('BAD_FR', bad_frames)

    return update, RUN_INTERVAL_MS
end

return update()

[starter-one (Thomas E.)]

@Yuri_Rage Thanks a lot for your help!! That’s highly appreciated!!
And yes of course I will work more to improve my CS knowledge, that is also a helpful advice!

@Eosbandi Also big thanks to you and your efforts!!