I plan on building a few Rovers using a Beagle Bone Blue (I already have 2). Reading through tutorials now I am not sure if a R/C Radio/Receiver is needed, I do not plan on using it opting for autonomous control if possible. A radio system is not an issue as I already have a 6ch,9ch and 18ch radio setup.
First, I have tried to setup a ESC with radio/receiver with the BBBlue (ESC’s plugged into receiver) but moving the ESC’s to the BBBlue terminals I can not control with MP. I do plan on using an actual motor controller later as I do not really need a ESC, I’ll probably be using more voltage and amps.
Second, I read an article one time about the BBBlue having issues running ESC’s, is there a setting to get them to be recognized by the board?
But if a Radio/Receiver is not required, I definitely would love to bypass it completely.
You should configure an RC transmitter and receiver for initial testing and tuning. Thereafter, you may find it unnecessary.
Good luck with the BBB. I found it fascinating but frustrating and have pretty much given up on it as an ArduPilot platform (though it is technically capable…I just lack the patience to solve all of its idiosyncrasies).
The main question with blue and rover is the motor control.
I made a driver for the lm298 but I gave up and bought some Chinese brushed esc and everything is working fine with 2 rovers and a third is with ardurover + ros.
Yea, I have had BBBlue for several years. I finally got it working just the other week by accident. I had it on a shelf, but now it seems I have gone to far to give up now:) I am hard headed:)…
I guess for initial testing and tuning makes sense. Just seems setting up the connections for the R/C was getting more problematic than it should have been.
I think that is my problem, my ESC’s are very old. Good ones never been used, but seem to not be recognized by BBB. If you didn’t have to do anything other than plug them in, then it should be as easy fix for me.
Just for checking I have seen two locations for connecting the receiver, which is why I want to forget it. Which connector did you plug the receiver into? I have actually seen/read in documentation 3 different places. Currently in a encoder plug for me at the moment.
Simply connect it on E4-4 as explained here, provided that the signal must come from a circuit supplied at 3.3V (if not, insert a 2/3 voltage divider). Aditionally, execute echo pruecapin_pu > /sys/devices/platform/ocp/ocp:P8_15_pinmux/state or config-pin P8_15 pruecapin_pu.
The BBBlue has four connectors for DC motors (M1 to M4) which are the horizontal segments (bidirectional) of H bridges inside two TB6612FNG drivers, with around 1A capability (supplied through V_BATT on LIPO connector). Possibly this is not enough for a rover, so possibly you can connect them to a L298, but I don’t know what parameters are needed to inform ArduRover that you have DC motors on M1 to M4 requiring PWM signal
Not having enough AUX pins on a Pixhawk1 mounted on a balance bot, I inserted an inverter as TTL glue before the L298. It works.
Actually the link you provided states to connect to E4-4 or the DSM connector. Since the E4-4 is not working for me, I was planning on trying the DSM with my radio. Once I get these blasted tiny connectors built. I have not considered the voltage of the signal, but my receiver is more than 3.3V so it is powered separately. But this is why I asked if the receiver/radio is needed, I seem to be tracking down an issue I do not need to be worried about as I will never use it. I would rather just skip the whole setup.
I did plan on using something like a L298 for a driver. I should be able to use the same physical connections as a ESC for skid steering. Would provide the forward and reverse signals needed. In theory:). And yes, I am going to need a lot more than 1A, already planning on pushing 60V to the mower blades. But the prototype I am building will be simple and 1A would be plenty, but need to plan for expansion.
What is the receiver you will be using ?
I had several problems with receivers. The only one is working fine is FrSky X8R and the major problem is the voltage level. I don’t know why, but for PRU is necessary 3.3 volts to ensure the High level and to use other receivers, I’m using a level shifter to ensure this.
It’s not possible to use the internal l298 for blue with arducopter, because to use the l298 you need to have a pwm pulse - what is in case of ardupilot + blue is generated by a PRU program to generated it + 2 gpio pins and in case, this gpio pins is the major problem, because in the boot process you can’t control the behavior of this pins - in my case this pins was in a state that I was having an erratic problem - until the ardupilot starts - the one motor was spinning so was a mess.
That is the reason I left the l298 and start to use a brushed pwm.
That kinda confirms what I was reading in another post last night that there was an issue with startup with the wpm on BBB. I have a ESC that can provide about 90amps I think. Expensive as I would need two, but if ti works, then maybe worth checking out.
I am using two receivers at the moment, both Spektrums AR636 and a AR9020. Radios are Futaba 18X, 9X and I also have a 6X I have used.Not sure if the AS3X technology on the AR636 is interfering or not with operation. These are simply equipment I had out of large scale planes which I had to stop flying due to neck surgeries.
Here you can see how to control pwm pins at boot: soldering pull downs (such as 10K to 100K). In fact, leaving PWM1/PWM2 unconnected the motors rotated at full speed for ever after power on, corresponding to open=high.
You could also take a poll off a reliable pin and simply disconnect the PWM output till boot is complete. A little more complicated but more reliable. I have not looked into the whether the power out pins are powered during boot.
That is why I was looking to bypass all together. I see the list of compatible receivers, most projects also have a list of known non-compatible, which would help narrow down the issue if others have found problems with them.
Gonna try one more time. I found that the BBB does not like or perhaps ardurover does not like using ESC with brake, mine was set for F-Br-R, changing to F/R and see if it makes a difference.
I believe the receivers are not working because the 3.3 volts.maybe a shift leveler can solve the issue as the Radiomaster R161 and R168 - I have both working with the leveler.
The pru just generate pwm pulses, what you active the break ?
I have some ESC- like pololu esc and some didn’t work because to ardurover, the stop is the neutral value - 1500 - and if the esc cannot deal with that, will not work
