Pixhawk 2.1 cube(black) to FT technologies (FT205) wind sensor integration PLEASE HELP

I have been given an FT205 wind sensor to add to my multi rotor (modified DJI900). I can’t seem to find any information on how or what I need to do to integrate this hardware into my Pixhawk 2.1 cube. It is my current understanding that this sensor is meant to passively collect and store wind data on board and then be view after landing.

My task and end goal for this addition is to set this up so that it will collect the data and transmit it to the ground station to be viewed in real time. My current thoughts are that I need some sort of data logger to plug it into then have that connected into my cube. Once sent to the ground station I think that I would then need a way to unpack that information so that the FT Technologies ACU-TEST software can process it.

Please let me know if I’m on the right track. If anyone has solved this or a similar issue. I am also unfamiliar with what products I should pair with the cube and wind sensor for the most reliable operation.

My current configuration is as follows:
Pixhawk 2.1 cube
RFD900 telemetry radios
Futaba R7000SB 2.4Ghz Fasst
Futaba 14SG or 18MZ
Here2+ GPS
Mauch 3 power core
Battery : 16k MAh or 22k MAh
Mission planner software

I am open to any and all ideas the product link is below

https://fttechnologies.com/wind-sensors/lightweight/ft205/

Thanks,

Jake

That sensor is capable of spitting out nmea0183, , so https://github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot/blob/master/libraries/AP_WindVane/AP_WindVane_NMEA.cpp might “just work” so far as the sensor is concerned.
At present only rover (sailboats) include that driver though, so you need to pull it into copter.

What kind of hardware is recommended for that setup ? Other than the pixhawk and the wind sensor? Also I’m not familiar with adding code to the pixhawk. Can you provide any information on that ?

This is the sensor: https://calypsoinstruments.com/shop/product/ultrasonic-wired-standard-81
But I wouldn’t go racing out to replace the one you’ve got.
@iampete can give you a better rundown on the setup.
Re adding code, start here: http://ardupilot.org/dev/docs/learning-the-ardupilot-codebase.html
Then jump onto the Gitter channel when you get stuck :wink:
You could also raise a feature request via the issues list in GitHub, but no guarantees about when it might get done.
Do you actually need to integrate the data from the sensor into some sort of behaviour, or just log the data?

James thanks so much.

I am looking to view/log on the data real time from the ground station while the vehicle is flying it’s mission.

Hi Jake,

Looks as though it would be supported under the windvane library, although I cant say for sure as there documentation is password protected. The library looks for the ‘MWV’ message so if it uses that then it will work.

This is how I have wired up my NMEA based sensor

So far they are only supported on rover master so your best bet would be to flash that and see if you can get it working there. Then it would fairly straight forward to include the library into copter for logging, slightly more work to report back in real-time and quite abit of work to use the new sensor within the code, ie as a airspeed type sensor for navigation or to take some decision based on its value

Thanks I’ll look into that and let you know

Jake

Any update on how this integration went for you? I am similarly trying to integrate the FT205EV into my autopilot repo. Was hoping to know at the highest level if it worked for you, that being viewing the data in real time in a mission planner, before i start getting to the really low level integration.
Thanks