Enabling full control of LED's

cynfab · Mar 3, 2017

With the addition of phase offset, and period, it should be possible to address the slowness of some patterns and maybe synchronization too.

human · Mar 3, 2017

cynfab said:
With the addition of phase offset, and period, it should be possible to address the slowness of some patterns and maybe synchronization too.

Actually, the synchronization was fixed by changing the frequency of the PixHawk to OreoLED sync signal. (It was supposed to be a 4000ms interval, but the PixHawk was sending it every 2000ms)

However, there appears to be a bug in the OreoLED firmware (or API mismatch) so the phase offset and period only work with the strobe pattern. I don't have an up-to-date copy of the OreoLED source to figure out why, because 3drobotics has never released it.

human · Mar 3, 2017

cynfab said:
human,
Good work.
I've developed a stand alone Android app that will control the LEDs. It started out only using the 1.3.1 version and could only do the macro based stuff, but with your mods to oreoled, it can now do a lot more. I haven't added the phase offset, period and amplitude yet.
I've noticed that the Solo can sometimes loose sync and the patterns don't always look the same. Maybe this is due to timing as to when I send the commands and some of it persists from one setup to the next. I also have not figured out what FADEOUT does.
I also added motor tests so it can spin up each motor. Not much control in the GUI yet, but the whole project is a WIP, and there is a lot of unused code from other projects lurking in the sources.
It talks directly to the Solo, no Solo app, no python or Solex needed. The commands take effect instantly when you push the "Engage" button.
If you or anyone else wants a copy of the .apk PM me and I'll e-mail it. File size is > 3Mbytes and you will have to side load it.
Sources will be available when it has more features implemented.
Attached is the README.

Awesome, I was hoping somebody would make an app. Sending the mavlink commands directly is much faster than using SSH / python.

Feel like adding some touch screen "control sticks" to your app? I've got the networking layer of Solo reverse engineered, and I'm able to fly solo without a controller by setting up Solo as an access point, and sending the right sololink packets. (The RC control doesn't use mavlink) The only problem is that its hard to fly using a CLI.

Pedals2Paddles · Mar 3, 2017

Later today I'll reflash the new stuff and see how it looks. Can I just copy the py files in rather than reflashing the firmware too?

human · Mar 3, 2017

Pedals2Paddles said:
Later today I'll reflash the new stuff and see how it looks. Can I just copy the py files in rather than reflashing the firmware too?

There's new firmware version (93.7.3) as well, so I'd recommend just using the installer to get the new versions of the scripts and the firmware.

cynfab · Mar 3, 2017

Long term goal is to be able to control the solo via my app. I've got a lot of the stuff stubbed out waiting for more round tuits.With just the macro mode I lost interest after getting the leds & motor test to work. Now with the Leds in better shape and a bit of free time I'm poking at it again.
3DR probably lost interest in the ESC & LED code once they had it working and laid off the programmers, so no bug fixes or updates.
My initial tests with the extended rgb control will only use strobe mode if the others don't work right.
Without a controller would be cool, but I would worry about range.

human · Mar 3, 2017

cynfab said:
Long term goal is to be able to control the solo via my app. I've got a lot of the stuff stubbed out waiting for more round tuits.With just the macro mode I lost interest after getting the leds & motor test to work. Now with the Leds in better shape and a bit of free time I'm poking at it again.
3DR probably lost interest in the ESC & LED code once they had it working and laid off the programmers, so no bug fixes or updates.
My initial tests with the extended rgb control will only use strobe mode if the others don't work right.
Without a controller would be cool, but I would worry about range.

Yep, the range would definitely be less. But I was thinking it would mainly be used for manual takeoffs and landing when using smart shots or flying missions. I'd like to have Solo follow me on a bike, run, or kayak without having to bring a giant controller along for the ride as well.

cynfab · Mar 3, 2017

That's a perfect use case, and should be doable.

XevetS · Mar 3, 2017

Pedals2Paddles said:
I love this stuff! Here's a quick review I did this evening. I should probably be asleep. But instead I'm tinkering with LEDs and eating thin mints.

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Awesome job Man! quick question do you have the script for the police style LED's it looks bad ass plus I want to bust my neighbors....J/K lol or at least break some chops....

Pedals2Paddles · Mar 3, 2017

XevetS said:
Awesome job Man! quick question do you have the script for the police style LED's

Thanks. This should do it:

Code:

led_control.py --color 255 0 0 --pattern siren --applyto front_right --applyto back_left --color 0 0 255 --pattern siren --applyto front_left --applyto back_right

XevetS · Mar 3, 2017

Awesome, worked perfect, red and blue color is awesome! Thanks man, ok time to bust the bad guys lol

Pedals2Paddles · Mar 3, 2017

This is for some reason not working on mine. I deleted the old files and reran the script several times to no avail. Running led_control.py, it fails in the middle of the script.

human · Mar 3, 2017

Pedals2Paddles said:
This is for some reason not working on mine. I deleted the old files and reran the script several times to no avail. Running led_control.py, it fails in the middle of the script.

That some reason is that I screwed up the latest version. I've fixed the problem, and uploaded a fixed version to github. If you redownload and run the install script, everything should be happy when you reboot.

Pedals2Paddles · Mar 4, 2017

Working great now. I love being able to change the flash rate and phase. That made a huge difference! I still need to prefix the commands with python in Solex. But I presume that's an issue with Solex. I can SSH the commands directly from my phone and laptop without and prefix.

human · Mar 4, 2017

Pedals2Paddles said:
Working great now. I love being able to change the flash rate and phase. That made a huge difference! I still need to prefix the commands with python in Solex. But I presume that's an issue with Solex. I can SSH the commands directly from my phone and laptop without and prefix.[

Thanks. I think I was finally able to fix the python / Solex issue in the latest version (0.05), which I uploaded this morning.

XevetS · Mar 4, 2017

human said:
Thanks. I think I was finally able to fix the python / Solex issue in the latest version (0.05), which I uploaded this morning.

Yes the latest version (0.05) works now in Solex without adding the python prefix, great job @human and Thanks for the hard work..

BiggityBates · Mar 5, 2017

To upgrade to 0.05, do we just need to delete the old files and rerun the new script? Sorry, I'm new.

human · Mar 5, 2017

BiggityBates said:
To upgrade to 0.05, do we just need to delete the old files and rerun the new script? Sorry, I'm new.

If you're just installing it for the first time, all you have to do is run the script.

The deleting old files was for people that were using very early versions of the program.

BiggityBates · Mar 5, 2017

human said:
If you're just installing it for the first time, all you have to do is run the script.

The deleting old files was for people that were using very early versions of the program.

I think I am using 00.4, so it wont be a first time install.... just wondering if I needed to delete any files before running the 00.5 install_led_control.sh script. Thanks again for your hard work and providing us with this wonderful firmware upgrade/LED customization package!

human · Mar 5, 2017

BiggityBates said:
I think I am using 00.4, so it wont be a first time install.... just wondering if I needed to delete any files before running the 00.5 install_led_control.sh script. Thanks again for your hard work and providing us with this wonderful firmware upgrade/LED customization package!

Running the install script should be all you need to do.