Here GNSS Compass Calibration Fails on Solo

[glenn martin]

Hi,
I have OpenSolo 3.0 installed. I decided to do the GPS upgrade and put the Here GPS on. I powered on the controller and Solo, and then I got that there was magnetic interference. I was not near any metallic objects to cause this issue. I then went onto Solex to download and install the Here parameters. Rebooted, and still have the magnetic interference. I then went outside to try to do a compass cal, but that failed because it still thinks there is magnetic interference.
Any clue as to why this is happening, or what I should check?
The Solo was flying before I removed the old GPS and compass.

I tried a parameter reset through Solex and rebooted. Controller no longer says magnetic error. I did the IMU calibration and it passed. Downloaded the Here compass parameters from Solex and installed. Rebooted and tried the compass calibration. This failed.

Here are all the steps I have done and tried from stock Solo (no green cube):



1. Verified the Solo was fully functional before doing any mods.
2. Installed OpenSolo 3.0 through Solex on both the controller and Solo and got an "OK" for both.
3. Rebooted both devices, and waited about 6-7 minutes without touching anything to ensure the installation completed.
4. Paired Solo and the controller. Verified software (3.0 for both controller and Solo. 1.5.4 for cube).
4. Recalibrated the IMU and rebooted through Solex
5. Recalibrated the Compass compass through Solex and rebooted.
6. Test flew Solo to verify it was fully functional again.
7. Downloaded and Installed the Here compass parameters.
8. I went into Mission Planner and verified that compass orientation was set to 0 ( all three were 0).
9. Powered down the controller and Solo. Opened battery tray and removed old GPS and detached the leg compass.
10. Installed the Here compass and ensured both plugs were firmly seated into the GPS and compass receivers on the board.
11. Powered on Solo and the controller. The controller has message to calibrate compass. The Here is flashing yellow LEDs twice continuously.
12. Using Solex, I went outside into a wide open area, and attempted the compass calibration.
13. Started compass calibration and rotated the Solo around its axis (full turns of level, left, right, nose up, nose down, back).
14. Solex says compass calibration failed.
15.Verified I had no metallic objects that would interfere and tried again (this was the same place where I did the leg compass cal). Solex says compass calibration failed.
16. I connected to Mission Planner and verified compass orientation is set to 0 still.
17. Rebooted Solo and the controller again, and tried the compass calibration. Received a failure again.
18. Disconnected from Solex and attempted compass calibration with 3DR app. Compass calibration fails again.
19. Frustrated, I downloaded the leg compass params from Solex and installed. Powered off, opened battery tray, and reconnected leg compass. Leaving the GPS cables connected to the Here.
20. Powered back on, and attempted compass calibration through Solex with the leg compass. I got a success!
21. Solo gives me the thumbs up to fly, after getting lock with sats (using the Here GPS).

I have been through the above steps twice now,which includes the installation of the firmware.

I can fly with the old compass installed, and GPS acquisition is great, but I really would like to get the Here compass to work, too

 

[IrishmanPDX]

At this point I would double check the connections, you have to do a small bit of modification to the GPS cover to make the here fit, make sure none of the cables got pinched or cut.

Then re-install the HERE Parameters AFTER you've connected the HERE compass.

 

[XevetS]

Hi,
I have OpenSolo 3.0 installed. I decided to do the GPS upgrade and put the Here GPS on. I powered on the controller and Solo, and then I got that there was magnetic interference. I was not near any metallic objects to cause this issue. I then went onto Solex to download and install the Here parameters. Rebooted, and still have the magnetic interference. I then went outside to try to do a compass cal, but that failed because it still thinks there is magnetic interference.
Any clue as to why this is happening, or what I should check?
The Solo was flying before I removed the old GPS and compass.

I tried a parameter reset through Solex and rebooted. Controller no longer says magnetic error. I did the IMU calibration and it passed. Downloaded the Here compass parameters from Solex and installed. Rebooted and tried the compass calibration. This failed.

Here are all the steps I have done and tried from stock Solo (no green cube):



1. Verified the Solo was fully functional before doing any mods.
2. Installed OpenSolo 3.0 through Solex on both the controller and Solo and got an "OK" for both.
3. Rebooted both devices, and waited about 6-7 minutes without touching anything to ensure the installation completed.
4. Paired Solo and the controller. Verified software (3.0 for both controller and Solo. 1.5.4 for cube).
4. Recalibrated the IMU and rebooted through Solex
5. Recalibrated the Compass compass through Solex and rebooted.
6. Test flew Solo to verify it was fully functional again.
7. Downloaded and Installed the Here compass parameters.
8. I went into Mission Planner and verified that compass orientation was set to 0 ( all three were 0).
9. Powered down the controller and Solo. Opened battery tray and removed old GPS and detached the leg compass.
10. Installed the Here compass and ensured both plugs were firmly seated into the GPS and compass receivers on the board.
11. Powered on Solo and the controller. The controller has message to calibrate compass. The Here is flashing yellow LEDs twice continuously.
12. Using Solex, I went outside into a wide open area, and attempted the compass calibration.
13. Started compass calibration and rotated the Solo around its axis (full turns of level, left, right, nose up, nose down, back).
14. Solex says compass calibration failed.
15.Verified I had no metallic objects that would interfere and tried again (this was the same place where I did the leg compass cal). Solex says compass calibration failed.
16. I connected to Mission Planner and verified compass orientation is set to 0 still.
17. Rebooted Solo and the controller again, and tried the compass calibration. Received a failure again.
18. Disconnected from Solex and attempted compass calibration with 3DR app. Compass calibration fails again.
19. Frustrated, I downloaded the leg compass params from Solex and installed. Powered off, opened battery tray, and reconnected leg compass. Leaving the GPS cables connected to the Here.
20. Powered back on, and attempted compass calibration through Solex with the leg compass. I got a success!
21. Solo gives me the thumbs up to fly, after getting lock with sats (using the Here GPS).

I have been through the above steps twice now,which includes the installation of the firmware.

I can fly with the old compass installed, and GPS acquisition is great, but I really would like to get the Here compass to work, too.

I remember reading about the newer HERE Modules not working properly with open Solo 1.5.4 I'll try to dig it up

stay tuned......

here is the thread where I remember reading this, solo stability problems
its an older thread so there might be a fix already?

And here is a Quote from @IrishmanPDX as per Matt
solo stability problems

 

[IrishmanPDX]

So yeah, the last official direct quote from P2P that I saw about this was

"If you're using the stock cube, the old version of ArduCopter does not have the driver for the new version of the HERE, and it never will. So for the time being, stock cubes will require the older version of the HERE. If you're running Open Solo on the green cube, you have ArduCopter 3.5.4, and it has the driver for the new version of the HERE already. But, you would need to manually change the COMPASS_ORIENT parameter to something else since it is not 0 anymore. ArduCopter 3.5.5 has recently been released, and has that orientation fix baked into it, meaning the COMPASS_ORIENT parameter should be 0 again. This is **not** baked into Open Solo, and I haven't put 3.5.5 up on Solex or SidePilot yet"

"That said, the required slew rate protection will *probably* be added to ArduCopter master in the near future. That would allow everyone, stock or green, to run ArduCopter master and solve all our worldly problems. There is no date, but it's been discussed and likely to happen."

That was back in Feb 2018, I'm pretty sure he's got new and updated information and he's probably posted it here or on the Facebook page, but you'll need to hunt for it.

 

[XevetS]

LOL just quoted you on this see above....

 

[IrishmanPDX]

I remember reading about the newer HERE Modules not working properly with open Solo 1.5.4 I'll try to dig it up

stay tuned......

here is the thread where I remember reading this, solo stability problems
its an older thread so there might be a fix already?

And here is a Quote from @IrishmanPDX as per Matt
solo stability problems

LOL just quoted you on this see above....

Yeah and now I see that you found the proper orientation for the HERE!

UPDATE: Here are the values for the newer HERE as long as its facing upright and forward,
Compass_Orient value from 0 to 26
or ROTATION_PITCH_180_YAW_90

 

[XevetS]

Oh yeah I did post that sheesh I'm getting old man....

I never received any feedback on that though, maybe the OP can give it a try and report back?
But if it flies back to china I disavow ever posting that nonsense after all I'm old and senile...

 

[IrishmanPDX]

Of course, doesn't solve the issue that Glenn Martin is having, not sure if he has a stock cube or a green cube, but if he's on a stock cube, at least we know what the issue is!

 

[glenn martin]

I have the stock cube with 1.5.4

If I change the compass params to the below, will that make my Here work? Or am I stuck with having to update to the Green cube? How would I know if I have a newer version of Here (I do not have the Here 2)?


Compass_Orient value from 0 to 26
or ROTATION_PITCH_180_YAW_90

 

[IrishmanPDX]

Take a look at the HERE and see if there's a small "+" or a "2" symbol beside it.

 

[XevetS]

If I change the compass params to the below, will that make my Here work?

Why not try it? If it passes all the calibrations with those parameters and it's oriented in the proper direction in mission planner and you receive the required number of satellites and it arms it will work...try it and report back, make sure you remove the props and give it a dry run before flying it....

 

[IrishmanPDX]

I thought the issue was that the stock cube couldn't run the latest version of ArduCopter and therefore didn't have a driver to recognize the new HERE. If he had the older version of the HERE, than uploading the HERE parameters surely would have worked?

 

[XevetS]

Yeah well it will not work with a stock cube, i misread the OP thought he was running a green cube? the only option @glenn martin has is to run the 3.7 dev arducopter on the stock cube which will have the drivers baked in.. (see Matts sig. P2P ) Or buy a green cube and install open solo 3.5.4
If using the 3.7 DEV version the compass orient should once again be 0.....Good luck

see this here >>> OpenSolo/documentation

 

[glenn martin]

The Here I have does not have the "+" or "2" next to the name.

Cables for the Here are fine. The LEDs work when the compass cable is plug into the board, and I do get GPS lock.

I still get GPS lock from the Here when I have the leg compass plugged in and calibrated. Its that I can't calibrate the compass on the Here when it's compass cable is plugged in instead of the leg compass.

@XevetS when you say, "...and it's oriented in the proper direction in mission planner...," what does that mean?

Unless I am misinterpreting the responses, sounds like changing these params will not help in my current configuration with the stock cube at 1.5.4, and I'll have to get the green cube or update stock to dev 3.7 in order to get the compass to calibrate on the Here. Correct?

I appreciate everyone's help on this issue!

 

[XevetS]

Try this in mission planner look for SYSID_SW_MREV and set it to 0 hit write, (this resets all parameters on the Pixhawk) Now reboot the solo and reconnect to the controller it will ask you to calibrate but first reinstall the parameters for the HERE through Solex or through mission planner buy setting the compass orient to 0 and Reboot again.... Perform the level and compass calibrations and see what you get...

If its an older HERE it should work, otherwise it is either a newer HERE or a defective older one? You can also perform a continuity check on the HERE connection cable to make sure it is ok...

 

[glenn martin]

@XevetS
I could not set SYSID_SW_MREV to 0. It is a read-only value, according to Mission Planner.
However, I did the reset through Solex when I could not change this value, and rebooted Solo.
I then downloaded the Here compass parameters from Solex and rebooted.
I connected to Mission Planner and verified compass orientation is set to 0, for all three.
I then did the IMU cal, and rebooted.
Took the Solo outside, and tried the compass cal.
Compass calibration failed.
Rebooted, and tried again. Same thing. Compass cal fails.

Cables are OK

Attached are my parameters

Software I am running:
Autopilot 1.5.4
OpenSolo 3.0 for controller
OpenSolo 3.0 for Solo

 

[glenn martin]

Just for grins, I did try setting the orientation to 26, as mentioned earlier.
No bueno, there too.

Good thing still is that I am able to fly the Solo with the leg compass and using the Here GPS, after reconnecting the leg compass and doing param reset and cal - leg compass calibrates, no problem. I get super quick lock on to 15 sats! But, not fancy lights on the disc.

But, would like to get the compass to work on this darn thing.

I guess my next step is to put a green cube in.
I do have one, but wanted to solve the Here problems first, before dropping another mod in, just to make sure it works.

 

[XevetS]

I guess my next step is to put a green cube in.

The green cube will not solve your issue unless its a newer HERE, the reason you could not set the parameter in Mission planner is because you did not check the advanced user drop down it's setup as basic out of the box..

 

[glenn martin]

Planner layout was enabled for Advanced. Connected Solo again to planner and tried to change that variable. Still getting that it is read-only and nothing new will be written to it. But, if all this does is reset the parameters, then I have been able to do that through Solex.

So, if I put the green cube in, this will not solve the problem I am having with the Here compass? Surely, others must have been able to connect the Here older version without having to step up to a green cube, and or buying the newer version of Here (+ or 2).

If green cube will not solve my problem, then what will without having to buy the newer Here?

 

[XevetS]

I have tried the older HERE on both a stock and green cube Solo, that parameter should not be read-only you should be able to reset the pixhawk, Parameter Reset — Copter documentation

I'm thinking it never resets when using Solex...Only prompts you that it does? Fire up Solex and reset the Solo, now go into mission planner and tell me what the status of SYSID_SW_MREV is i.e. whats the value?... Also another thing you can try is to turn off the internal compasses on the pixhawk to rule them out as a problem.. Advanced Compass Setup — Copter documentation

Which at this point I'm doubting is the issue? Most likely either the HERE or the Pixhawk is defective..And yes try the Green cube it may well resolve the problem...