Marvelmind Beacon HW v4.9, User Manual

Page 1: ...1 Marvelmind Indoor Navigation System Operating instructions for beacon V2017_05_02 www marvelmind com User Manual Beacon HW v4 9 915MHz ...

Page 2: ...e Dashboard 12 4 3 Using the system after the very first setup 16 5 Interfaces 17 5 1 Beacon HW v4 9 external interface 4x4 pinout 18 6 Advanced system settings and optimization 19 6 1 Using oscilloscopes 19 6 1 1 Monitor ultrasonic signal from one beacon to another 19 6 1 2 Proper ultrasonic signal detection 20 6 2 Using hedgehog log file 21 6 3 Important aspects and hints 22 6 4 Deep hints 23 6 ...

Page 3: ...rasonic beacons united by radio interface in license free band Location of a mobile beacon installed on a robot vehicle copter human VR is calculated based on the propagation delay of ultrasonic signal Time Of Flight or TOF to a set of stationary ultrasonic beacons using trilateration Key requirement for the system to function properly is An unobstructed sight by a mobile beacon of three or more s...

Page 4: ...ons Beacons form the navigation system automatically no manual coordinates measurements or entering required except of height Sensor 4 to sensor 4 direct line all other sensors are disabled Parameter Technical Specifications Distance between beacons Up to 50 meters Recommended 30 meters Transducer4 to Transducer4 looking straight to each other and other transducers are off Coverage area Up to 1000...

Page 5: ...m 3 1 What s in the box Starter Set 4xStationary beacons 1xMobile beacon aka hedgehog Deleted part Exact appearance may wary depending on the Hardware version Characteristics are kept the same or better unless specially noted ...

Page 6: ...architecture Marvelmind Indoor Navigation System provides high precision 2 cm indoor coordinates for autonomous robots and systems indoor GPS Brief description of the key elements of the system is given on scheme below ...

Page 7: ...7 3 3 Indoor GPS beacon s inside view ...

Page 8: ...at maximum coverage in ultrasonic is provided for the maximum territory Proper ultrasonic coverage is the utmost important element for the system to function effectively Stationary beacons emit and receive ultrasound when the map is being formed And they only receive the ultrasound when the map is formed and frozen Stationary beacons have no exterior difference with mobile beacons Inertial measure...

Page 9: ...in one or more mobile beacons Current implementation relies on time division multiple access approach Thus if two mobile beacons are activated they share the time It means that if 16 Hz update rate is selected and there are 2 mobile beacons in the system each beacon s location will be updated with the rate of 16Hz 2 8Hz If there are 3 mobile beacons 16Hz 3 5Hz etc Future SW implementation will con...

Page 10: ... beacon in this mode and to not touch the DIP switch at all unless you want to store the beacon on the shelf Then the mode 1 is better and recommended 3 Power ON DFU ON DFU programming mode It is used for the very initial SW uploading or when the HEX SW cannot be uploaded from the Dashboard for some reasons Charge your board from USB Charging is done automatically every time when the USB charger i...

Page 11: ...1 1 Unpack the system Watch the help video https youtu be IyXB3UXHdeQ Note that the video is shot for the previous HW version 4 5 4 1 2 Check that your board is charged see that all switches on beacons are in the correct position See paragraph detailed description and charging 4 1 3 If LED is not blinking it means your board is turned off please check the position of DIP switch again if everything...

Page 12: ...ases 4 2 5 While beacon is connected to the Dashboard press Default button to upload the default settings 4 2 6 Write down and use later the beacon s address or change the address to your convenience as shown here 4 2 7 Press RESET button on your beacons after programming 4 2 8 After programming devices with the latest software beacons are ready for use Place stationary beacons on the walls vertic...

Page 13: ... beacons on the map scroll it so you will be able to find their addresses 4 2 10 Also double click on the device to go into sleeping mode and double clicking to wake up 4 2 11 The map will form automatically and zoom in automatically 4 2 12 If the map does not form well Check the Table of distances in the left corner of the Dashboard Cells must be colored in white it means the distances between st...

Page 14: ...he problems with those beacons are Try to re position them because usually there is an obstruction of some sort in the between the beacons Reset them Use View Table of distances to monitor the measured distances between beacons 4 2 13 Freeze the map by clicking the button Stationary beacons will stop measuring relative distances and will be ready to measure distance from the mobile beacon s ...

Page 15: ... off or some ultrasonic or radio settings are different You can change the settings for sensors manually by clicking on the panel in the right corner of the dashboard and make grey cells green to turn on sensor But for starting it is very much recommended to use default settings on all beacons 4 2 16 After you froze the map of stationary beacons wake up the mobile beacon After it wakes up it will ...

Page 16: ...16 4 3 Using the system after the very first setup 4 3 1 To be described in another manual ...

Page 17: ...t copter VR There are two different ways to get mobile beacons location data from the system From mobile beacons o Each mobile beacon knows its own position and doesn t know position of other mobile beacons List of supported interfaces is shown below More on the interfaces can be found on the link http marvelmind com Interfaces ...

Page 18: ...18 5 1 Beacon HW v4 9 external interface 4x4 pinout ...

Page 19: ...Dashboard View Oscilloscope to monitor ultrasonic signal from one beacon to another It is a very powerful tool because it gives also information on the background noise level of the signal echo With this tool it is easy to set up the proper ultrasonic threshold in the Dashboard Use this tool to set up the proper ultrasonic threshold in the Dashboard Echo External noise looks similarly Thus choose ...

Page 20: ...ntify the beacons that are affected Usually they are those that the closest to the source of noise 2 manually reduce the gain of the affected stationary beacons so that the signal from the mobile beacon has 1000 1800 amplitude That would give the best signal to noise ratio Don t make the gain too high The noise will be amplified but the desired signal will be saturated and signal to noise ratio wi...

Page 21: ...21 6 2 Using hedgehog log file System automatically records all measured positions in hedgehog log file that is stored in the same folder as the Dashboard exe file ...

Page 22: ...they cover 360 degrees horizontally and upper hemisphere Lower hemisphere is highly attenuated so don t expect ultrasonic coverage in that area It is advised to place the mobile beacon as high as possible on the robot if stationary beacons are above the mobile beacon to minimize shadows from other objects people etc Example of proper positioning of the mobile beacon https youtu be PFgNPkLGCDk the ...

Page 23: ...to a long horizontal metal tube may result in the following Sound emitted from the beacon propagates directly to the metal tube Propagation loses inside metal are much smaller than in the air Moreover the tube may act as a low loss waveguide If the tube is solid enough and long enough there may be a weird effect when the receiving beacon receives the signal sooner than expected i e sooner than the...

Page 24: ... gives 2y shelf time with a regular 1000mAh battery Beacon can be woken up from deep sleep only by pressing HW reset button In regular sleeping mode the beacons wake up automatically every 2 seconds That brings some additional consumption but still leaves several months in sleep mode Active mode work time directly depends on the location update rate For example With the standard 1000mAh battery an...

Page 25: ...25 6 6 Different colors in the Dashboard menu To be added in the next Manual release 6 7 Ultrasonic coverage To be added in the next Manual release 6 8 Submaps To be added in the next Manual release ...

Page 26: ...tions may cause harmful interference to radio communications However there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures Reori...