Multi-point Telemetry

In this tutorial, the objective is to make the setup which allows to communicate with multiple telemetry modules using a single base telemetry module. The use case is a single telemetry module (e.g. 3DR or RFD900) is connected to ground station that runs QGroundControl that monitors/controls a fleet of drones. Each drone has a single telemetry module. So, it’s one-to-many network.

We will need the SiK_Multipoint.

Installation

Install required packages.

On Mac,

brew install sdcc

On Ubuntu,

sudo apt update; sudo apt install sdcc

Clone the SiK package and switch to branch

cd ~
mkdir ~/src
cd ~/src
git clone https://github.com/RFDesign/SiK.git
cd SiK
git checkout SiK_Multipoint

Make and install,

cd SiK/Firmware
make install

Upload Firmware to the radio

Change the serial port name

tools/uploader.py --port /dev/tty.usbserial-CHANGETHIS dst/radio~hm_trp.ihx

Note

If you get errors, try to update pyserial module

Device Configuration

Start command mode,

screen /dev/tty.usbserial-CHANGETHIS 57600 8N1

then type,

+++

Wait one second before you type anything

To list all editable parameters type,

ATI5

To change a paramter use,

ATS<parameternumber>=<value>

Make sure you save by typing,

AT&W
  • Set MAVLINK=1
  • Set NODECOUNT to the number of used telemetry modules
  • There must be a base module with NODEID=0
  • Put base node in broadcast mode by setting NODEDESTINATION=65535
  • All other nodes should to talk to base only by setting NODEDESTINATION=0

Warning

Make sure that you save parameters after each set using AT&W. Otherwise, parameters changes won’t survive restes.