BeagleBone Blue

Howto use BeagleBone Blue with ArduPilot

Hardware

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Receiver

Since 17.01.2018 you can use the DSM2 connector or connector E4 pin 4 on your BealgeBone Blue.

Before 17.01.2018 the RC receiver signal has to be connected to connector E4 pin 4. This pin is a multi protocol pin (S.BUS, PPM-Sum, Spektrum Satellit DSM), the protocol will be automatically detected. Make sure the signal does not exceed 3.3 volts, otherwise your BeagleBone Blue can be damaged.

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Tested receiver

Name	Protocol	DSM2 connector	E4 connector (pin 4)	Voltage divider needed
FrSky X8R	SBUS	not tested	working	no, 3.3V output
FrSky X6R	SBUS	not tested	working	no, 3.3V output
OrangeRx Satellite Receiver	DSM	working	not tested	no, 3.3V output

PWM / Servo

If you connect servos to the BeagleBone Blue then keep in mind that power is not applied by default because it is not necessary for ESCs. To enable power add: /bin/echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio80/value to /etc/rc.local.

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GPS

I recommend to use a u-blox M8N GPS. Connect the GPS to the GPS connector. Make sure the signal does not exceed 3.3 volts, otherwise your BeagleBone Blue can be damaged.

Software

You can follow this guide, but @imfatant has written a realy great ArduPilot Blue beginners guide https://github.com/imfatant/test.

Prepare BeagleBone Blue

Update software: sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
Install software: sudo apt install -y bb-cape-overlays cpufrequtils
Set clock to 1GHz: sudo sed -i 's/GOVERNOR="ondemand"/GOVERNOR="performance"/g' /etc/init.d/cpufrequtils
Update scripts: cd /opt/scripts && sudo git pull
Maximize the microSD card's existing partition: sudo /opt/scripts/tools/grow_partition.sh
Install RT Kernel 4.9: sudo /opt/scripts/tools/update_kernel.sh --ti-rt-channel --lts-4_9
Specify device tree binary to be used at startup: sudo sed -i 's/#dtb=/dtb=am335x-boneblue.dtb/g' /boot/uEnv.txt
Reboot system: sudo reboot

Prebuild ArduPilot

Download ready compiled ArduPilot file from http://bbbmini.org/download/blue/
Copy file via SCP or microSD on your BeagleBone Blue

Run ArduPilot

ArduCopter:
sudo /home/debian/arducopter (plus parameter)

ArduPlane:
sudo /home/debian/arduplane (plus parameter)

ArduRover:
sudo /home/debian/ardurover (plus parameter)

Parameter mapping:

start parameter	ArduPilot serial port
-A	SERIAL0
-B	SERIAL3
-C	SERIAL1
-D	SERIAL2
-E	SERIAL4
-F	SERIAL5

Check http://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/parameters.html#serial0-baud-serial0-baud-rate to set the right value for SERIALx_BAUD and SERIALx_PROTOCOL

To connect a MAVLink groundstation with IP 192.168.178.26 add -C udp:192.168.178.26:14550

To use MAVLink via radio connected to UART4 add -C /dev/ttyO4.

If there is a GPS connected to UART5 add -B /dev/ttyO5.

Example: MAVLink groundstation with IP 192.168.178.26 on port 14550 and GPS connected to /dev/ttyO5 UART5.

sudo /home/debian/arducopter-quad -C udp:192.168.178.26:14550 -B /dev/ttyO5

Example: MAVLink groundstation via radio connected to UART4 and GPS connected to /dev/ttyO5 UART5.

sudo /home/debian/arducopter-quad -B /dev/ttyO5 -C /dev/ttyO4

License

<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/4.0/88x31.png" /></a><br /><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" property="dct:title">BeagleBone Blue ArduPilot</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://github.com/mirkix" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Mirko Denecke</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.

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