Difference between revisions of "Cube firmware updating and communication"

Introduction

The firmware on the Cube can be updated in two ways: Via a direct USB connection to a PC or through the Jetson module over UART. This guide describes both methods. When updating through USB, the process is the same as one would do on the default Pixhawk carrier board and this method is therefore compatible with any autopilot software. For the UART method we describe how to do the update for Ardupilot.

Firmware update over USB (through host PC)

Imporant: To update over USB you must use the "USB"-connector on the board (see diagram and printing on the board itself, not to be confused with "USB-0"), and not the USB port of the Cube itself.

1. Connect your PC to the cube through the "USB"-connection (not "USB-0") using the provided JST-GH-USB cable.
2. Power on the board, your PC should recognize the Cube
3. Use a standard installation method (using for example Mission Planner, APMPlanner, or QGroundControl) to install the firmware:

   Ardupilot: Mission Planner instructions, APM Planner instructions, QGroundControl instructions

   PX4: QGroundControl instructions

Firmware update over UART (through Jetson)

This method can be done 'in situ', meaning that it does not require opening the drone to install a cable to the carrier board. Instead, the update is done over the integrated UART-connection between the Jetson module and the Cube. To use this method, it is required that the currently running firmware on the Cube is configured to communicate over Mavlink on SERIALXXX.

1. Connect to your Jetson (through e.g. Wifi, ethernet, serial) and open a session (ssh or a terminal in remote desktop)
2. Get the uploader script from the ardupilot repository:

   $ wget "https://github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot/raw/master/Tools/scripts/uploader.py"

3. Install required modules XXX