snav_vehicles

Snapdragon Navigator (SNAV) parameter files for various vehicle configurations

Version Compatibility

The SNAV parameters in this repository are intended for particular versions of SNAV.

This README is currently snav_vehicles version 1.1.0, compatible with SNAV 1.2.38.1. For previous versions, please see the table below

SNAV Version	snav_vehicles Version
1.2.31	1.0.0
1.2.38.1	1.1.0

Getting Started with the Dragon Drone Development Kit

Hardware

You'll need 3 pieces of hardware to begin

• Dragon Drone Development Kit
• Snapdragon Flight Board
• Snapdragon Flight ESC
• Optionally, a Spektrum DX-8 and Remote Receiver can be very useful for development.

Once you have all the hardware, follow the instructions from World Electronics to assemble your drone here

Software

Make sure that you have the most up-to-date platform and flight-controller addon. Instructions can be found here. These instructions were tested with platform and addon versions 3.1.3.1.

You will also need 3 deb files from the Qualcomm Developer Network (QDN):

• Snapdragon Navigator (under SDK)
• SNAV ESC Firmware/Params (under SDK)
• Machine Vision Library (version 0.9.1)

Note the currently supported software versions for the Dragon DDK are Snapdragon Navigator 1.2.31 and MV 0.9.1

Many of the below step require the use of adb (Android Debug Bridge) for communication via usb. Make sure that your Snapdragon Flight board is connected via usb and that you have adb installed. The board will also need to be powered through the ESC. Power over USB will not start the Snapdragon Flight board.

License File

Lastly, you need a community license file from QDN: License Request

Install the flight controller

Unzip the flight controller addon file (from Intrinsyc link above) and run the install script to push the necessary files via adb

unzip Flight_3.1.3.1_qcom_flight_controller_hexagon_sdk_add_on.zip

Linux/OSX:

./installfcaddon.sh

Windows:

installfcaddon.bat

Push your deb files

Next, navigate to your downloaded deb files (from QDN) and transfer them to your board:

adb push mv_0.9.1_8x74.deb /home/linaro/
adb push snav_1.2.31_8x74.deb /home/linaro/
adb push snav-esc_1.2.0.deb /home/linaro/

Install the deb files

To install the deb files, you will have to log into a shell session on the board: adb shell

In that shell session, run the following commands. Run them individually, as you will need to type in "Yes" to agree to the license terms for each deb file.

cd /home/linaro
dpkg -i mv_0.9.1_8x74.deb
dpkg -i snav_1.2.31_8x74.deb
dpkg -i snav-esc_1.2.0.deb

To log out of the board, type Ctrl-D or type "exit"

Install License file

Navigate to your license file location and run:

adb shell "mkdir -p /opt/qcom-licenses/"
adb push snapdragon-flight-license.bin /opt/qcom-licenses/

Flash the ESC firmware/params

From this repo (snav_vehicles), you'll need to get the flash_esc_firmware.xml param file. Navigate to it and transfer it to your board:

adb push flash_esc_firmware.xml /usr/share/data/adsp/snav_params.xml

Log into the board:

adb shell

If you just installed SNAV and transferred you license, SNAV should not be running. To be certain, however, run:

sudo stop snav

Then manually start SNAV with:

sudo snav

When SNAV starts, it will read the param file provided, which tells it to flash the ESC with the firmware provided in the deb file. It will also use the ESC parameters provided for the drone's motor/prop set. This process will take approximately 30 seconds. You should hear each of the four ESCs beep, one at a time. After they are finished flashing, the motors will play a tone, and the rear LED with start flashing with the SNAV flight mode. Now stop SNAV in the terminal with Ctrl-C. Exit the adb shell (Ctrl-D or "exit").

Now the vehicle is ready for its flight parameters. From this repo (snav_vehicles), you'll need to get the dragonddk.xml param file. Navigate to it and transfer it to your board:

adb push dragonddk.xml /usr/share/data/adsp/snav_params.xml

You can now either start SNAV via upstart:

adb shell
sudo start snav

or simply restart your vehicle. SNAV should now successfully start, making a tone and flashing the LED. The last thing to do is set up the vehicle to use VIO (Visual-Inertial Odometry) for flight control. Log into the board, navigate to /etc/snav, and run configure_vio.sh:

adb shell
cd /etc/snav
./configure_vio.sh -c downward

and lastly, do a static accelerometer calibration:

adb shell
snav_calibration_manager -s

After that, it's time to start flying! Reference the User Guide (QDN) for next steps in flight testing.

If you have any questions about Snapdragon Navigator of Snapdragon Flight, you can get help on the Qualcomm Developer Network Forum.

If you'd like to use SNAV with ROS, take a look at snav_ros.

snap_cam_ros is another useful tool for interfacing with Snapdragon Flight camera through ros: snap_cam_ros