TeraBee TeraRanger Evo User manual

Instruction Manual for:
TeraRanger Evo
Connection to Pixhawk
Autopilots
Published March 2018

Table of contents:
1 Introduction
2 Compatibility table
3 Wiring Connection to Pixhawk
3.1 TeraRanger Evo wiring connection – Pixhawk 2.1
3.2 TeraRanger Evo wiring connection – Pixhawk 1
4 Setup the onboard firmware steps to follow:
4.1 PX4 – QGroundControl
4.2 ArduCopter – QGroundControl
4.3 ArduCopter – APM Planner 2
4.4 ArduCopter – Mission Planner
1 Introduction
The purpose of this document is to explain how to connect a TeraRanger Evo sensor
to a Pixhawk board through the I2C interface and how to setup PX4 or ArduPilot
firmware to enable TeraRanger Evo sensor use.
2 Compatibility table
At the time of writing, to make the TeraRanger Evo sensor work you must use the
developer build version of Arducopter or a PX4 version higher than v.1.7.0.
QGroundControl makes it easy to flash the required firmware through the advanced
settings. For APM 2 software, see here: http://firmware.ardupilot.org/. Refer to the
table below for compatibility.
Sensor Version
Firmware Version compatibility

TR-Evo
– PX4: from Flight Stack v.1.7.0 onwards
– APM: from CopterV3.6 onwards
3 Wiring Connection to
Pixhawk
3.1 TeraRanger Evo wiring
connection – Pixhawk 2.1
For brevity we will refer to TeraRanger Evo as TR-Evo. To connect a TeraRanger
Evo sensor module to Pixhawk please make sure you have a TeraRanger Evo I2C
version,composed of:
1. TR-Evo sensor
2. TR-I2C/UART backboard
3. DF13 9P to open-ended cable

To connect the sensor to the Pixhawk, please use the open-ended cable and make
your connection as shown below:
Pixhawk I2C connector ref is : JST-GH 4pins
Evo I2C backboard pins
Pixhawk 2.1 I2C port pins
Color
1 Tx

2 Rx
3 GND
4 SDA
3 SDA
Blue
5 SCL
2 SCL
Green
6
7 VCC
1 VCC
Orange
8 GND
4 GND
Black
9
Then connect the cable to the Pixhawk I2C port:

3.2 TeraRanger Evo wiring
connection – Pixhawk 1
For brevity we will refer to TeraRanger Evo as TR-Evo. To connect a TeraRanger
Evo sensor module to Pixhawk please make sure you have a TeraRanger Evo I2C
version,composed of:
1. TR-Evo sensor
2. TR-I2C/UART backboard
3. DF13 9P to open-ended cable

To connect the sensor to the Pixhawk, please use the open-ended cable and make
your connection as shown below:
Pixhawk I2C connector ref is : DF13 4pins
Evo I2C backboard pins
Pixhawk I2C port pins
Color

1 Tx
2 Rx
3 GND
4 SDA
3 SDA
Blue
5 SCL
2 SCL
Green
6
7 VCC
1 VCC
Orange
8 GND
4 GND
Black
9
Then connect the cable to the Pixhawk I2C port:

4 Setup the onboard
firmware steps to follow:
4.1 PX4 – QGroundControl
Note: Please always use the latest QGroundControl version, available from:
https://docs.qgroundcontrol.com/en/getting_started/download_and_install.html
1. Launch QGroundControl software
2. Open Vehicle setup menu and go into the Firmware tab (unplug and
replug autopilot if needed).

Select the latest stable release of PX4 Flight Stack. Press the Ok button to flash the
autopilot.Go to: Parameters/Sensor Enable
3. In the field SENS_EN_TRANGER select your TeraRanger sensor type:
● TREvo
Press Save to confirm.

4. After making sure the sensor is connected to the Pixhawk I2C port, reboot the
autopilot.
5. To verify that the sensor is operational open an Analyze Widget
(Widgets/Analyze). From the list on the left hand side select;
M1:DISTANCE_SENSOR.current_distance. The plot showing distance
measurements should indicate that the sensor is working correctly.

4.2 ArduCopter – QGroundControl
1. Go to the Firmware tab on QGroundControl (reconnect autopilot in order
to flash a new firmware). Select ArduPilot Flight Stack. In the dropdown
menu select MultiRotor – APM:Copter.
2. Go to Parameters/RNGFND and update the following fields:
● RNGFND_TYPE : 14 / TrOneI2c / TeraRangerI2C
(each of these values should work, but they might appear differently based
on the GCS software version.)

Evo 60m
Evo 600Hz
Evo 3m
RNGFND_ADDR: 49
RNGFND_ADDR: 49
RNGFND_ADDR: 49
RNGFND_MIN_CM: 50
RNGFND_MIN_CM: 75
RNGFND_MIN_CM: 10
RNGFND_MAX_CM: 6000
RNGFND_MAX_CM: 800
RNGFND_MAX_CM: 300
3. To verify that the sensor is operational open an Analyze Widget
(Widgets/Analyze). From the list on the left hand side select;
M1:DISTANCE_SENSOR.current_distance. The plot showing distance
measurements should indicate that the sensor is working correctly.

4.3 ArduCopter – APM Planner 2
Please make sure you are running the latest version of APM Planner 2, available
here: http://firmware.ardupilot.org/Tools/APMPlanner/
1. Open APM Planner. Go to Initial Setup, Instal Firmware and flash the
latest firmware of ArduPilot.
2. Click on USB device name on the right hand side and select the
appropriate Serial Port and Baud Rate for your device and pressthe
Connect button.
3. Go to Parameters/RNGFND and update the following fields:

● RNGFND_TYPE : 14 / TrOneI2c / TeraRangerI2C (each of these values
should work, but they might appear differently based on GCS software
version.) 4. Reboot the autopilot and select the GRAPHS tab. On the
right hand side you should see the messages from the autopilot. From the
list select; DISTANCE_SENSOR/current_distance:

4.4 ArduCopter – Mission Planner
Please ensure you are running the latest version of Mission Planner, available here:
http://firmware.ardupilot.org/Tools/MissionPlanner/
1. Open Mission Planner. Go to Initial Setup, Instal Firmware and flash the
latest firmware.
2. Click on USB device name on the right-hand side and select appropriate
Serial Port and Baud Rate for your device and press the Connect button.
3. Go to Parameters/RNGFND and update the following fields:
● RNGFND_TYPE : 14 / TrOneI2c / TeraRangerI2C (each of these values
should work, but they might appear differently based on GCS software
version.

Evo 60m
Evo 600Hz
Evo 3m
RNGFND_ADDR: 49
RNGFND_ADDR: 49
RNGFND_ADDR: 49
RNGFND_MIN_CM: 50
RNGFND_MIN_CM: 75
RNGFND_MIN_CM: 10
RNGFND_MAX_CM: 6000
RNGFND_MAX_CM: 800
RNGFND_MAX_CM: 300
4. Reboot the autopilot and select the Flight Data tab. On the left window you should
see a quick tab with displayed value. Double click on one and check SonarRange.
The distance is now displayed on the Quick flight data menu.