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13 

 

4-3 Real-Time Precision Guidance 
 

Base

USB mode / switch on A

Micro-USB 

cable

Mission Planner

RTK

antenna

Telemetry

Radio

Telemetry

Radio

Rover

TTL mode / switch on B

RTK

antenna

6-pin wire for

UAV-to-Rover

Setup for UAV

433MHz/915MHz/2.4GHz

Alpha 

RTK

Alpha 

RTK

. .

 .

 

Figure 4-5

 

When using Alpha RTK receiver in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) applications as shown in figure 4-5, 

one Alpha is configured as RTK base connecting via micro-USB cable to a computer running Mission 

Planner,  the  computer  is  also  connected  with  a  telemetry  radio  to  communicate  with  another 

telemetry  radio  installed  on  the  UAV.  A  second  Alpha  is  configured  as  RTK  rover,  connecting  to  the 

autopilot of the UAV via a 6-pin 6 wire cable provided along with the Alpha RTK Kit. In this application 

scenario  data  from  RTK  base  is  encapsulated  in  MAVLink  injection  protocol  sent  to  autopilot  of  the 

UAV, and autopilot then relays the data to RTK rover, the NMEA message output from RTK rover is sent 

to autopilot of the UAV for precision guidance. 

 

 

 

Summary of Contents for Alpha

Page 1: ...1 ALPHA RTK RECEIVER USER GUIDE Version 0 8 October 25 2018 info polaris gnss com https www polaris gnss com ...

Page 2: ...sion Guidance 13 4 4 Hardware Configuration Settings 16 5 Preparing for First Time Use 17 5 1 RTK Viewer 17 5 2 USB Driver 17 5 3 Checking Alpha Receives Satellite Signal 17 6 RTK Setup 19 6 1 Introduction 19 6 2 Configuring the Rover 20 6 3 Configuring the Base 21 6 4 RTK Application Scenarios In Detail 25 7 Configure RTK License 41 8 Raw Measurement Recording and Post Processing 42 9 Software Up...

Page 3: ...ice to provide higher accuracy positioning than internal GPS The 3 3V LV TTL UART interface allows simple connection to controllers for precision guidance applications replacing normal meter level accuracy GPS receiver Alpha can easily connect and use with Pixhawk ArduPilot using the supplied connector cable enabling UAV to navigate with centimeter level position accuracy Unique to Alpha is camera...

Page 4: ...terface Supports SDHC micro SD Card for Data Logging Post Processing RTK Position Accuracy 1cm 1ppm Maximum RTK Update Rate 10Hz Supports RTCM 2 x 3 x Messages NMEA Output Update Rates 1 2 4 5 8 10 Hz for RMC GGA VTG PSTI 030 Messages GGA GLL GSA GSV RMC VTG ZDA PSTI Baud Rate Bluetooth 115200 UART USB 4800 9600 19200 38400 57600 115200 default 115200 Current Consumption 180mA 5V Weight 40 g ...

Page 5: ... in RTCM3 x or SkyTraq raw measurement format and sends it to remote Alpha RTK rover through wireless channel The rover uses this correction data along with signals received from satellites to calculate the precise position of the RTK rover antenna and output antenna position velocity time information in NMEA 0183 format Correction data from the one RTK base can be sent to an unlimited number of R...

Page 6: ...h interface is selected 6 Push button for interface selection Each time the button is clicked the selected interface toggles Press this button for more than 3 seconds will enable stop logging measurement data to SD Card 7 Slide switch for choosing the operating mode see section 4 4 for details 8 6 pin TTL connector for Base to Rover or Rover to UAV applications see section 3 2 for details 9 Micro ...

Page 7: ...5V 5 0V 2 UART input for base data RTCM3 x or SkyTraq raw measurement format IN 3 0V 3 6V 3 UART output for NMEA message OUT 3 0V 3 3V 4 5 NC 6 Ground PWR Table 3 2 3 3 Pinout of 4 Pin Connector 1 2 3 4 Figure 3 3 The red spot indicates the top side No Description I O Voltage Min Max 1 DC power output from Alpha to external device OUT 3 1V 3 3V 2 1PPS 1 pulse per second output signal OUT 3 1V 3 3V...

Page 8: ... for connecting Base to Rover for base rover pair short baseline testing Black Yellow White 6 pin Connector 6 pin Connector Figure 3 4 3 4 2 Wire for connecting Rover to UAV Black Blue Green Yellow White Red 6 pin Connector 6 pin Connector Figure 3 5 3 4 3 Wire for connecting Rover to Camera Black Green White Red 4 pin Connector 4 pin Connector Figure 3 6 ...

Page 9: ... Green Yellow White Red 6 pin Connector Black Blue Green Yellow White Red 2 54 Dupont Female Connector Figure 3 7 3 4 5 Wire for 4 pin TTL connector with pitch 2 54 Dupont Lines Black Green White Red 4 pin Connector Black Green White Red 2 54 Dupont Female Connector Figure 3 8 ...

Page 10: ...sec 3 4 1 Setup for Special Short Baseline Experiment RTK antenna RTK antenna Alpha RTK Alpha RTK Figure 4 1 For users setting up a local RTK base for use with RTK rover this experimental setup allows quickly becoming acquainted with all aspects of Alpha RTK receiver operation Using our RTK Viewer Windows PC software users can configure Alpha to be base or rover see section 6 for details ...

Page 11: ...nce Station VRS service as shown in figure 4 3 for RTK survey and data collection then only one Alpha RTK receiver is needed It s configured as RTK rover and connects to an Android smartphone via Bluetooth User can then run the free Lefebure NTRIP Client App on the smartphone for retrieving 3rd party RTK base station data over Internet and sending it to the Alpha RTK receiver With MOCK Location op...

Page 12: ...pha RTK receiver is configured as RTK base connecting via micro USB port to a computer running NTRIP Server Caster and another Alpha RTK receiver is configured as RTK rover connecting via Bluetooth to an Android smartphone User can run the free Lefebure NTRIP Client App on the smartphone to retrieve the Alpha RTK base data over Internet and sending it to the Alpha RTK rover With MOCK Location opti...

Page 13: ...base connecting via micro USB cable to a computer running Mission Planner the computer is also connected with a telemetry radio to communicate with another telemetry radio installed on the UAV A second Alpha is configured as RTK rover connecting to the autopilot of the UAV via a 6 pin 6 wire cable provided along with the Alpha RTK Kit In this application scenario data from RTK base is encapsulated...

Page 14: ...idance applications that do not use Mission Planner with MAVLink protocol as in figure 4 6 user can configure one Alpha RTK receiver as RTK base and use 6 pin UART connector port or micro USB port to connect to a telemetry radio for sending correction data to the RTK rover Another Alpha RTK receiver is configured as RTK rover using pin 2 of the 6 pin connector to connect to another telemetry radio...

Page 15: ...e 4 7 A smartphone can be used to connect RTK rover with RTK base over Internet instead of using a pair of telemetry radios for non line of sight real time precision guidance application as shown in figure 4 7 In this case user can setup an Alpha RTK base as described previously with figure 4 4 and with Alpha RTK rover also connecting pin 3 of the 6 pin connector to the real time controller s UART...

Page 16: ...r each usage scenario V indicates which of the TTL USB Bluetooth interface should be selected to have Alpha s LED light up A or B indicates which position to put Alpha s slide switch The boldface Output indicates which NMEA output interface is used for this usage scenario The boldface Input indicates which input interface used by rover to receive base data Table 4 1 ...

Page 17: ...ha Receives Satellite Signal Below steps bring up Alpha as normal GPS receiver to receive satellite signal Connect antenna to the Alpha SMA connector and place antenna at a window side having good sky view Put Alpha s slide switch to A position Open RTK Viewer Connect Alpha to PC using micro USB cable A dialog box for COM port and baud rate will appear Click Connect Figure 5 1 Click Alpha s push b...

Page 18: ...18 Figure 5 2 Tip if not sure which COM port is used by Alpha can use Windows Device Manager to find out Figure 5 3 ...

Page 19: ...cal setup would be to use an Alpha RTK rover connecting via Bluetooth to Android phone running NTRIP Client that connects with RTK base station over Internet Alpha can work with popular Trimble and Leica base stations For base rover pair usage the applications could be 1 an Alpha RTK receiver setup as local RTK base at some known reference location to serve other Alpha RTK receiver rovers within 1...

Page 20: ...the Settings pull down menu on RTK Viewer select Configure RTK Mode On the dialog box select Configure as Rover and press Next button Figure 6 1 On the next dialog box select NMEA Message for most applications UAV Binary Message is to be selected only if using Alpha with ArduPilot Pixhawk Figure 6 2 When done put slide switch to position B for later use as RTK rover ...

Page 21: ...ble From the Settings pull down menu on RTK Viewer select Configure RTK Mode On the dialog box select Configure as Base and press Next button Figure 6 3 On the next dialog box Operating as RTK base Alpha can output base data in SkyTraq raw measurement format or RTCM format For UAV application using Mission Planner RTCM format is preferred to reduce the amount of data being sent For all other appli...

Page 22: ...ure 6 5 6 3 1 Input Fixed Base Antenna Coordinate When a reference point with known coordinate is available to setup the RTK base antenna this option is to be selected Coordinate of the L1 antenna phase center position extending from the known reference point is to be entered Figure 6 6 ...

Page 23: ...ition reporting 6 3 2 Set Receiver to Self Survey Approx Coordinate for 60sec Each Time Powering Up With this setting every time Alpha is powered up it ll use the averaged position of initial 60 position fix for base antenna position reporting This may be useful for RTK testing situations where position of the base will be moved from time to time and rover s centimeter level accuracy relative posi...

Page 24: ...rvice to determine base antenna position and set it as fixed base antenna position Below procedures need to be first performed on the to be RTK base Alpha receiver Change Alpha s interface selection to Bluetooth Put slide switch to position B Connect Alpha to base station service via Android phone as described in section 6 4 2 This prepares Alpha RTK receiver as 3rd party base station connected RT...

Page 25: ...L mode switch on B Micro USB cable Micro USB cable 6 pin 3 wire for Base to Rover sec 3 4 1 Setup for Special Short Baseline Experiment RTK antenna RTK antenna Alpha RTK Alpha RTK Figure 6 10 Configure one Alpha as rover cf section 6 2 Configure the other Alpha as a base with option Set Receiver to Self Survey Approx Coordinate for 60sec Each Time Powering Up cf section 6 3 2 ...

Page 26: ...ion Antenna putting a 10cm x 10cm or larger metallic plate underneath the antenna will much improve RTK performance The rover will first show GPS or DGPS status a while later it will show Float RTK status then after some time it will show Fix RTK denoting it has converged to RTK centimeter level accuracy solution Select RTK Info tab to show additional RTK related information RTK Age shows the time...

Page 27: ...n left hand side bottom clicking Cold Start button restarts the receiver from scratch clicking Hot Start button restarts the receiver without clearing internal data 6 4 2 Connecting to 3rd Party Base Using Phone Internet Bluetooth Rover BT mode switch on B 3rd Party RTK Base with NTRIP caster NTRIP client 3G 4G LTE Setup for GIS Data Collection RTK antenna Alpha RTK Figure 6 13 ...

Page 28: ... station 1 Mount the rover antenna on a range pole or tripod 2 Mount Alpha RTK receiver power bank and smartphone to range pole or tripod using holders 3 Use antenna cable to connect antenna and Alpha 4 Use USB cable to connect power bank and Alpha 5 Turn on power bank to supply 5V to power Alpha 6 Turn on Bluetooth of Android phone scan for BT SPP xxxxxx device select to pair ...

Page 29: ...29 7 Install Lefebure NTRIP Client from Google Play Store open it 8 Select the gear setup icon on the upper right corner Select Receiver Settings ...

Page 30: ... Device select the BT SPP xxxxxx device Check GPS Mock Locations 10 Select NTRIP Settings Network Protocol select NTRIP v1 0 Enter base station and account information for Caster IP Caster Port Username Password Data Stream Report Location select Get From External Receiver ...

Page 31: ...Mobile Data connection Select the gear icon on upper right to enter phone Settings configuration page 12 Select Developer Options near the bottom of Settings page Sliding down Developer Options page select Mock Location App ...

Page 32: ...32 13 Select Lefebure NTRIP Client 14 Return to Lefebure NTRIP Client App click Connect to connect with Alpha RTK receiver via Bluetooth and RTK base station via Internet ...

Page 33: ...f satellites used denoting receiver has meter level accuracy position fix Then it ll show FloatRTK for some time denoting the receiver is trying to converge to centimeter level accuracy position When the receiver has centimeter level accuracy position it ll show steady RTK status Afterwards third party Data Collector Apps can next be used to record the position ...

Page 34: ...B NTRIP caster NTRIP client 3G 4G LTE Setup for GIS Data Collection RTK antenna RTK antenna Alpha RTK Alpha RTK Figure 6 15 Use section 6 2 method to configure one Alpha receiver into RTK rover Depending on what s available to determine base antenna position select one of the options to configure the second Alpha RTK receiver into RTK base as described in section 6 3 Once Alpha RTK base and rover ...

Page 35: ...to use the RTK rover 6 4 4 UAV Configuration Using Locally Setup Base PC Mission Planner and Radio Connection Base USB mode switch on A Micro USB cable Mission Planner RTK antenna Telemetry Radio Telemetry Radio Rover TTL mode switch on B RTK antenna 6 pin wire for UAV to Rover Setup for UAV 433MHz 915MHz 2 4GHz Alpha RTK Alpha RTK Figure 6 16 Use section 6 2 method to configure one Alpha receiver...

Page 36: ...tion method of using only one pair of radio for sending RTK base correction data and Mission Planner data Items needed for building a complete RTK system are shown below Figure 6 17 Since Mission Planner expects RTCM format base data user must configure the Alpha RTK base to output in RTCM as described in section 6 3 5 ...

Page 37: ... of GUI Select the COM port on which Alpha RTK base is assigned for the USB connection Select 115200 baud rate that Alpha RTK base output RTCM data to Mission Planner Check the Inject MSG Type feature Press the Connect icon and you should see it becomes Stop Once having done above configurations one should see below screen Figure 6 18 ...

Page 38: ...age Mission Planner will show current GPS status in below red rectangle enclosed area and user could check and see if it s working correctly GPS RTK Fixed GPS Status 6 00 GPS RTK Float GPS Status 5 00 GPS 3D DGPS GPS Status 4 00 GPS 3D Fix GPS Status 3 00 Figure 6 19 ...

Page 39: ...igure one Alpha receiver into RTK rover Depending on what s available to determine base antenna position select one of the options to configure the second Alpha RTK receiver into RTK base as described in section 6 3 Assume the radio is properly setup for sending and receiving RTK base data at 115200 baud rate 1 connect RTK base UART output on pin 3 and GND on pin 6 of the 6 pin connector to radio ...

Page 40: ...tup for Real Time Controller over Internet Real Time Controller Pin 3 of 6 pin TTL connector Figure 6 21 Use section 6 2 method to configure one Alpha receiver into RTK rover Depending on what s available to determine base antenna position select one of the options to configure the second Alpha RTK receiver into RTK base as described in section 6 3 Use the same method as described in section 6 4 3...

Page 41: ...hased an email will be received by the customer requesting information on 1 Alpha Serial Number 2 Activation Start Date if One Year Usage Plan is purchased To check the Alpha Serial Number from RTK Viewer s Viewer pull down menu select Configure RTK License click Copy Serial Number button then paste it to the reply email Later when receiving License key simply copy and paste it to the License Key ...

Page 42: ... holder To enable raw measurement recording pressing the push button for 3 seconds until SD Card LED turns ON When SD Card is recording the LED will flash Pressing the push button for another 3 seconds until SD Card LED ceases flashing will stop raw measurement recording To avoid recording file corruption always stop raw measurement recording before powering off Alpha The logged raw measurement da...

Page 43: ...r Software Update To check if update for RTK Viewer is available select Check RTK Viewer Update from the Viewer pull down menu Figure 9 1 9 2 Alpha RTK Receiver Software Update Before checking if new update software for Alpha is available make sure Alpha is connected to RTK Viewer From RTK Viewer Updates pull down menu select Check Firmware Update then a message box showing checking for updates wi...

Page 44: ...2 If no new update is available RTK Viewer will notify already running latest software Figure 9 3 In case new update software is found a dialog box will appear Press Yes to update or No to cancel update Figure 9 4 ...

Page 45: ...nd load it to Alpha RTK Viewer will show below message box indicating software update status Figure 9 5 When software update is in progress DO NOT remove the USB cable or press Alpha s push button or change position of the slide switch until seeing software update is completed Figure 9 6 ...

Page 46: ...th interface is selected or it ll not be possible to get RTK Fix User can change the NMEA output baud rate of UART and USB interface from the Setting pull down menu on RTK Viewer select Configure Output Baud Rate and choose the desired baud rate in dialog box Figure A 1 1 Base data input baud rate of Alpha RTK rover is fixed at 115200 Sending base data to rover at incorrect baud rate will cause th...

Page 47: ...ecision guidance applications Update rate command affects GGA RMC VTG PSTI 030 messages the other NMEA sentence is slow changing and remains at 1Hz unaffected by update rate command User can change the update rate from Settings pull down menu of RTK Viewer select Configure Update Rate and choose the desired update rate Figure A 1 2 ...

Page 48: ... RTK base station Since the newest version RTKLIB v 2 4 3 provided on official website is in source code format and compilation required Borland C builder a pre compiled binary executable is made available at https www polaris gnss com strsvr zip After downloading unzip it strsvr 2 4 3 exe can be executed directly After executing the binary the main STRSVR dialog screen will appear Below shows an ...

Page 49: ...te bps Serial port data input bit rate 115200 Byte Size Byte Size depends on serial settings 8 bits Parity Parity depends on serial settings None Stop Bits Stop Bits depends on serial settings 1 bit Flow Control Flow control depends on serial settings None Table A 2 1 Figure A 2 3 3 Setup an output stream of type NTRIP Server and press the Opt button to set the output stream options Figure A 2 4 ...

Page 50: ...oint and password are specified by customer at time of subscription application Field Description Example NTRIP Caster Host Enter the Caster URL or the machine s IP 60 250 205 31 Port Enter the port used by Caster 4999 Mountpoint Enter Caster mount point name MY_GLO_BASE password Enter password to access the base data 1234 Table A 2 2 Figure A 2 5 Press Start button on the STRSVR panel to start se...

Page 51: ...ailable at https www polaris gnss com strsvr zip After downloading unzip it strsvr 2 4 3 exe can be executed directly After executing binary the main STRSVR dialog screen should appear as shown in below Figure A 3 1 1 Set up an input stream of type Serial and press the Opt button to set the input stream options Figure A 3 2 2 Configure the input stream options as follows Press the OK button to ret...

Page 52: ...t button to set the output stream options Figure A 3 3 4 Set the output stream options as follows Press the OK button to return to the STRSVR dialog when finished The blue color Mountpoint User ID and password are specified by user and rover can access the base data with this authentication info later on Field Description Example NTRIP Caster Host Grey out for STRSVR will use local WAN IP as host ...

Page 53: ... wait for the connection Figure A 3 4 6 After remote NTRIP Client making connection user should see the screen like following image The green square flashes when there is ongoing data transmission and how many bytes have been transmitted is also shown on screen Figure A 3 5 ...

Page 54: ... for all 6 operation modes specified by the three interface selection LEDs and the two slide switch positions Alpha Polaris RTK T U B USB TTL BT Command from RTK Viewer NMEA Messages NMEA Messages Base Data B switch Figure A 4 1 Alpha Polaris RTK T U B USB TTL BT NMEA Messages NMEA Messages Base Data B switch Figure A 4 2 Alpha Polaris RTK T U B USB TTL BT NMEA Messages NMEA Messages Base Data NME...

Page 55: ... Command from RTK Viewer Base Data A switch Figure A 4 4 Alpha Polaris RTK T U B USB TTL BT Command from RTK Viewer Base Data A switch Figure A 4 5 Alpha Polaris RTK T U B USB TTL BT Command from RTK Viewer Base Data Base Data A switch Figure A 4 6 ...

Page 56: ...to fitness for a particular purpose consequential or incidental damages merchantability or infringement of any patent copyright or other intellectual property right No warrant on the accuracy or completeness of the information text graphics or other items contained within these materials No liability assumed for any special indirect incidental or consequential damages including without limitation ...

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