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Ascension flock of birds manual

1. 110 BIRD STATUS Lis ieee aera Sees sees 112 SOFTWARE REVISION 113 BIRD COMPUTER CRYSTAL 113 POSITION SCALING 21219 or D b i bed 113 STATUS Sad d 114 DC FILTER CONSTANT TABLE ALPHA 115 BIRD MEASUREMENT RATE COUNT 116 BIRD MEASUREMENT RATE 117 DISABLE ENABLE DATA READY OUTPUT 118 SET DATA READY CHARACTER 118 ERROR GODE eet 118 ERROR DETECT 5 119 DC RETER TABLE VM Cu Cu Sub ie bene 119 DC FILTER CONSTANT TABLE ALPHA MAX 120 SUDDEN OUTPUT CHANGE LOCK vse 121 SYSTEM MODEL IDENTIFICATION 122 EXPANDED ERROR CODE t5 52 Lb be 242349440465 122 XYZ REFERENCE FRAME ssu weve ev eeu eiut akt ska 123 TRANSMITTER OPERATION 123 FBB ADDRESSING MODE alee tones 124 FILTER HINE FREQUENOG Y see rx 124 FBBADDRESS 606620 bred fs Apad uh e Jede doles ee def abs 125 HEMISPHERE ae d
2. 154 CRT Sync Pulse Electrical Requirements 155 Using Multiple Host RS485 156 Configuring The Bird For Minimum 158 Manual Date August 13 1991 August 21 1991 October 4 1991 November 4 1991 February 28 1992 March 30 1992 May 5 1992 June 1 1992 June 15 1992 July 5 1992 October 12 1992 November 9 1992 USER MANUAL REVISIONS Changes Initial release for the one transmitter multiple sensor configurations Jumper diagrams added Jumper tables corrected Examine Change Vm added FBB SEND STATUS command corrected Included software Section 3 0 changed to reflect latest user software release Error messages expanded New dipswitch assignment and values for FBB baud rates Must have rev 3 16 or greater PROM software in the Flock to utilize these new baud rates FBB Next Transmitter command added Examine Change Alpha_max and Sudden Output Lock added Clear to send communications protocol implemented on RS485 interface Commands added Next Transmitter and RS232 TO FBB Error codes expanded FBB Next Transmitter deleted FBB run time commands can now be greater than one byte long Clear to send CTS protocol eliminated from the RS485 interface Revised Next Transmitter Command Added Next Master Command Added Host Read Data and Host Read Block Data Tests Updat
3. 27 55 62 S292 command SUMMA victos eee eee eee 28 rs232 command utilization 29 5232 Galant ate Ss 5 7 25 rs232 jumper 25 rs232 response f rmat e e CE pU a EEE ERS 35 5232 Signal description sc veces sr n a aa 23 52352 10 IDD eat RS ae a RRS vi 27 29 32 33 38 40 98 99 144 rs232 transmission 24 RS 232C Cable wig aea dada bods Sadie PSE start eee dk 15 108 SENSOR cable gt 2 Mary Sexe eee eve eee ate eee es eee et 6 16 Sensor IOCAUOMN eoe bene aim datur ERA Garis PR HIRED NE Me 7 77 m 848 298 teddies ada vi 43 110 127 set data ready 118 set expanded address mode 59 61 setnomal address mode 22 2 3 eR Seb pde ex edes 59 61 set super expanded address mode 59 61 software revisiom number e serr decet tor se Ea Aad og 110 113 stream v vii 27 29 31 36 37 40 4
4. TO HOST RS485 TERMINATE GROUPED HOST RS485 422 INTERFACES Index 157 Installation and Operation Guide Index 158 Application Note 6 Configuring The Bird For Minimum Lag Use the highest baud rate possible for collecting data from The Bird This means that if you have a PC compatible computer then you should use 115 2K baud when using its RS232 port If you are using The Bird s RS485 interface then you should collect data at a rate of 250K baud If you have multiple Birds in a Flock configuration then you should use individual RS232 or RS485 ports to each Bird If you used a single port to collect data from multiple Birds then the maximum data rate is reduced by a factor of two each time you double the number of Birds on this port Use STREAM mode not POINT mode for collecting data STREAM mode gives you data every Bird measurement cycle as soon as it has been computed If you used POINT mode then the data request would come at some random point in The Bird s measurement cycle resulting in a random variation of up to 10 milliseconds the of The Bird measured data Select an output format that transmits the minimum amount of data required For example if you only want to measure angles then select ANGLE mode and not POSITION ANGLE mode Unlock the outputs if you are going to be making sudden movements by setting the CHANGE VALUE SUDDEN OUTPUT CHANGE LOCK command to zero Minimize the number of fil
5. ht LI 57 7 0 FLOCK OPERATIONAL LIMITATIONS 58 8 0 TEST MODES 59 8 1 FACTORY TESTI cass ts eee eee eee Mn 59 9 2 BIRDPOUT RUT cts aba whet a ioral Sees 59 6 3 BIRDJECHO 2569 etw E C EREMO A E e ees 60 84 HOST DATA READ 0355 0408 PE GU e C elati ie 60 8 5 HOST DATA READ BEOUK Lohn neta IRE EOS 60 8 6 TEST FOR SENSOR vx RO ER bee eed 60 87 DONT SENSOR 6 2 eee dee hn gn 60 8 8 SET NORMAL ADDRESS 61 8 9 SET EXPANDED ADDRESS MODE 61 8 10 SET SUPER EXPANDED ADDRESS 61 9 0 RS232 COMMAND 62 ANGLES esed qu IR ERU RU RN ES ate tet ie 63 ANGLE ALIGN 52 222 182 REGS 8 88 Pede dae 65 ANGLE ALIGNA2 i i REY pepi bivi EK ER hob eb bons 67 BORESIGETTE s 205 eevee ue eee ee ees eek Rit Rai tekst 69 BORESIGHT REMOVE gots Sag ay 70 BUTTON MODE ie unice decis 71 BUTTON READ battre drei ES mae 72 CHANGE VALUE ID eR 73 EXAMINE VALUE uus Used e a e 73 FACTORY TESI Smau Ern
6. 0 B15 B14 B13 B12 B11 B10 B9 4 MSbyte q 0 B8 7 6 5 B4 B3 B2 5 LSbyte 0 B15 B14 B13 B12 B11 B10 B9 6 MSbyte 0 B8 B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 7 LSbyte q 0 B15 B14 B13 812 B11 B10 B9 8 MSbyte Scaling of the quaternions is full scale 99996 7FFF Hex 0 0 Hex and 1 0 8000 Hex 93 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands REFERENCE FRAME1 REFERENCE FRAME1 DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 72 01001000 Command Data Sin A Cos A Sin E Cos E Sin R Cos R By default The Bird s reference frame is defined by the transmitter s physical X Y and Z axes In some applications it may be desirable to have the orientation measured with respect to another reference frame The REFERENCE FRAME command permits you to define a new reference frame by inputting the angles required to align the physical axes of the transmitter to the X Y and Z axes of the new reference frame The alignment angles are defined as rotations about the Z Y and X axes of the transmitter These angles are called the Azimuth Elevation and Roll angles The command sequence consists of a Command Byte and 12 Command Data bytes The Command Data consists of the sines and cosines of the alignment angles Azimuth A Elevation E and Roll R See the REFERENCE FRAME2 command if you want to send only the angles and not the sines and cosines of the angles Although the REFERENCE FRAME1 command wil
7. 1 does not allow sudden changes to be output 15 System measurement rate 100 measurements sec 16 SYNC mode 0 17 FBB Configuration 1 Transmitter Multiple Sensors 18 FBB Devices 0 19 FBB Dependents 0 20 Group Mode 0 6 6 FBB RESPONSES Two types of binary data are returned from The Bird 1 position orientation data and 2 general status configuration information Both data types use the 8 bit data byte format as detailed below The FBB RS485 command response data format is as follows MS BIT LS BIT Stop Parity 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Start FBB Host Response Data 1 0 BD7 BD6 BD5 BD4 BD3 BD2 BD1 BDO 0 where BD7 BDO is the 8 bit data value The data formats BD7 BDO for FBB responses the same as those for RS232 responses Refer to the RS232 RESPONSE Section 5 3 for specifics 52 Installation and Operation Guide 6 7 FBB COMMAND REFERENCE FBB Host Interface 53 Installation and Operation Guide FBB Host Interface FBB RS232CMD FBB RS232CMD FBB CMD FBB Addr Normal Expanded Command Value 0 zero 1 15 31 A Bird connected to the host via the FBB can utilize the RS232 command set by prefacing the RS232 command with the FBB RS232CMD The FBB RS232CMD can be directed to one or all Birds on the FBB For example to put The Bird at address 2 into ANGLE mode via the FBB host interface the host would send a 0 the FBB RS232CMD command followed by 2 the Bird address followed by 57 Hex the A
8. 4 1 Master 10 1 Master 9 Slaves Notes 1 The rates that are greater than 100 The Bird s default measurement rate are not meant to imply that each Bird is making this many measurements Rather it indicates that you can request and receive data over the RS232 port at a rate greater than The Bird is making its measurements When you request data at a rate greater than the measurement rate you will get duplicate data records Rates less than 100 do not mean The Bird is making measurements this slowly The Birds are always making 100 measurements per second per sensor independent of how many sensors are in a Flock When you request data at a rate less than the measurement rate you will lose data records 2 Rates for UNIX platforms will be much less than these table values 3 Writes to the screen or disk will reduce these table values 26 Installation and Operation Guide Running The Flock 5 0 RUNNING THE FLOCK USING AN RS232 INTERFACE The Birds in the Flock talk to each other via the FBB interconnect cable To enable The Birds to exchange data among themselves each Bird is assigned a unique FBB address via the configuration dipswitch see Section 2 1 7 If your host has an individual RS232 communications channel to each Bird the RS232 commands you send to The Birds do not have a Bird address associated with the command If you utilize a single RS232 interface to talk to all of The Birds then the commands you send must contain the ad
9. 8 MSbyte BS B7 B6 B5 B3 B2 9 LSbyte 0 B15 B14 B13 B12 11 B10 10 MSbyte B8 B7 B6 B5 B4 B2 11 LSbyte q 0 B15 B14 B13 812 Bll B10 B9 12 MSbyte B8 B7 86 B5 B4 B3 B2 13 LSbyte 0 B15 B14 B13 B12 Bll B10 B9 14 MSbyte See POSITION mode and QUATERNION mode for number ranges and scaling 92 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands QUATERNION QUATERNION HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 5C 92 01011100 In the QUATERNION mode The Bird outputs the four quaternion parameters that describe the orientation of the sensor with respect to the Scanner The relationship between the rotation matrix and the quaternions q q gt and q where is the scalar component is M 244 etoh M 24 4 4 4 2 14 4 9 4 44 2 1 4 4 td 1 2 quaternions 9 qz and 6 been extracted from the MATRIX output using the algorithm described in Quaternion from Rotation Matrix by Stanley W Shepperd Journal of Guidance and Control Vol 1 May June 1978 pp 223 4 The output record is in the following format for the eight transmitted bytes MSB LSB 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 BYTE 1 B8 7 6 5 B4 B3 B2 1 LSbyte qo 0 B15 B14 B13 B12 B11 B10 B9 2 MSbyte qo 0 B8 7 6 5 B4 B3 B2 3 LSbyte q
10. Cause Action Reserved Should never occur Unused INT10 Cause Action Reserved Should never occur Unused INT11 Cause Action Reserved Should never occur Unused INT16 Cause Action Numeric coprocessor exception Numeric CPU does not exists so this should never occur Check to make sure the ERROR signal on the CPU is tied to 5VD CRT Synchronization Error Cause Action When in CRT Synchronization mode if the CRT synchronization signal is not present then this error will occur Assure that the synchronization signal is present using the Display CRT Synchronization Information command Transmitter Not accessible Error Cause Action This error occurs when the host starts the system FLYing via the Auto Configuration command and a Bird which should have a transmitter does not have a transmitter Assure that the specified Bird has a transmitter Extended Range Transmitter Not Attached Error Cause If the Extended Range Controller does not have an Extended Range Transmitter attached then this error will occur Action Assure that the Extended Range Controller has a Extended Range Transmitter attached CPU Time Overflow Error Cause This error occurs if the CPU in The Bird or Extended Range Controller runs out of CPU time This can occur if the host overburdens The Bird with Action multiple commands in a measurement cycle The host can either slow down the
11. The output record is in the following format for the six transmitted bytes MSB LSB 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 BYTE 1 28 Za 26 75 24 23 22 1 LSbyte Zang 0 X5 ZIA ZIZ Xue ZIL 259 2 MSbyte Zang 0 Y8 XY Y6 Y5 Y4 Y3 Y2 3 LSbyte Yang 0 15 14 v13 12 11 10 Y9 4 MSbyte Yang 0 8 X7 6 5 4 x3 X2 5 LSbyte Xang 0 X15 X14 X13 X12 X11 X10 x9 6 MSbyte Xang Zang Azimuth takes on values between the binary equivalent of 180 degrees Yang Elevation takes on values between 90 degrees and Xang Roll takes on values between 180 degrees As Yang Elevation approaches 90 degrees the Zang Azimuth and Xang Roll become very noisy and exhibit large errors At 90 degrees the Zang Azimuth and Xang Roll become undefined This behavior is not a limitation of The Bird it is an inherent characteristic of these Euler angles If you need a stable representation of the sensor orientation at high Elevation angles use the MATRIX output mode The scaling of all angles is full scale 180 degrees That is 179 99 deg 7FFF Hex 0 deg 0 Hex 180 00 deg 8000 Hex Angle information is 0 when sensor saturation occurs in Expanded Addressing mode or Super Expanded Addressing mode 63 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands To convert the numbers received into angles in degrees first convert them to a signed integer This will give a number from 32768 to 32767 Then
12. This metal detector can fool you however if there are some metals initially present and you introduce new metals It is possible for the new metal to cause a distortion in the magnetic field that reduces the existing distortion at the sensor When this occurs you ll see the METALerror value initially decrease indicating less error and then finally start increasing again as the new metal causes more distortion User beware You need to evaluate your application for suitability of this metal detector Because the Bird is used in many different applications and environments the METAL error indicator needs to be sensitive to this broad range of environments Some users may want the METAL error indicator to be sensitive to very small amounts of metal in the environment while other applications may only want the error indicator sensitive to large amounts of metal To accommodate this range of detection sensitivity the METAL command allows the user to set a Sensitivity that is appropriate for his application The METAL error byte will always show there is some error in the system even when there are no metals present This error indication usually increases as the distance between the transmitter and sensor increases and is due to the fact that Bird components cannot be made or calibrated perfectly To minimize the amount of this inherent error in the METAL error value a linear curve fit defined by a slope and offset is made to this inherent error and
13. When a Slave is expecting data from the Master and does not receive data this error will occur Action This error should not occur Illegal Baud Rate Error WARNING1 Cause If the dipswitch is in an invalid baud rate setting then this error will occur Action Set dipswitch to a valid baud rate setting Slave Acknowledge Error WARNING1 Cause This error will occur if the Master sends a multibyte command to a Slave and the Slave does not respond For example if the user sends the Master the Auto Configuration Command with 2 Flock units and Bird at address 72 is not connected to the FBB or not in FLY mode then during the ARMing process the Master will display this error Action Assure that the FOB configuration is correct all units are attached to the FBB and at the proper address and that all units are in FLY mode Unused_INT4 FATAL Cause CPU overflow Action Check code for INTO instruction Unused_INT5 FATAL Cause Array Bounds Action Check code for BOUND Instruction Unused_INT6 FATAL Cause Unused Opcode Action CPU has executed an invalid opcode Possibly bad or going bad EPROM Also check the power supply to assure that the 5VD is not dropping below 4 75 volts even when the transmitter is running Installation and Operation Guide CODE ERROR DESCRIPTION 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Unused INT7 Cause Action ESC Opcode Check code for the ESC Instruction Unused INT9
14. command If GROUP mode is enabled all Birds send a data record each time the Master receives the FBB SEND DATA command The data format will be a function of the output mode POSITION ANGLES MATRIX POSITION ANGLES or POSITION MATRIX Refer to the RS232 command reference Section 9 0 for output format specifications 55 Installation and Operation Guide FBB Host Interface FBB SEND STATUS FBB SEND STATUS FBB CMD FBB Addr Normal Expanded Command Value 2 1 14 30 The FBB SEND STATUS command allows the user to determine The Bird s operational status The Bird returns 1 byte of status information in response to this command The format and content of the information returned from The Bird is the same as the most significant byte returned in response to The Bird STATUS command detailed in the RS232 EXAMINE VALUE section 56 Installation and Operation Guide FBB Host Interface FBB SEND ERROR CODE FBB SEND ERROR CODE FBB CMD FBB Addr Normal Expanded Command Value 3 1 14 30 The Bird maintains a SYSTEM ERROR register which can be queried by the host computer When The Bird receives the FBB SEND ERROR CODE command The Bird returns a 1 byte error code response The byte is a binary representation of the first error The Bird encounters Upon reading the SYSTEM ERROR register The Bird resets the register to all O s Error codes and their meaning are described in the Error Messages section 57 Installation and Operation Gu
15. device at address 15 is running device at address 15 is not running FBB DEVICES Super Expanded addr mode only If 1 device at address 46 is running device at address 46 is not running If 1 device at address 45 is running device at address 45 is not running If 1 device at address 31 is running device at address 31 not running FBB DEVICES Super Expanded addr mode only If 1 device at address 126 is running device at address 126 is not running If 1 device at address 125 is running device at address 125 is not running If 1 device at address 111 is running device at address 111 not running 135 Installation and Operation Guide Error Messages 11 0 ERROR MESSAGES The Bird keeps track of system errors These errors are reported via the panel lights and the SYSTEM ERROR register When an error occurs the SYSTEM STATUS register ERROR bit is set to 1 and the error code is put into the SYSTEM ERROR register The user can query the SYSTEM ERROR register with the RS232 command EXAMINE VALUE SYSTEM ERROR or the FBB command FBB SEND ERROR CODE When the user reads SYSTEM STATUS the ERROR bit is reset to a 0 and when the user reads the SYSTEM ERROR register all bits are reset to 0 In addition to updating the SYSTEM ERROR register the panel light will temporarily or permanently stop The Bird and blink the error code as 10 short blinks followed by the N long blinks where N is
16. each Bird unit on the FBB is assigned a unique address via dipswitches 4 5 6 7 For example the ERC might have its address dipswitch set to 1 0001 off off off on The first Bird sensor card in the chassis would then have its addresses set to 2 0010 The addresses do not have to be in order but you cannot skip an address no addresses can be set to zero there can be no repeat addresses and there can be no address 15 the Broadcast Address Dipswitches 3 4 5 6 7 Expanded Addressing Mode When in Expanded Address mode up to 30 Bird units on the FBB each Bird unit on the FBB is assigned a unique address via switches 3 4 5 6 7 For example the ERC might have its address dipswitch set to 1 00001 off off off off on The first Bird sensor card in the chassis would then have its addresses set to 2 00010 The addresses do not have to be in order but you cannot skip an address no addresses can be set to zero there can be no repeat addresses and there can be no address 31 the Broadcast Address All ERT addresses must be located at addresses 1 to 14 Dipswitches 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Super Expanded Addressing Mode When in Super Expanded Address mode up to 126 Bird units on the FBB each Bird unit on the FBB is assigned a unique address via switches 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 For example the ERC might have its address dipswitch set to 1 1000000 on off off off off off off The first Bird sensor card th
17. 1 2 connected BIRD BUS data terminated 1 2 not connected BIRD BUS data not terminated 15 does not exist 16 1 2 connected RS485 HOST BUS data terminated 1 2 not connected RS485 HOST BUS data not terminated indicates factory default setting 19 Installation and Operation Guide Unpacking Your System 2 3 5 CONFIGURING THE FLOCK WITH AN ERC general the ERC is treated as just another Flock Bird that must be attached to the FBB and must have a bus address of 1 to 14 assigned the dipswitches the ERC s front panel As shipped from the factory the ERC address is set to 1 i e the default bus Master The ERC in combination with the rest of the Flock Birds can interface to the user s host computer via one or more RS232 or RS485 interfaces When using a single interface the host interface must be attached to The Bird unit you specify as the bus Master When using individual RS232 interfaces to each Bird you can operate the ERC without an RS232 interface as long as the ERC is selected to be a Slave In this configuration you would send the Next Transmitter command to the bus Master to tell the Master the address of the ERC If you are going to use an external Sync signal to synchronize the Flock to minimize CRT noise the ERC must be selected as a Slave since it does not have a Sync input The Sync signals can only be utilized by the current bus Master 2 3 6 ERC TRANSMITTER CABLE The ERC can control up to two
18. 35 The GROUP MODE command is only used if you have multiple Birds working together in a Master Slave configuration and you want to get data from all the Birds by talking to only the Master Bird 130 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value During EXAMINE VALUE the Bird will respond with one byte of data indicating if the Bird is in GROUP MODE If the data is a 1 then the Bird is in GROUP MODE and if the data is 0 the Bird is not in GROUP MODE When in GROUP MODE in response to the POINT or STREAM commands the Master Bird will send data records from all running Birds with sensors residing on the FBB Information is output from the Bird with the smallest address first The last byte of the data record from each Bird contains the address of that Bird This address byte contains no phasing bits Each Bird can be in a different data output format if desired For example if 3 units are in the Flock and the first is configured to output POSITION data only 6 data bytes plus 1 address byte and the other two are configured to output POSITION ANGLES data 12 data bytes plus 1 address byte then the Master Bird will respond with 33 bytes when a data request is made During a CHANGE VALUE command the host must send one data byte equal to a 1 to enable GROUP MODE or a 0 to disable GROUP MODE FLOCK SYSTEM STATUS PARAMETERnumber 36 During EXAMINE the Master Bird returns to the host computer 14 bytes 30 bytes if in Expand
19. 4 2 4 2 4 2 4 2 4 2 4 FBB Host Interface NOTES Send to Master to determine the addr of the Slave that did not respond Send to addr of the snsr whose outputs you want measured in the rotated xmtr frame Send to Master only Send to addr of The Bird unit whose addressing mode you want to examine Send to addr of the snsr whose filtering you want to examine or change Send to Bird unit whose FBB address you want to know Useful when communicating to the Flock through multiple RS232 interfaces Send to addr of the snsr whose hemisphere you want to examine or change Send to addr of the snsr whose orientation you want to examine or change If you send it to the Master unit the Master will not disseminate the information to the sensors Send to addr with the transmitter whose reference frame you want to examine or change Send to addr of The Bird unit whose pcb serial number you want to know Send to addr of The Bird unit whose snsr serial number you want to know Send to addr of The Bird unit whose xmtr serial number you want to know Installation and Operation Guide FBB Host Interface COMMAND APPLICABILITY NOTES Examine value 50 1C 2 4 Send to addr of each Bird with a snsr that you want the metal parameter 28 indicator byte from Metal Examine value 50 1D 6 Send to each Bird streaming data out their own port parameter 29 Report Rate Exam chg value 50 20 2 Only applicable when using an RS485 interface
20. 49 51 84 85 88 98 99 102 110 124 125 131 fbb addressing mode 110 112 124 f ba to config uratio Ms ser SO E RA 47 50 110 132 144 TOD Hird default values as dd ar Se ha ar ie yet 52 o7 o 15 A COMMING referenter codo tack edu cet ae db hen ae dake 53 TOD COMIMANG SUMMARY o eat s RH cere temas RESTE 50 fbb command utilization aaa aaua aaa 50 MED COMING fd sy Ey Se ae 45 49 54 132 140 Tob HOSUINTE ee es dle is E ate 44 54 fob host response delay 130 TOD FESER voi vi 9 19 28 39 54 75 MOD TSZSZCMEs coda ah uis wh acude Sedet dc ee del Be Dash Mee 50 51 54 Tbb sendddldesces eh GS ae tah ot aes ae 50 51 55 106 107 fob Send CtrOr 2 2855 ode Bae e ere ame mea 57 136 send alee Us v 50 51 56 fbb signal description iE uL 44 COFIQUEAHOTI 5220 eg Pcr ea dq fu d xq ei 47 fbb rs485 host transmission 45
21. ERTs or with the expansion option installed four ERTs The front panel connectors are labeled 1 2 3 4 If you ordered one ERT then all other connectors are capped DO NOT REMOVE THESE CAP S They protect the user from exposure to high voltages The ERC ERT will not work if the cap is removed Plug an ERT cable connector into the corresponding front panel connector and screw in the connector Erratic system operation will result if the connector is not screwed in place DANGER HIGH VOLTAGE Do not remove the protective caps from the unused ERC connectors 2 3 7 ERC POWER SUPPLY VOLTAGE SELECTION The ERC contains a built in universal AC power supply that will work in either North America by selecting 110 volts or in most of Europe by selecting 220 volts If you are not sure what the correct voltage is in your country ask someone who knows The system will be damaged and the warranty voided if you do not select the correct voltage The voltage selector is located below the power switch power cord on the back panel Insert a screw driver into the selector and rotate until the appropriate voltage is aligned with the arrow 20 Installation and Operation Guide Unpacking Your System 2 3 8 ERC POWER SUPPLY CABLE The ERC is shipped with a North American 110 volt power cord If your country uses 220 volts your local hardware electrical store can supply you with the correct cable Before installing the cable switch the ON OFF switc
22. FRAME sines cosines set for reference angles of zero BUTTON MODE 0 for no button value output FACTORY TEST commands not active Maximum range scaling 36 inches Filter on off status AC WIDE notch on DC on AC NARROW notch off Filter constants ALPHA_MIN Table values 0 02 Filter constants ALPHA_MAX Table values 0 9 Sudden output change lock 0 allows sudden changes to be output System measurement rate 100 measurements sec SYNC 0 for no synchronization METALflag 0 for no metal error indicator 5 2 3 RS232 FLOCK MODE DEFAULT VALUES Upon power up The RS232 controlled Flock Bird address 1 through 126 is in the following default mode 34 POINT mode POSITION ANGLE outputs selected XON RUN deactivated ANGLE ALIGN sines cosines set for alignment angles of zero REFERENCE FRAME sines cosines set for reference angles of zero BUTTON MODE 0 for no button value output FACTORY TEST commands not active Maximum range scaling 36 inches Filter on off status AC WIDE notch on DC on AC NARROW notch off Filter constants ALPHA_MIN Table values 0 02 Filter constants ALPHA_MAX Table values 0 9 Sudden output change lock 0 allows sudden changes to be output System measurement rate 100 measurements sec SYNC mode 0 Group Mode 0 METALflag 0 for no metal error indicator Installation and Operation Guide Running The Flock 5 3 RS232 RESPONSE FORMAT Two types of binary data are returned from The Bir
23. In Fly Mode FBB address 0 126 Dipswitch 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 FBB Addr off off off off off off off 0 on off off off off off off 1 Off On Off Off Otf Off 2 on on off off off off off 3 off on on on on on 126 on on on on on on on invalid c In Test Mode test number Dipswitch 4 5 J Test off off off off ule off off off on 3 on on on on 31 Note The addresses run backwards from Normal or Expanded Addressing modes i e for Normal and Expanded Addressing modes address for Super Expanded Addressing mode pin 1 is down Note There are no Baud rate dipswitches RS232 Note Baud rate when FBB RS485 interfac 1 would have pin 7 down but Baud rate defaults to 115 2K for selected 2 5 5 5 from the values listed below crystal MHz Baud 32MHz Baud 40MHz 333333 500000 DIP SETTING OFF switch UP ON switch DOWN Host CPU baud may vary Baud is a function of The Bird s Figure 6 Dipswitch Settings Super Expanded Address Mode 14 Installation and Operation Guide Unpacking Your System 2 2 CABLE ATTACHMENT CAUTION DISCONNECT THE AC LINE CORD FROM THE POWER SUPPLY BEFORE CONNECTING OR DISCONNECTING ANY CABLES Note If you are using a power source other than the optional power supply you may not have access to the AC line cord In that case disconnect the DC power plug at The Bird Important note switching The Bird to STDBY does NOT turn the power off 2 2
24. JPR 17 7 12 E JPR 10 14 16 123 123 JPR 15 JPR9 149 Installation and Operation Guide Appendix IV Jumper Locations THE EXTENDED RANGE CONTROLLER CIRCUIT CARD JUMPER LOCATION 0 LM 110508 iy 39 E JPR 3 7 OO 0 LJ QO O3 z Lk 2 e 0 1 oO ES 3 S isl LI E 06 ex d fm omo JPR 12 D T EEJEJdEJ
25. M14 M13 M12 11 M10 9 14 MSbyte M 1 2 0 M8 M M6 M5 M3 M2 15 LSbyte M 2 2 0 M15 M14 M13 M12 M11 M10 M9 16 MSbyte M 2 2 0 M8 M7 M6 M5 M3 M2 17 LSbyte M 3 2 0 M15 M14 M13 M12 M M10 M9 18 MSbyte M 3 2 0 M8 M7 M6 M5 M4 M M2 19 LSbyte M 1 3 0 M15 M14 M13 M12 M11 M10 M9 20 MSbyte M 1 3 0 M8 M7 M6 M5 M4 M3 M2 21 LSbyte M 2 3 0 M15 M14 M13 M12 1 M10 M9 22 MSbyte M 2 3 0 M8 M7 M6 M5 M4 M3 M2 23 LSbyte M 3 3 0 M15 M14 M13 M12 11 0 9 24 MSbyte 3 3 See POSITION mode and MATRIX mode for number ranges and scaling 91 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands POSITION QUATERNION POSITION QUATERNION HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 5D 93 01011101 In the POSITION QUATERNION mode The Bird outputs the X Y and Z position and the four quaternion parameters 9 4 qz and q which describe the orientation of the sensor with respect to the transmitter The output record is in the following format for the fourteen transmitted bytes MSB LSB 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 BYTE 1 X8 X7 X6 5 4 X3 X2 1 LSbyte X 0 X15 X14 X13 X12 X11 X10 X9 2 MSbyte X 0 Y8 x 6 Y5 Y4 Y3 Y2 3 LSbyte Y 0 vi5 14 13 12 11 10 Y9 4 MSbyte Y 0 78 27 26 25 24 23 22 5 LSbyte 2 0 215 214 72713 712 211 710 79 6 MSbyte Z B8 B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 7 LSbyte 0 B15 B14 B13 B12 Bll B10 B9
26. ONE TRANSMITTER MULTIPLE SENSORS BYTES 2 3 FBB DEVICES BIT 15 0 BIT 14 If 1 device at address 14 is running If O device at address 14 is not running 133 Installation and Operation Guide 134 BIT 13 BIT 1 BIT 0 BYTES 4 5 BIT 15 BIT 14 BIT 13 BIT 1 BIT 0 BYTES 6 7 BIT 15 BIT 14 Change Value Examine Value A Bird is RUNNING when the fly switch is on it has been AUTO CONF and it is AWAKE A device is not running when the fly switch is on and it has not been AUTO CONFIGed or it has been and it is ASLEEP If 1 device at address 13 is running device at address 13 is not running If 1 device at address 1 is running device at address 1 is not running 0 FBB DEPENDENTS Normal and Expanded addr modes only 0 If 1 device at address 14 is dependent If 0 device at address 14 is not dependent If 1 device at address 13 is dependent If 0 device at address 13 is not dependent If 1 device at address 1 is dependent If 0 device at address 1 is not dependent 0 FBB DEVICES Expanded Super Expanded addr modes only If 1 device at address 30 is running device at address 30 is not running If 1 device at address 29 is running Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value BIT 0 BYTES 8 9 BIT 15 BIT 14 BIT 0 BYTES 18 19 BIT 15 BIT 14 BIT 0 device at address 29 is not running If 1
27. after sending the Flock the FBB AUTO CONFIGURATION FBB ARM or FBB CONFIGURATION commands If you send Command Bytes without their proper Command Data bytes the system may hang Toggling the FLY STDBY switch should return you to normal operation See note below If the position orientation outputs from the system are noisy be sure that the sensor is not located near The Bird s power supply or other electronic devices or cables If one or more of the position outputs stops changing at longer separation distances use the CHANGE VALUE POSITION SCALING command to change the full scale output from 36 to 72 inches Your software will also need to change its output scaling to corresponded to The Birds change If the signs of the X Y or Z position outputs suddenly change you may have crossed a hemisphere boundary Use the HEMISPHERE command to rectify Once you have established proper communication with The Bird any problems which cause it to hang can generally be corrected by toggling the FLY STDBY switch In some cases you may have to restart your host computer If the host seems to be missing data from The Bird the host s operating system may be removing from The Bird s data stream some bytes that represent host system control commands Verify that the host can read all binary characters from the serial port using the Host Read Data test and the Host Read Data Read Block test If The Flock with the Extended Range Transmitter ERT opti
28. approximately 5 milliseconds old when it starts coming out When the STREAM command is received the next measurement cycle starts immediately but the output of the data record is delayed for approximately 5 106 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands milliseconds while it is being computed Issue the STREAM command every cycle to obtain data records that are zero milliseconds old An important note to this command is that the user must issue the POINT or STREAM or FBB SEND DATA commands at a regular rate with a frequency of 100 Hz to 144 Hz If you just issue the POINT or STREAM or FBB SEND DATA commands every now and then when SYNCtype 8 is in force the resulting position and orientation data returned will be greatly in error When operating with a Flock of Birds using the FBB or a single RS232 interface to talk to all Flock members only the Master outputs its data on receipt of the FBB SEND DATA or POINT command The host must individually request data from the Slaves If your host is going to send data requests at a rate greater than The Bird s default measurement rate of approximately 100 measurements sec then you must first utilize the CHANGE VALUE BIRD MEASUREMENT RATE command to set The Bird to a rate that is slightly faster than the host s fastest rate i e if the host s rate is 120 measurements sec set The Bird to 123 measurements sec Since The Bird is ready to output position and orientation data about 6 milliseconds b
29. been detected by the serial channel 1 UART as it received characters from the user s host computer on the RS485 interface If an overrun error the baud rate of the user s host computer and The Bird differ This may be due to incorrect baud selection or inaccuracy of the baud rate generator If a framing error the host software may be sending characters to its own UART before the UART finishes outputting the previous character No FBB Command Response WARNING1 Cause Action The Master Bird has sent a command to a Slave Bird that required a response but the Slave never responded Check that the Slave Birds are attached Check FBB cabling Check that Slave Bird addresses match the FBB Configuration 139 Installation and Operation Guide Error Messages CODE ERROR DESCRIPTION TYPE 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 140 Invalid FBB Host Command WARNING1 Cause The Flock has received an invalid FBB host command which can occur if the user sends down a command character to the proper device address but the command is invalid Action Only send valid FBB commands to The Bird when in FBB Host control mode FBB Run Time Error FATAL Cause Not currently used Action Should never occur Invalid CPU Speed FATAL Cause If the system reads an invalid CPU speed from the system EEPROM and the EEPROM is initialized the error will occur Action Initialize the system EEPROM No Data Error WARNING1 Cause
30. defined above You can increase the Bird s measurement rate to a maximum of 144 measurements sec The downside of going to rates faster than 103 3 measurements sec is that the noise on your outputs may increase and any errors introduced by nearby metals will increase You can decrease the Bird s measurement rate to no less than 20 measurements sec for 40 MHz Birds It is at this value that XMTR TIME CNT reaches its maximum value of 65535 Decreasing the measurement rate is useful if you need to reduce errors resulting from highly conductive metals such as aluminum If you have low conductive highly permeable metals in your environment such as carbon steel or iron changing the measurement rate will not change the distortions For low conductive low permeability metals such as 300 series stainless steel or nickel speed changes will have minimal effect since in this case the metal is not introducing any errors into the Bird s measurements anyway The downside of decreasing the Bird s measurement rate is that dynamic performance is decreased That is if you move the Bird s sensor quickly the slow measurement rate Will cause increased lag errors Also at slower rates the noise will increase or decrease depending on the rate you choose For example the noise will be at a maximum if you select a measurement rate equal to your power line frequency of 50 or 60 hertz As you change the measurement rate of the Bird you many want to experiment wit
31. each time you issue the command with the Command Data 255 are formatted per the following four bytes with no phasing bits employed MSB LSB 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 B7 B6 5 B4 B3 B2 BO 1 LSbyte scan voltage B15 B14 B13 B12 B11 B10 B9 B8 2 MSbyte scan voltage B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B BO 3 LSbyte scan rate B15 B14 B13 B12 B11 B10 B9 B8 4 MSbyte scan rate The scan voltage will return values between 7FFF and 8000 Hex Element scaling is 7FFF Hex 4 99 volts 0 0 Hex 0 volts and 8000 Hex 5 0 volts The scan rate measurement will return timer COUNTS between 0 and FFFF Hex After converting COUNTS to an integer between 0 and 65535 the scan rate is computed from scan rate in hertz 500 000 CLOCK COUNTS where CLOCK is the period of one computer time count in microseconds With a crystal value equal to 25 MHz CLOCK 8 25 With a 32 MHz crystal CLOCK 8 32 With a 40 MHz crystal CLOCK 8 40 The crystal value is determined by using the command EXAMINE VALUE 2 COMPUTER CRYSTAL SPEED HOSTSYNC Mode When SYNCtype 8 The Bird is in host sync mode In this mode The Bird starts a measurement cycle only when the RS232 command POINT or STREAM or the FBB SEND DATA command is received from your host computer In addition to starting a measurement cycle The Bird starts outputting the most recent position and orientation data record The data output is
32. is controlling and coordinating the operation of all other Flock Birds the Slaves The Master controls the sequencing and synchronizing of Flock transmitters and tells sensors when to measure the transmitted magnetic fields The user s host computer communicates with the Master to start and stop the Flock and perform other major Flock control functions There can only be one Master running on the FBB at a time The Master Bird may have its own transmitter but this is not a requirement The Flock can run using a transmitter attached to a Slave All Birds in the Flock must have a sensor One or more Birds in the Flock with a sensor and possibly a transmitter that receive operating instructions from the Master Bird If the Slave unit has a transmitter the user s host computer may tell the Master to turn on this Slave s transmitter via the NEXT TRANSMITTER command STANDALONE 146 A single Bird unit with its own transmitter and sensor using the RS232 interface Installation and Operation Guide Appendix Il Optional Power Supply Specifications APPENDIX OPTIONAL POWER SUPPLY SPECIFICATIONS The optional power supply is an AULT Inc model SW300 This supply utilizes switching technology to provide 25 watts regulated output Its specifications are Physical Dimensions Input connector Output connector Electrical Power input Total output power Output voltages currents Power cable connector pinout 148 5mm x 122mm x
33. is some error in the system even when there are no metals present This error indication usually increases as the distance between the transmitter and sensor increases and is due to the fact that Bird components cannot be made or calibrated perfectly To minimize the amount of this inherent error in the METAL error value a linear curve fit defined by a slope and offset is made to this inherent error and stored in each individual sensor s memory since the error depends primarily on the size of the sensor being used 25mm 8mm or 5 mm The METAL command allows the user to eliminate or change these values For example maybe the user s standard environment has large errors and he wants to look at variations from this standard environment To do this he would adjust the slope and offset to minimize the METAL error values On power up initialization of the system or whenever the user wants to change the METAL values the user must send to the BIRD the following three byte sequence Command Byte METALdata Where the Command Byte is the equivalent of an ASCII s lower case and the METALflag and METAL data are METALflag METALdata 0 Turn off metal detection 0 Turn on metal detection using system default METALdata Sensitivity Turn on metal detection and change the Sensitivity Offset Turn on metal detection and change the Offset Slope Turn on metal detection and change the Slope Alpha Turn on metal detection and change the filter
34. of your CRT The most significant byte of the speed word is equal to zero and the base 10 value of the least significant byte represents the speed of the crystal For example if the least significant byte 19 Hex the crystal speed is 25 MHz POSITION SCALING PARAMETERnumber 3 During EXAMINE the Bird returns in two bytes a code that describes the scale factor used to compute the position of the sensor with respect to the transmitter If the separation exceeds this scale factor the Bird s position outputs will not change to reflect this increased distance rendering the measurements useless The most significant byte of the parameter word returned is always zero If the least significant byte 0 the scale factor is 36 inches for a full scale position output If the least significant byte is 1 the full scale output is 72 inches Do not use this command with the Extended Range Transmitter ERT Full scale output for the ERT is 144 inches and is not changeable To CHANGE the scale factor send the Bird two bytes of PARAMETERdata with the most significant byte set to zero and the least significant set to zero or one Note Changing the scale factor from the default 36 inches to 72 inches reduces by half the resolution of the output X Y Z coordinates 113 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value Regardless of the scale factor setting operation of the Bird at ranges beyond the specified 48 inch operating range i
35. only want to change one metal parameter at a time see the METAL command in section 9 127 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value When metal detection is enabled all subsequent Bird data requests will result in a METAL error byte being added to the end of the data stream If the BUTTON byte is also being output the BUTTON byte precedes the METAL byte The METAL error byte is number between 0 and 127 base 10 that indicates the degree to which the position and angle measurements are in error due to bad metals located near the transmitter and sensor or due to Bird system errors Bad metals are metals with high electrical conductivity such as aluminum or high magnetic permeability such as steel Good metals have low conductivity and low permeability such as 300 series stainless steel or titanium The METAL error byte also reflects Bird system errors resulting from accuracy degradations in the transmitter sensor or other electronic components The METAL error byte also responds to accuracy degradation resulting from movement of the sensor or environmental noise A METAL error byte 0 indicates no or minimal position and angle errors depending on how sensitive you have set the error indicator A METAL error byte 127 indicates maximum error for the sensitivity level selected The metal detector is sensitive to the introduction of metals in an environment where no metals were initially present
36. own expense Canadian Regulations This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class A limits for radio noise emissions from digital apparatus set out in the Radio Interference Regulation of the Canadian Department of Communications Le present appareil numerique n emet de bruits radioelectriques depassant les limites applicables aux appareils numeriques de la class A prescrites dans le Reglement sur le brouillage radioelectrique edicte par le ministere des Communications du Canada European Regulations This equipment has been tested and found to conform to the harmonized European Union CE standards EN 50081 1 and 50082 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 0 INTRODUCTION ox x Pi Oe Se eG e E ds 1 2 0 UNPACKING YOUR SYSTEM 5 2 1 NING ALLA TIONS ton ioc e ia Scr ET PP 6 2 1 1 ELECTRONICS UNIT LOCATION 6 2 1 2 TRANSMITTER 6 2 1 3 SENSOR LOCATION 2 rtt 7 2 1 4 POWER SUPPLY LOCATION 7 2 1 5 INTERNAL JUMPERS sieved enews 7 2 1 6 ADDRESSING MODE CONFIGURATION 10 2 1 7 DIPSWITCH 10 22 GABLE ATTACHMENT 58 heredis 14 221 RS 232C CABLE tech 15 222 CABLE Bird
37. parameter 32 FBB host delay Exam chg value 50 23 3 Send to Master only to examine or change group mode parameter 35 4F 23 Group mode Examine value 50 24 3 Send to Master only to examine Flock system status parameter 36 Flock status Exam chg value 50 32 3 Send to Master only parameter 50 4F 32 FBB auto config 43 Installation and Operation Guide FBB Host Interface 6 0 FBB HOST INTERFACE If your host computer is using the RS232 interface to the Flock then you need not read Section 6 x 6 1 FBB SIGNAL DESCRIPTION A pinout and signal description of the FBB interface is found below Note that all FBB connectors are identical PIN FBB SIGNAL DIRECTION LEVEL 1 Not used 2 FBB CTS Bidirectional RS485 RS422 3 FBB CTS Bidirectional RS485 RS422 4 FBB BIRD DATA Bidirectional RS485 RS422 5 FBB BIRD DATA Bidirectional RS485 RS422 6 FBB HOST DATA Bidirectional RS485 RS422 7 FBB HOST DATA Bidirectional RS485 RS422 8 GROUND Ground Notes 1 Pin 1 is on the left when viewing the rear of The Bird 2 Direction is defined with respect to The Bird FBB signals are described as follows SIGNAL NAME DESCRIPTION CTS Clear to Send signal sent by the Master Bird to the host indicating that the host may transmit on the FBB HOST DATA lines Signals are RS485 levels This control line is currently not utilized the host can always send data to The Birds 44 Installation and Operation Guide FBB Host Inter
38. stored in each individual sensor s memory since the error depends primarily on the size of the sensor being used 25mm 8mm or 5 mm The METAL command allows the user to eliminate or change these values For example maybe the user s standard environment has large errors and he wants to look 128 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value at variations from this standard environment To do this he would adjust the slope and offset to minimize the METAL error values The metal parameters and values the user can change or examine are 0 This is the default power up configuration METALerror byte is output at the end of the Bird s data stream When you turn off the metal detection using METALflag 0 you still must send the required 5 words In this case the last 4 words are ignored and not updated with the values you send METALflag 1 Turns on METAL detection using the system default sensitivity offset slope and alpha values again ignoring the last 4 parameter values you send after the METALflag The system default values base 10 are METALsensitivity 32 METALoffset sensor dependent METALslope sensor dependent METALalpha 12 greater than 1 Turns on METAL detection using the METAL sensitivity offset slope and alpha values you sent with the command METALsensitivity The user supplies a Sensitivity byte as an integer between 0 and 127 depending on how little or how mu
39. the error code The stopping of The Bird and blinking during an error condition can be disabled using the CHANGE VALUE ERROR DETECT MASK command Most error conditions can be cleared up by just reissuing the AUTO CONFIGURATION command to the Master Other error conditions will require you to cycle the power switch The error codes are summarized on the next page A detailed description of each is presented later 136 Installation and Operation Guide Error Messages CODE ERROR DESCRIPTION TYPE 1 System Ram Failure FATAL 2 Non Volatile Storage Write Failure FATAL 3 PCB Configuration Data Corrupt WARNING1 4 Bird Transmitter Calibration Data Corrupt or Not Connected WARNING1 5 Bird Sensor Calibration Data Corrupt or Not Connected WARNING1 6 Invalid RS232 Command WARNING2 7 Not an FBB Master WARNING2 8 No Birds accessible in Device List WARNING2 9 Bird is Not Initialized WARNING2 10 FBB Serial Port Receive Error Intra Bird Bus WARNING1 11 RS232 Serial Port Receive Error WARNING1 12 FBB Serial Port Receive Error FBB Host Bus WARNING1 13 No FBB Command Response WARNING1 14 Invalid FBB Host Command WARNING1 15 FBB Run Time Error FATAL 16 Invalid CPU Speed FATAL 17 No FBB Data WARNING1 18 Illegal Baud Rate WARNING1 19 Slave Acknowledge Error WARNING1 20 27 Intel 80186 CPU Errors FATAL 28 CRT Synchronization WARNING1 29 Transmitter Not accessible WARNING1 30 Extended Range Transmitter Not Attached FATAL 31 CPU Time Overflow WARNING2
40. to use the sync pulse signal pickup provided with The Bird then you can provide your own sync pulse to The Bird The sync pulse you provide must have the following characteristics 1 The signal should be TTL level normally low ground 2 The Bird synchronizes to the rising edge of the pulse during its low to high transition 3 Pulse width at the high level can vary from one microsecond to one millisecond 4 Pulse width and pulse separation should be constant from one cycle to the next 5 Pulse rep rate should be 50 to 72 Hz if using CRT SYNC type 2 or 100 to 144 Hz if using CRT SYNC type 1 Either of these combinations will result in a Bird measurement rate of 100 to 144 measurements second 6 Change the jumpers on The Bird s printed circuit card PCB To change the jumpers you must open up the electronics unit per the procedure detailed in Section 2 1 5 and then locate the appropriate jumpers per the printed circuit card drawing in Appendix IV The jumper blocks can be removed and inserted vertically with a strong set of fingers Jumper pins 1 to 2 on jumpers 9 and 15 if using a TTL input signal or jumper pins 2 to 3 on jumpers 9 and 15 if using the CRT SYNC pickup shipped with The Bird 155 Installation and Operation Guide Index Application Note 5 Using Multiple Host RS485 Interfaces A Flock of Birds can be configured with multiple host computer RS485 422 interfaces to minimize communications delay This interconnect
41. with a single FBB or RS232 interface you must first enable the GROUP MODE Remember that when the GROUP MODE is enabled an extra byte containing the FBB address of The Bird is added to the end of each data record Some computers and or high level software languages may not be able to keep up with the constant STREAM of data in this mode Bytes received by your RS232 port may overrun one another or your input buffer may overflow if Bird data is not retrieved fast enough This condition will cause lost bytes hence if your high level application software requests say 12 bytes from the RS232 input buffer it may hang because one or more bytes were lost To eliminate this possibility read one byte at a time looking for the phasing bit that marks the first byte of the data record See REPORT RATE to change the rate at which records are transmitted during STREAM 102 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands STREAM STOP STREAM STOP HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte f 3F 63 00111111 STREAM STOP turns STREAM mode off stopping any data that was STREAMing from the Bird Because the Bird may have output some data to your host computer between the time you sent the Bird the command and the time the Bird executed the command you should check your input port and empty it before you execute any new commands To ensure that your input port is empty you should read it for at least 10 milliseconds If you are in GROUP mode you should send t
42. working together in a Master Slave configuration or a single Bird with an Extended Range Transmitter During an CHANGE VALUE command the Master Bird will perform all the necessary configurations of the Slaves and itself for a one transmitter multiple sensor configuration The Master Bird expects one byte of data corresponding to the number of Bird electronic units on the FBB that should be used in the 1 transmitter multiple sensor mode For example if the one byte 3 then the Bird at address 1 the default Master will assume that there are also Birds at addresses 2 and 3 These three Bird units will then start running If you have an Extended Range Transmitter Controller ERC in your configuration then the ERC counts as one Bird electronics unit Note that contiguous addresses must be used i e for 1 transmitter 5 sensors Birds with addresses 1 through 5 must be present The command sequence would look like 50 Hex followed by a 32 Hex followed by a 3 When the number of Bird units is set 1 the Master is using only its sensor with its transmitter This allows you to operate like a standalone unit but you must use the FBB commands In this mode your host computer can use either the FBB RS485 or the 132 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value RS232 interface In the standalone mode you can use only the RS232 interface Once the Flock is running the AUTO CONFIGURATION command can also be used to reco
43. 0 These phasing bits are required for the host computer to identify the start of a record when the data is streaming from The Bird without individual record requests In general the output data will appear as follows MS BIT LS BIT 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 WORD 1 B8 B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 1 LSbyte 0 B15 14 B13 B12 B11 B10 1 MSbyte 0 C8 C7 C6 C5 C4 C2 2 LSbyte 0 CLS 1 GLZ CIT 09 2 MSbyte 0 8 7 6 5 4 5 N2 N LSbyte 0 N15 N14 N12 N11 N10 9 N MSbyte 0 0 0 AD4 AD3 AD2 1 ADO GROUP MODE address 35 Installation and Operation Guide Running The Flock The MS most significant bits are the phasing bits and are not part of the data The GROUP MODE address byte is only present if GROUP MODE is enabled see change value GROUP MODE For example The Bird is about to send a data record consisting of these three data words Word Decimal Hex Binary 2 bytes MSbyte LSbyte 1 4386 1122 00010001 00100010 2 13124 3344 00110011 01000100 3 21862 5566 01010101 01100110 The conversion to the binary data format that The Bird does goes like this BIRD 1 Shifts each data word right 2 Breaks each word into MSByte one bit LSByte pairs MS LS 10010001 LS 00001000 10010001 00001000 MS 00011001 10100010 10100010 LS 00101010 10110011 00011001 MS 10110011 LS 00101010 MS 3 Shifts each LSByte right one more 4 Transmits all bytes in str
44. 0 L Baud rate when FBB RS485 interface selected Host CPU baud may vary 2 5 5 5 from the values listed below Baud is a function of The Bird s crystal MHz Dipswitch 1 2 3 Baud 32MHZ Baud 40MHz off 57142 57600 off off on 117647 113636 off on off 250000 250000 off on on 333333 500000 DIP SETTING OFF switch UP ON switch DOWN Figure 4 Dipswitch Settings Normal Address Mode 12 Installation and Operation Guide Unpacking Your System Dipswitch position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Fly OFF Test ON c In Fly Mode FBB address 0 30 Dipswitch 3 4 5 6 7 FBB Addr oft off off ott off 0 off off off off on 1 on on on on off 30 on on on invalid L In Test Mode test number Dipswitch 4 5 6 7 Test off off off off 1 off off off 3 on on 31 H Baud rate when RS232 interface selected Dipswitch 1 2 off off 9600 off 19200 off 38400 on 115200 L Baud rate when FBB RS485 interface selected Host CPU baud may vary 2 5 5 5 from the values listed below Baud is a function of The Bird s crystal MHz Dipswitch 1 2 Baud 32MHz Baud 40 MHz OX t off 250000 250000 on off 333333 500000 DIP SETTING OFF switch UP ON switch DOWN Figure 5 Dipswitch Settings Expanded Address Mode 13 Installation and Operation Guide Dipswitch position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Unpacking Your System Fly OFF Test ON m
45. 0 if the Bird is in RUN mode B4 B3 B2 B1 0001 if POSITION outputs selected BO 112 0010 if ANGLE outputs selected 0011 if MATRIX outputs selected 0100 if POSITION ANGLE outputs selected 0101 if POSITION MATRIX outputs selected 0110 factory use only 0111 if QUATERNION outputs selected 1000 if POSITION QUATERNION outputs selected 0 if POINT mode selected 1 if STREAM mode selected Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value SOFTWARE REVISION NUMBER PARAMETERnumber 1 During EXAMINE the Bird returns the two byte revision number of the software located in the Bird s PROM memory The revision number in base 10 is expressed as INT FRA where INT is the integer part of the revision number and FRA is the fractional part For example if the revision number is 2 13 then INT 2 and FRA 13 The value of the most significant byte returned is FRA The value of the least significant byte returned is INT Thus in the above example the value returned in the most significant byte would have been OD Hex and the value of the least significant byte would have been 02 Hex If the revision number were 3 1 then the bytes would be 01 and 03 Hex BIRD COMPUTER CRYSTAL SPEED PARAMETERnumber 2 During EXAMINE the Bird returns in two bytes the speed of its computer s crystal in megahertz MHz You need to know the crystal speed if you want to determine or set the measurement rate of the Bird or compute the vertical scan rate
46. 0 to 144 measurements second of its position and orientation when the sensor is located within 8 feet of the ERT The ERT option has been designed for simplicity of use and versatility One ERT mounted on a pedestal in the center of a room generates sufficient signal to allow a user equipped with one or more motion tracking sensors to walk about a 16 x 16 foot room With four ERTs in an array he can walk about a 24 x 24 foot room No matter how many ERTs are included in a configuration the Flock will continue to maintain its high measurement rate 2 3 1 EXTENDED RANGE TRANSMITTER LOCATION most critical item in installing an ERT is selecting a location for placement of the transmitter A poor location will result in degraded measurement accuracy by The Flock of Birds When large metal objects are near the transmitter and sensor s they will affect the accuracy of the position and angle measurements A large metal object is considered to be near when the distance from the transmitter to sensor is the same as the distance from the transmitter or sensor to the large metal object Large metal objects include metal desks bookcases files and the floor ceiling and walls In non wood commercial buildings the floor and possibly the ceiling are constructed of concrete that contains a mesh of reinforcing steel bars Walls might be constructed of cinder blocks or plaster board Plaster board walls however usually have internal steel supports spac
47. 1 1 hex would be F1 address 15 hex would be FF Addresses 16 to 30 Command Byte EO destination FBB address in hex 10 Hex i e address 16 10 hex would be address 30 1E hex would be EE For the Super Expanded Addressing mode addresses 1 to 126 the command is Command Byte 1 0 Command Byte 2 destination FBB address in hex Example 1 There are two Birds in the Flock in the Normal Addressing mode One at FBB address 1 and the other at FBB address 2 configured for the 1 transmitter 2 sensor Mode By default The Bird at address 1 is the Master and The Bird at address 2 98 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands is the Slave The host s RS232 interface is connected to The Bird at address 1 The jumpers in Bird 1 are configured for RS232 communications while the jumpers in Bird 2 can be configured for either RS232 or FBB communications To get Position Angle data from Bird 1 the host would either send a 2 byte command consisting of the RS232 TO FBB command 1 hex followed by the POINT command 42 hex or the 1 byte POINT command 42 hex To get Position Angle data from Bird 2 the host would send a 2 byte command consisting of the RS232 TO FBB command F2 hex followed by the POINT command 42 hex Example 2 There are two Birds in the Flock in the Super Expanded Addressing mode One at FBB address 1 and the other at FBB address 2 configured for the 1 transmitter 2 sensor
48. 1 ELECTRONICS UNIT LOCATION Generally the electronics unit can be mounted anywhere However it is best if the unit is not located on top of or under other electronic equipment that is not shielded When locating the electronics unit you must ensure that the ventilating slots on the sides of the enclosure are not obstructed The plastic cases are designed so that multiple units can be stacked on top of each other Because it is possible through movement of the sensor cable to pull the electronics unit off of its perch you should use some sort of secondary restraint such as taping the sensor cable to the desk near where it connects to the unit 2 1 2 TRANSMITTER LOCATION The transmitter should be mounted on a non metallic surface such as wood or plastic using non metallic bolts or 300 series stainless steel bolts It also may be mounted on the top front edge of the electronics unit If you are going to mount the transmitter upside down note that the two mounting holes are not strong enough to support the weight of the transmitter Instead you should use hardware or grooves to capture the flanges along both sides of the transmitter in addition to bolting through the two mounting holes Do not mount the transmitter on the floor concrete included ceiling or walls because these all contain metal or may have large metal objects directly on their opposite side DANGER FIRE HAZARD DO NOT COVER THE TRANSMITTER WITH AN INSULATING MATERIAL OR
49. 1 RS 232C CABLE If your host interface to The Bird is via RS 232C then prepare the cable s according to the specification in Section 4 1 or as defined in the user software diskette file RS232 TXT and attach it to the 9 pin female connector labeled RS 232 on the rear panel of the appropriate electronics unit If you are using a single RS232 port to talk to all Birds the Flock then attach the RS232 cable to the Master Bird see Section 4 4 If you are using a separate RS232 port for each Bird then connect the RS232 cables to every member of the Flock Verify that you have not plugged the RS232 cable into the XMTR connector 2 2 2 FBB CABLE Bird to Bird If you are using one or more RS232 or RS485 ports to communicate with the Flock then use the supplied FBB cables to interconnect The Birds for FOB operation in the daisy chained fashion as indicated in Figure 1 2 3 or 4 The cables are plugged into either of the 8 pin modular connectors on the rear panel labeled FBB If you are using multiple RS485 ports to communicate with the Flock then you will have to modify The Bird to Bird FBB CABLE per Application Note 5 2 2 3 FBB CABLE Host to Bird If your host interface to The Bird is via a single FBB RS485 interface then attach the supplied cable to either of the 8 pin modular connectors labeled FBB on the rear panel of the Master Bird electronics unit The connector on the other end of this cable is a 9 pin D male connector wired per th
50. 11 MSbyte SIN R B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 Bl BO 12 LSbyte COS B15 B14 B12 10 9 B8 13 MSbyte COS The sine and cosine elements take values between the binary equivalents of 99996 and 1 0 Element scaling is 99996 7FFF Hex 0 0 Hex and 1 0 8000 Hex 95 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands REFERENCE FRAME2 REFERENCE FRAME2 HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 114 01110010 Command Data Same as the REFERENCE FRAME1 command except that the command data consists of the angles only and not the sines and cosines of the angles The Command Byte and Command Data must be transmitted to The Bird in the following seven byte format MSB LSB 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 Command Byte B7 B6 B5 B4 B2 Bi BO 2 LSbyte A B15 B14 B13 B12 Bll B10 B9 B8 3 MSbyte B7 B6 B5 B2 Bi BO 4 LSbyte E B15 B14 B13 B12 B11 B10 B9 B8 5 MSbyte E B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B BO 6 LSbyte R B15 B14 B13 B12 B11 B10 B9 B8 7 MSbyte R See the ANGLES command for the format and scaling of the angle values sent 96 Installation and Operation Guide REPORT RATE Measurement HEX Rate Divisor Command 51 52 53 54 DECIMAL 81 82 83 84 RS232 Commands REPORT RATE BINARY 01010001 01010010 01010011 01010100 If you do not want a Bi
51. 2 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value respond to the Master When in Expanded Addressing mode the least significant 5 bits contain the address 1 through 30 of the Slave which did not respond to the Master The remaining most significant bits contain factory diagnostic information and should be ignored When in Super Expanded Addressing mode the least significant 7 bits contain the address 1 through 126 of the Slave which did not respond to the Master XYZ REFERENCE FRAME PARAMETERnumber 17 By default the XYZ measurement frame is the reference frame defined by the physical orientation of the transmitter s XYZ axes even when the REFERENCE FRAME command has been used to specify a new reference frame for measuring orientation angles During CHANGE if the one byte of PARAMETER DATA sent to the Bird is 1 then the XYZ measurement frame will also correspond to the new reference frame defined by the REFERENCE FRAME command When the PARAMETER DATA sent is a zero then the XYZ measurement frame reverts to the orientation of the transmitter s physical XYZ axes During EXAMINE the Bird returns a byte value of 0 or 1 to indicate that the XYZ measurement frame is either the transmitter s physical axes or the frame specified by the REFERENCE FRAME command TRANSMITTER OPERATION MODE PARAMETERnumber 18 The operation of the Bird can be optimized for a given application by changing how the transmitter sends out DC magnet
52. 2 interfaces to determine what jumpers to insert or remove To locate the jumpers refer to the printed circuit card drawings in Appendix IV The jumper blocks can be removed and inserted vertically with a strong set of fingers 3 REPLACE THE TOP OF THE ENCLOSURE a Slide the top over the front and rear panels There is a left and right side to the top One side has male grooves the other female Invert the electronics unit Tighten the four hold down screws Do not over tighten You are done Installation and Operation Guide Unpacking Your System Notes TABLE 1 JUMPER FUNCTIONS FOR THE BIRD Function 1 2 connected FBB RS485 host control 1 2 not connected RS232 host control 1 2 connected TTL Sync Signal enable 2 3 connected CRT Sync Signal enabled 1 2 connected FBB CTS terminated 1 2 not connected FBB CTS not terminated 1 2 connected FBB Receive Data enabled 2 3 connected RS232 Receive Data enabled 1 2 connected FBB BIRD DATA terminated 1 2 not connected FBB BIRD DATA not terminated 1 2 connected TTL single Sync input 2 3 connected factory supplied CRT Sync input cable 1 2 connected FBB HOST DATA terminated 1 2 not connected FBB HOST DATA not terminated 1 2 connected FBB reset is enabled 1 2 not connected FBB reset is not enabled 1 2 connected RS232 Request to Send signal will reset Bird 1 2 not connected RS232 Request to Send signal will
53. 28 1 Yes 12 2 10 Metal Detection 29 1D Yes 1 2 1 Report Rate 32 20 Yes 4 2 2 FBB Host Delay 35 23 Yes 3 2 1 Group Mode 36 24 No 0 2 14 30 126 Flock System Status 50 32 Yes 3 2 5 7 19 FBB Auto Configuration 1 xmtr N snsrs 110 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value The CHANGE VALUE command must be issued to The Bird in the following N byte sequence MSB LSB BYTE 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 Command Byte P N7 N6 5 N4 N3 N2 N NO 2 PARAMETERnumber B7 6 5 B4 B3 B2 B BO 3 PARAMETERdata LSbyte B7 6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B BO 4 PARAMETERdata MSbyte B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B BO N PARAMETERdata Where N7 NO represent a PARAMETERnumber i e 00000011 or 00000100 and 7 0 represents each bit in the N bytes of PARAMETERdata If the PARAMETERdata is a word then the Least Significant byte LSbyte is transmitted before the Most Significant byte MSbyte If the PARAMETERdata is numeric it must be in 2 s complement format You do not shift and add phasing bits to the data The EXAMINE VALUE command must be issued to The Bird in the following 2 byte sequence MSB LSB BYTE 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 Command Byte N7 N6 N5 N4 N3 N2 N1 NO 2 PARAMETERnumber Where N7 NO represent a PARAMETERnumber i e 00000000 or 00000001 etc If the PARAMETERdata returned is a word then the Least Significant byte LSbyte is received before the Most Significant byte MSbyt
54. 2C interface or a half duplex RS422 485 interface The second interface is a dedicated RS485 interface for communications between the Flock members The user and intra flock RS422 485 buses are generically called the Fast Bird Bus Your host computer may utilize either a single or multiple RS232 422 485 interfaces to command and receive data from all Bird units The host can send commands and receive data from any individual Bird unit because each Bird unit is assigned a unique address on the FBB via back panel dipswitches The FOBs can be configured to suit the needs of many different applications from a standalone unit consisting of a single transmitter and sensor to more complex configurations consisting of various combinations of transmitters and sensors Figures 1 2 3 and 4 show a one transmitter multiple sensor configuration for simultaneously tracking many sensors with one transmitter In Figure 1 the user s host computer uses the FBB for communication In Figure 2 it utilizes a single RS 232C port In Figure 3 it utilizes multiple RS 232C ports Figure 4 shows an extended range controller and transmitter attached to the FBB to allow the sensors to operate up to 8 feet away from the transmitter In these figures the Master Bird is the Flock Bird that is controlling and coordinating the operation of all other Slave Birds Slaves because they can only speak when spoken to by the Master or host The user s host computer communicates 1 Instal
55. 32 Sensor Saturated WARNING1 33 Slave Configuration WARNING1 34 Watch Dog Timer WARNING1 35 Over Temperature WARNING1 36 Sending Point Command Too Fast WARNING2 MESSAGE TYPE DESCRIPTION FATAL Error is posted in system status panel light continuously blinks the error code the Flock stops running WARNING1 Error is posted in system status panel light blinks the error code once the Flock resumes operation after the blinking stops WARNING2 Error is posted in the system status no light blinking the Flock continues to run 137 Installation and Operation Guide 11 1 ERROR MESSAGE DETAILS For each of the Flock error codes a possible cause and corrective action are listed Corrective actions with an indicate that the user should not attempt this fix but rather Ascension Technology should be called CODE ERROR DESCRIPTION TYPE 1 RAM Failure FATAL Cause System RAM Test has did not PASS 138 Action Check for shorts or opens to the RAM chips and if OK replace system RAM Non Volatile Storage Write Failure FATAL Cause Action Occurs when trying to write a transmitter sensor PCB EEPROM but the device does not acknowledge either because it is not there or there is a circuit failure Check the target EEPROM via a read command to verify that it is present prior to writing the device PCB Configuration Data Corrupt WARNING1 Cause The system was not able to read the PCB EEPROM Initialized Code Acti
56. 422 Host Interfaces As shown in the figure the host has grouped units 1 2 to one host RS485 422 port and grouped unit 3 to a second host RS485 422 port The group size can be as large or as small as desired The host software must maintain a list of Bird addresses that are attached to each port Bird addresses must be unique you cannot repeat the same address in another group Cables that interconnect groups on the Fast Bird Bus must not connect the FBB HOST DATA signals found on pins 6 and 7 of the FBB connectors In addition The Bird unit at each group s end must have the FBB HOST DATA termination jumper JPR16 installed As in other configurations FBB BIRD DATA termination jumper JPR14 must be installed on the end units of the FBB 156 Installation and Operation Guide INDIVIDUAL HOST RS485 422 INTERFACES BIRD ADDR 1 JPR16 JPR14 TERM TERM BIRD ADDR 2 BIRD ADDR 3 JPR14 JPR16 TERM TERM 1234567812345678 1234667812345678 1234567812345678 TO HOST RS485 TERMINATE TO HOST RS485 TERMINATE BIRD ADDR 1 12345678 12345678 BIRD ADDR 2 1234667812345678 TO HOST RS485 TERMINATE BIRD ADDR 3 JPR14 16 TERM TERM 12345678 12345678 GROUP ee TO HOST RS485 TERMINATE GROUP 2j
57. 48 6mm for standard IEC 3 wire cord 9 pin D subminiature female 100 250 VAC 50 60 Hz single phase 25 watts maximum 5 VDC 4 0 amps maximum 12 VDC 1 0 amps maximum 12 VDC 0 6 amps maximum Total not to exceed 25 watts 1 Remote Sense 2 Remote Sense 3 5 VDC 4 5 VDC 5 Common 6 Common 7 12 VDC 8 12 VDC 9 Earth Ground Note if you provide your own power supply 1 The supply should be UL listed with a maximum output voltage current ratings that do not exceed the above listed values 2 Never hook Common to Earth Ground Degraded operation will result 3 The cable wiring from your supply to The Bird should be at least AWG 18 gauge preferably AWG 16 to minimize voltage drop across the cable 4 The AULT supply does not have remote sensing If your supply has remote sensing attach it to the above indicated pins 147 Installation and Operation Guide Appendix Bird Specifications APPENDIX Ill BIRD SPECIFICATIONS Physical Transmitter 3 75 inch cube mounted inside enclosure or external with 10 cable Sensor 1 0 x 1 0 x 0 8 cube or optional 3 button mouse with 10 or optional 25 cable Enclosure 95 x 115 x 2 6 Technical Positional range 48 in any direction Angular range 180 Azimuth amp Roll 90 Elevation Static positional accuracy 0 1 RMS averaged over the translational range Positional resolution 0 03 12 Static angular accuracy 0 5 RMS averaged
58. 53 5 54 T RS232 To FO 240 3 Send to Master only 0 224 0 160 Run 46 3 Send to Master only Sleep 47 G 3 Send to Master only Stream 40 6 Cannot be used with a multi Flock configuration unless in GROUP mode Stream Stop 6 Sync 41 3 Send to Master only Xoff 13 3 Send to Master only Xon 11 DC1 3 Examine value 50 0 2 Send to addr of the unit whose status you want to know parameter 0 status Examine value 50 1 2 Send to addr of the unit whose software rev you want to know parameter 1 software rev Examine value 50 2 2 Send to addr of the unit whose crystal speed you want to know parameter 2 crystal speed 40 Installation and Operation Guide FBB Host Interface COMMAND APPLICABILITY NOTES Exam chg value 50 3 2 4 5 Send to addr of the snsr whose range scaling you want to parameter 3 4F 3 examine or change Position Scaling Exam chg value 50 4 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr whose filtering you want to examine or parameter 4 4 4 change Filter on off Exam chg value 50 5 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr whose filtering you want to examine or parameter 5 4F 5 change Alpha min Exam chg value 50 6 3 If a Flock send to Master only parameter 6 4F 6 measurement rate Exam chg value 50 8 3 If a Flock send to Master only parameter 8 4F 8 enable data ready Exam chg value 50 9 3 If a Flock send to the Master only parameter 9 4F 9 set data ready Examine value 50 A 2 Send to addr of the unit whose error code yo
59. 76 78 90 94 96 123 126 131 148 158 application Holes edu du x Ses Raed 151 bird computer crystal 110 113 116 echos du S dou T eae See een a Kr 59 60 143 bird measurement v vi 107 110 116 117 155 159 bird measurement rate 110 116 DIG Sexe did A Ea EN a ee Raat ade auis 59 143 bird seral numb 42 110 126 bira SpecificdllOnss s 2 bcati dde E E 148 50 56 110 112 52 ees vii 28 39 54 65 69 70 DULtorn iode Dm Da 28 34 39 52 54 71 72 81 Dttolt PE AG oe are 28 37 39 54 71 72 change value v 28 32 33 36 47 50 51 54 73 83 89 94 107 110 111 114 124 131 132 136 138 144 158 159 command usage table 38 39 EIE syne cable acy an bebe teg a 16 104 105 dc filter constant table 110 120 159 dc filter constant table _ 110 115 159 Cc fillertab
60. 9 54 65 80 81 94 97 99 102 103 106 107 112 118 128 131 133 144 148 158 159 sudden output change 34 52 121 158 159 SVING 9 16 20 29 34 40 52 54 104 106 112 116 155 system model identification 41 110 122 amp 6 5 cred yee Sod ap ad vi 59 60 testmModeS medrep a tz bobo ob et ee Bd eh bt ehh nas vii 59 transmitter Caplets xum ot echt ced iubar eque rd ated 16 20 transmitter Mistallatog s 255a ale ee be 18 tansmitenlocatloN ls gy hath del deste Das Dag oodd exe PEN 6 17 transmitter operation mode 22 93 29 x29ex rk eee eee ek 110 123 162 Installation and Operation Guide Index xmtr serial 43 110 Jat 29 40 54 108 109 112 e 29 34 40 52 54 108 109 112 xyz reference frames ete ata t Uttar eo deals vi 94 110 123 163
61. Bird s accuracy is reduced To determine if the Bird is happy with the rate and SYNCtype selected use examine parameter 10 ERROR CODE If it shows error 31 cpu time overflow then you must reduce the SYNCtype or sync pulse rate until the error disappears Before you set SYNCtype 1 2 or 3 you should use SYNCtype 255 to determine your CRT s vertical retrace rate and to help you find the best spot on the outside of the CRT s housing for the sync pickup Each time you send SYNCtype 255 The Bird will return two words to aid you in finding the sweet spot The first word represents a voltage proportional to the strength of your CRT s vertical scan signal Locate the pickup where this voltage will be at least 1 volt or more The maximum voltage reading will be obtained on the top or side of your CRT s housing near the deflection yoke The deflection yoke is typically located about halfway between the front and back of the cabinet The second word represents the scan rate of your CRT If you get a voltage reading but the scan rate number remains zero it means that your CRT s vertical scan 105 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands rate is less than 31 cps The Bird will not synchronize to a CRT at these lower rates When you set SYNCtype 255 the front panel light will go out to remind you that The Bird is not running normally You must set SYNCtype NOT equal to 255 before The Bird will start running again The two words returned
62. ERT is mounted on 4 foot high wood pedestal in the center of the motion capture space or mounted overhead or under the floor of a wood stage Because the transmitter is very heavy 50 Ibs fragile and subject to performance degradation by nearby metal the method that you use to support the transmitter must be strong and non metallic Small amounts of metal in the mount such as steel bolts are acceptable Supporting the transmitter on a steel or aluminum framework is not acceptable We recommend wood structural fiberglass or laminated phenolic for mounting materials Two bolt holes in the bottom of the transmitter have been provided for maintaining the alignment of the transmitter to your support These bolts are not strong enough to support the weight of the transmitter and therefore must not be used to support or down the transmitter to your mount The alignment bolt threads inside the bottom of the transmitter are 10 24 Thread engagement will occur 1 3 4 inches into the base You should screw the bolt in an additional gt inch for full engagement but no more The cable from the transmitter to the ERC contains high voltages and currents and therefore must be protected so that the cable will not be stepped on Run the cable through the ceiling or under the floor or if the cable is on the floor use a rigid cable protector that can be walked on such as Cordgard Electrical Cord Ducting available through Arrow Electronics and othe
63. EdEJESEJdEZJESESEZ 3n j 000 000 000 00 os JPR 10 14 16 1 2 1 2 1 2 150 Installation and Operation Guide Index APPENDIX V APPLICATION NOTES Application Note 1 Compute The Coordinates of a Stylus Tip Some applications need to measure the X Y Z coordinates that describe the physical shape of an object such as a plastic model or a person s face This measurement can be accomplished by moving The Bird s sensor over the object and recording the X Y Z positional outputs Because of the sensor s size it is sometimes more convenient to mount The Bird s sensor onto a pencil or pen or some other type of device with a pointed tip generically called a stylus and then trace the object with the stylus tip to record its shape Since the positional outputs of The Bird are with respect to the center of the sensor one needs to find the corresponding X Y Z coordinates at the tip of the stylus This translation of coordinates is easily accomplished with the application of some elementary trigonometry given the POSITION MATRIX outputs and the X Y Z offset distances from The Bird s sensor center to the tip of the attached stylus Notation Zp are the X Y Z position outputs from The Bird that is the location of the sensor s center with respect to the transmitter s center Xo Yo Zo are the offset distances from the sensor s center to the tip of the stylus Xs Ys Zs are the coordinates of the st
64. FIG command description expanded Added Reference Frame1 Frame2 Angle Align1 Align2 and test for sensor You need at least rev 3 63 PROM software for these new commands Added the ability to have up to 126 FBB devices Added FBB Reset command Added the following Change Examine commands Addressing Mode Line Frequency FBB Address Hemisphere Angle Align2 Reference 2 Serial Number You need to have at least EPROM software rev 3 67 for these new commands Changed the word receivers to sensors Added how to change the angles from Hex to degrees Corrected various bugs misprints in the text Added the Sensor Serial Number and Transmitter Serial Number commands You need to have at least EPROM software rev 3 71 for these new commands vi Installation and Operation Guide Introduction Manual Date January 31 2002 March 1 2004 USER MANUAL REVISIONS Changes Added Examine Change Metal Added Metal command Added sync mode 3 Added STREAM STOP command Added BORESIGHT and BORESIGHT REMOVE commands Added OFFSET command Deleted Test modes 11 and 13 You need at least rev 3 83 for these new commands Jumper 18 added to PCB to disable enable reset by RS232 Related text and drawing revised to describe the jumper Transmitter heating warning added Error 36 added if sending point command too fast Expanded quaternion description Fixed misc text errors Must have at lease rev 3 85 firmware for this vii Installation
65. ICA 74 FBB RESET ost Ato d 75 HEMISPHERE 4 amp 2 xo pad 76 MATRIX eh S Dub by cee Pd n 78 ME DAE debido 80 METAL ERROR 83 NEXT TRANSMITTER 225 424 NAL A LAE ie teste le 84 OR RSE Wig tence ated seat E E ed ee ede 86 us pe CETT 88 POSITION ERI eens Seba 89 POSITION ANGLES ea eie et Re Ede 90 oaa tlm o ut oho 91 POSITION QUATERNION v REIR 34k23 4395 92 QUATERNION sian ane dide 93 REFERENGE FIRAMET 2 nth aer 94 REFERENCE 2 505 96 REPORT Ep UTR 97 2 PBB 98 RUNS uu sir E See eee 100 EER A stint ooh Mace lb Se Rie MR Ge ee EU 101 STREAM ee Re eRe eee ee ated 102 STREAM STOP ea Ced eee ttr EX 103 SYN othe betcha pied d desire 104 KROME 2 sais aoe ae es Iia uL id Te ae EE LBS 108 ob Se Re es deret eae Cease ae pof 109 10 0 CHANGE VALUE EXAMINE
66. M4 M3 M2 17 LSbyte M 3 3 0 M15 M14 M13 M12 1 10 9 18 MSbyte M 3 3 The matrix elements take values between the binary equivalents of 99996 and 1 0 Element scaling is 99996 7FFF Hex 0 0 Hex and 1 0 8000 Hex Matrix information is 0 when sensor saturation occurs in Expanded Addressing mode or Super Expanded Addressing mode 79 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands METAL METAL DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 115 01110011 Command Data METALdata When the METAL mode command is given all subsequent Bird data requests will have a METAL error byte added to the end of the data stream If the BUTTON byte is also being output the BUTTON byte precedes the METAL byte The METAL error byte is a number between 0 and 127 base 10 that indicates the degree to which the position and angle measurements are in error due to bad metals located near the transmitter and sensor or due to Bird system errors Bad metals are metals with high electrical conductivity such as aluminum or high magnetic permeability such as steel Good metals have low conductivity and low permeability such as 300 series stainless steel or titanium The METAL error byte also reflects Bird system errors resulting from accuracy degradations in the transmitter sensor or other electronic components The METAL error byte also responds to accuracy degradation resulting from movement of the sensor or environme
67. MMAND CHANGE VALUE FBB AUTO CONFIGURATION 2 Flock units RS232 TO FBB with FBB addr 1 POINT RS232 TO FBB with FBB addr 2 POINT Running The Flock ACTION Sent to the Master to start the Flock running Lets the Master know that the next command goes to the Flock unit at addr 1 One POSITION MATRIX data record returned from the Master Lets the Master know that the next command goes to the Flock unit at addr 2 One POSITION MATRIX data record returned from the Slave The next configuration consists of an ERC configured as the Master and twelve Slave sensors with individual RS232 ports to each unit All commands to the Master are sent over the Master s RS232 port and all commands to the Slaves sent over the Slave s individual RS232 ports COMMAND POSITION MATRIX CHANGE VALUE FBB AUTO CONFIGURATION 13 Flock units POINT ACTION Sent to each Slave to select position and matrix for output Sent to the Master to start the Flock running Sent to each Slave to get their POSITION MATRIX data 33 Installation and Operation Guide Running The Flock 5 2 2 RS232 STANDALONE DEFAULT VALUES Upon power up The Standalone Bird address 0 is in the following default mode O 500 COO greco Nt 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 POINT mode POSITION ANGLE outputs selected XON RUN activated REPORT RATE Q maximum ANGLE ALIGN sines cosines set for alignment angles of zero REFERENCE
68. MOUNT IT WHERE THE AIR IS NOT FREE TO CIRCULATE THE TRANSMITTER GENERATES HEAT AND WILL BECOME VERY HOT IF INSULATED FROM THE AIR Because the transmitter generates magnetic fields it may interfere with your computer s display causing image bending jitter or color distortion With an unshielded commercial CRT type display the transmitter usually must be at least 12 inches away With a shielded CRT the transmitter can be closer Installation and Operation Guide Unpacking Your System CAUTION THE TRANSMITTER AND SENSOR ARE DELICATE INSTRUMENTS DO NOT DROP THEM 2 1 3 SENSOR LOCATION The sensor should also be mounted on a non metallic surface such as wood or plastic using non metallic bolts or 300 series stainless steel bolts It should not be located near power cords power supplies or other low frequency current generating devices Their emanations will be picked up by the sensor and converted into noise on the output position and orientation measurements The sensor will pick up noise when it is operated near a CRT type display The amount of noise will vary depending on the operating frequency of the CRT and the amount of shielding built into the CRT To minimize noise picked up from the CRT use the CRT SYNC command in conjunction with the CRT synchronization pickup cable provided with your Flock unit 2 1 4 POWER SUPPLY LOCATION The optional power supply should be located where there is adequate ventilation for cooling D
69. Mode By default The Bird at address 1 is the Master and The Bird at address 2 is the Slave The host s RS232 interface is connected to The Bird at address 1 The jumpers in Bird 1 are configured for RS232 communications while the jumpers in Bird 2 can be configured for either RS232 or FBB communications To get Position Angle data from Bird 1 the host would either send a 3 byte command consisting of the RS232 FBB command 0 hex the destination FBB address 01 hex and the POINT command 42 hex or the 1 byte POINT command 42 hex To get Position Angle data from Bird 2 the host would send a 3 byte command consisting of the RS232 FBB command 0 hex the destination FBB address 02 hex and the POINT command 42 hex Notes 1 To use STREAM mode with multiple Birds first send the GROUP MODE command to the Master before sending the STREAM command to the Master 2 Data output from the Master may be delayed up to 2 milliseconds when running at 100 measurements second from the time the RS232 FBB command is issued 99 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands RUN RUN HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 46 70 01000110 The RUN command is issued to the Master Bird but not to the Slave Bird to start The Flock of Birds FLYing or to the standalone Bird to restart normal system operation after The Bird has been put to sleep with the SLEEP command RUN does not reinitialize the system RAM memory so any c
70. N X COS Y SIN X SIN Z SIN X COS 2 COS X SIN Y COS Z COS X SIN Y SIN Z COS X COS Y 78 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands Or in Euler angle notation where R Roll E Elevation A Azimuth COS COS A COS SIN SIN E COS R SIN A COS R COS A SIN R SIN COS A SIN R SIN E SIN A SIN COS E SIN R SIN SIN COS COS R SIN E COS A COS R SIN E SIN A COS R COS E MSB LSB 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 BYTE M8 M7 M6 M5 M4 M M2 1 LSbyte M 1 1 0 M15 M14 M12 M11 M10 9 2 MSbyte M 1 1 0 M8 M7 M6 M5 M4 M3 M2 3 LSbyte M 2 1 0 M15 M14 M13 M12 M 10 9 4 MSbyte 2 1 0 8 7 6 5 M4 M M2 5 LSbyte M 3 1 0 M15 M14 M13 M12 10 9 6 MSbyte M 3 1 0 M8 M7 M6 M5 M4 M3 M2 7 LSbyte M 1 2 0 M15 M14 M13 M12 M11 M10 M9 8 MSbyte 1 2 0 M8 M7 M6 M5 M4 M3 M2 9 LSbyte M 2 2 0 M15 M14 M13 M12 M 10 9 10 MSbyte M 2 2 0 M8 M7 M6 M5 M4 M3 M2 11 LSbyte M 3 2 0 15 M14 M13 M12 M11 M10 9 12 MSbyte M 3 2 0 M8 M7 M6 M5 M4 M3 M2 13 LSbyte M 1 3 0 15 M14 M12 0 M9 14 MSbyte M 1 3 0 M8 M7 M6 M5 M4 M M2 15 LSbyte M 2 3 0 M15 M14 M13 M12 1 M10 9 16 MSbyte M 2 3 0 M8 M7 M6 M5
71. N OUTPUT CHANGE LOCK send the Bird one byte of PARAMETERdata 0 to unlock the outputs or send one byte 1 to lock the outputs 121 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value SYSTEM MODEL IDENTIFICATION PARAMETERnumber 15 During EXAMINE the Bird returns 10 bytes which will represent the device that was found per the following table Device Description String Device eDFOB Stand alone SRT 6DERC Extended Range Controller 6DBOF MotionStar old name MOTIONSTAR MotionStar new name WIRELESS MotionStar Wireless 6DMIN miniBIRD MINIBIRD2 miniBIRD II with 1 Xmtr and 1 Sensor MINIBIRD2R miniBIRD II with 1 Xmtr and 2 Sensors MINIBIRD2X miniBIRD II with 2 Xmtrs and 2 Sensors PCBIRD pcBIRD SPACEPAD SpacePad EXPANDED ERROR CODE PARAMETERnumber 16 During EXAMINE the Bird will output two bytes describing the error code with expanded error information The first byte output is the Error register code as defined in examine value with PARAMETERnumber 10 and the second byte is the expanded error code information which is additional information describing why the error occurred Expanded error information is only useful when the first byte the error code is 13 No FBB Command Response When in Normal Addressing mode the least significant 4 bits of the second byte contain the address 1 through 14 of the Slave which did not 12
72. NGLE command Another example the user broadcasts the POSITION MATRIX command to all Birds In this case the host would send a 0 Hex FBB RS232CMD command F Hex Broadcast Address if in Normal Address mode or 1F Hex Broadcast Address if in Expanded Address mode and 5A Hex POSITION MATRIX command The following RS232 commands are valid over the FBB host interface COMMAND HEX ASCII ADDRESS ANGLES 57 1 15 31 ANGLE ALIGN 4A J 1 15 31 BORESIGHT 75 1 15 31 BORESIGHT REMOVE 76 v 1 15 31 BUTTON MODE 4D M 1 15 31 BUTTON READ 4E N 1 14 30 CHANGE VALUE 50 P 1 15 31 EXAMINE VALUE 4F 1 14 30 FACTORY TEST 2 1 15 31 FBB RESET 2F 1 MATRIX 58 X 1 15 31 METAL 73 5 1 15 31 METAL ERROR 74 t 1 15 31 NEXT TRANSMITTER 30 0 1 14 OFFSET 4B K 1 15 31 POINT 42 B 1 15 31 POSITION 56 V 1 15 31 POSITION ANGLES 59 Y 1 15 31 POSITION MATRIX 5A 2 1 15 31 POSITION QUATERNION 5D 1 15 31 QUATERNION 5C 1 15 31 REFERENCE FRAME 48 H 1 15 31 RUN 46 F 1 15 31 SLEEP 47 G 1 15 31 STREAM 40 1 STREAM STOP 3F 1 SYNC 41 A 1 15 31 XOFF 13 lt DC3 gt 1 15 31 XON 11 lt DC1 gt 1 15 31 Note The FBB Commands will not work in the Super Expanded Addressing mode 54 Installation and Operation Guide FBB Host Interface FBB SEND DATA FBB SEND DATA FBB CMD FBB Addr Normal Expanded Command Value 1 1 14 30 The specified Bird sends one data record each time it receives the FBB SEND DATA
73. Number of the Bird electronic unit Note This number cannot be changed 126 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value SENSOR SERIAL NUMBER PARAMETERnumber 26 During EXAMINE the Bird will return a 1 word 2 byte value corresponding to the Serial Number of the Bird s sensor You can not swap sensors while the Bird is switched to FLY If you do you will get the Serial Number of the sensor that was attached to the Bird when it was first turned on Note This number cannot be changed TRANSMITTER SERIAL NUMBER PARAMETERnumber 27 During EXAMINE the Bird will return a 1 word 2 byte value corresponding to the Serial Number of the Bird s transmitter You can not swap transmitters while the Bird is switched to FLY If you do you will get the Serial Number of the transmitter that was attached to the Bird when it was first turned on Note This number cannot be changed METAL PARAMETERnumber 28 During EXAMINE the Bird that this command is sent to returns 5 words 10 bytes of data that define the metal detection parameters The order of the returned words is METALsensitivity METALoffset METALslope METALalpha The least significant byte of each parameter which is sent first contains the parameter value The most significant byte is always zero On CHANGE the user sends to the target Bird 5 words of metal detection parameter data as defined above in the EXAMINE command If you
74. Sbyte COS B15 B14 B13 B12 B1 10 9 B8 13 MSbyte COS The sine and cosine elements take values between the binary equivalents of 99996 and 1 0 Element scaling is 99996 7FFF Hex 0 0 Hex and 1 8000 Hex 66 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands ANGLE ALIGN2 ANGLE ALIGN2 DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 113 01110001 Command Data Same as the ANGLE ALIGN1 command except that the command data consists of the angles only and not the sines and cosines of the angles The Command Byte and Command Data must be transmitted to The Bird in the following seven byte format MSB LSB 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 Command Byte B7 B6 B5 B4 B2 Bi BO 2 LSbyte A B15 B14 B13 B12 Bll B10 B9 B8 3 MSbyte B7 B6 5 B4 B3 B2 Bi BO 4 LSbyte E B15 B14 B13 B12 B11 B10 B9 B8 5 MSbyte E B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B BO 6 LSbyte R B15 B14 B13 B12 B11 B10 B9 B8 7 MSbyte R See the ANGLES command for the format and scaling of the angle values sent 67 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands Transmitter Receiver 22 Figure 7 Measurement Reference Frame 68 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands BORESIGHT BORESIGHT HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 75 117 01110101 Sending the single byte BORESIGHT command to the specified Bird causes the senso
75. T FBB RESET HEMISPHERE MATRIX METAL NEXT TRANSMITTER POINT POSITION POSITION ANGLES POSITION MATRIX 28 Description Data record contains 3 rotation angles Aligns sensor to reference direction Aligns sensor to the reference frame Remove the sensor BORESIGHT Sets how the mouse button will be output Reads the value of the mouse button pushed Changes the value of a selected Bird system parameter Reads and examines a selected Bird system parameter Enables factory test mode Resets all of the Slaves through the FBB Tells Bird desired hemisphere of operation Data record contains 9 element rotation matrix Outputs an accuracy degradation indicator Turns on the next transmitter in the Flock One data record is output for each B command from the selected Flock unit If GROUP mode is enabled one record is output from all running Flock units Data record contains X Y Z position of sensor Data record contains POSITION and ANGLES Data record contains POSITION and MATRIX Installation and Operation Guide Running The Flock POSITION QUATERNION Data record contains POSITION and QUATERNION QUATERNION Data record contains 5 REFERENCE FRAME Defines new measurement reference frame REPORT RATE Number of data records second output in STREAM mode RS232 TO FBB Use one RS232 interface connection to talk to all Birds RUN Turns transmitter ON and starts running after SLEEP SLEEP Turns transmi
76. T on The Bird software diskette contains additional information about the RS 232 interface to several different computers The Bird s 9 pin RS 232C connector is arranged as follows PIN RS232 SIGNAL DIRECTION 1 Carrier Detect Bird to host 2 Receive Data Bird to host 3 Transmit Data host to Bird 4 Data Terminal Rdy Host to Bird 5 Signal Ground Bird to host 6 Data Set Ready Bird to host 7 Request to Send host to Bird 8 Clear to Send Bird to host 9 Ring Indicator No Connect Notes 1 These are the EIA RS232 signals names The Bird is configured as Data Communication equipment DCE and therefore Transmit Data is an input and Receive Data is an output 23 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Host Interface RS 232C signal description SIGNAL Carrier Detect Receive Data Transmit Data Data Terminal Rdy Signal Ground Data Set Ready Request to Send Clear to Send Ring Indicator Notes DESCRIPTION Indicates The Bird is FLYing when high Serial data output from The Bird to the host Serial data output from the host to The Bird Host data flow control suspends all data transmission from The Bird when low internally pulled high to 12V Signal reference Indicates The Bird is FLYing when high Holds The Bird in standby when high Bird Flies when low Indicates The Bird is FLYing when high Signal is not used 1 These signals are high when The Bird is NOT in the reset standby condition There are t
77. TEM The Flock of Birds are shipped to you in one or more boxes Each box containing our standard range Flock configuration contains 1 2 One electronics unit One Standard Range Transmitter Only one of the boxes will contain a transmitter when you order a one transmitter multiple sensor configuration One sensor housed in a small cube or a mouse with cable attached One CRT synchronization pickup cable One per system One Fast Bird Bus inter unit bus cable if you ordered more than one Flock Bird modular connectors both ends One Fast Bird Bus cable Bird to host cable modular connector one end with 9 pin male connector on other end One per system if you specified your Flock to be set up for 5485 interface One optional USA European external power supply with a USA wall cord One bag of four spare jumper blocks Two 72 inch DOS formatted diskettes per system One Installation and Operation Guide One per system The optional Extended Range Transmitter is shipped in two additional boxes 2 The Extended Range Transmitter Then Extended Range Controller with one FBB inter unit bus cable and an internal USA European power supply with a USA wall cord If there are any discrepancies or your shipment is damaged call Ascension Technology at 802 893 6657 between the hours of 9 AM and 5 PM Eastern Standard Time Installation and Operation Guide Unpacking Your System 2 1 INSTALLATION 2 1
78. The Flock of Birds POSITION AND ORIENTATION MEASUREMENT SYSTEM INSTALLATION AND OPERATION GUIDE Standalone and Multiple Transmitter Multiple Sensor Configurations 910002 A Rev March 1 2004 Copyright 2004 Ascension Technology Corporation PO Box 527 Burlington Vermont 05402 802 893 6657 The Flock of Birds POSITION AND ORIENTATION MEASUREMENT SYSTEM INSTALLATION AND OPERATION GUIDE Standalone and Multiple Transmitter Multiple Sensor Configurations 910002 A Rev March 1 2004 Copyright 2004 Ascension Technology Corporation PO Box 527 Burlington Vermont 05402 802 893 6657 FCC Regulations Warning Changes or modifications to this unit not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user s authority to operate the equipment NOTE This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment This equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual may cause harmful interference to radio communications Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference in which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his
79. abas 125 ANGLEALIGNZ ess REID E ers 126 REFERENCE 2 Mal quema 126 BIRD SERIAL NUMBER m 126 SENSOR SERIAL NUMBER 35 22 1 2 5 3 127 TRANSMITTER SERIAL NUMBER 127 METAL se ec Cac e pu 127 REPORT RATES sereno Mie Pu use gue qe 130 PBB HOST RESPONSE DELAY ssa eius eue tu 130 GROUP MODE 3 5 2583 2 beret 130 FLOCK SYSTEM STATUS most bes S to 131 FBB 132 11 0 ERROR MESSAGES 225 ED EVE X PES 136 11 1 ERROR MESSAGE DETAILS 138 12 0 GETTING IN AND OUT OF 143 APPENDIX NOMENCLATURE 146 APPENDIX OPTIONAL POWER SUPPLY SPECIFICATIONS 147 APPENDIX Ill BIRD SPECIFICATIONS 148 APPENDIX IV JUMPER LOCATIONS ON THE BIRDS CIRCUIT BOARD 149 APPENDIX V APPLICATION 8 151 Compute The Coordinates of a Stylus 151 Convert Bird Outputs to a Graphics Modeling 152 Flock Stand alone Power
80. aces Dir DIGITIZE contains a program written in Basic that computes the coordinates of a stylus attached to the sensor Dir NOISE contains a program written in Basic that determines the best operating speed to minimize noise in the measurements Check the diskettes for a file called READ ME it contains additional information about the software included on the diskettes Additional programming notes to user can be found in files CNOTES TXT and UNIX TXT Instruction files for running the programs are called OPERATEa TXT OPERATEb TXT and OPERATEc TXT and are located in the ASM BASIC and C subdirectories Feel free to incorporate any of this software into your own application or product Additionally you may download other useful software from our WEB site www ascension tech com support downloads which includes a windows 98 2000 NT driver with source code 22 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Host Interface 4 0 RS232 HOST INTERFACE If your host computer is using FBB RS485 interface to the Flock then you do not need to read Section 4 x You should however read Section 5 x 4 1 RS232 SIGNAL DESCRIPTION The RS 232C interface conforms to the Electronic Industries Association EIA specifications for data communications A pinout and signal description of the RS 232C interface is found below Note that The Bird requires connections only to pins 2 3 and 5 of the 9 pin interface connector The file named RS232 TX
81. an extra byte containing the FBB address of The Bird is added to the end of each data record WARNING If you send too many point commands to the Bird during one measurement cycle you will degrade its performance Sending multiple Point commands will only result in you receiving multiple copies of the exact same position and angle data If you send more than two point commands during one measurement cycle ERROR 36 will be set in the status word To insure you don t overload the Bird with data requests you can also use the STREAM or DATA READY commands 88 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands POSITION POSITION HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 56 86 01010110 In the POSITION mode The Bird outputs the X Y and Z positional coordinates of the sensor with respect to the transmitter The output record is in the following format for the six transmitted bytes MSB LSB 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 BYTE 1 8 X7 X6 X5 X4 X3 X2 1 LSbyte X 0 X15 X14 X13 X12 X11 X10 X9 2 MSbyte X 0 Y8 Y7 Y6 y5 Y4 Y3 Y2 3 LSbyte Y 0 15 14 1 12 11 10 Y9 4 MSbyte Y 0 78 77 26 25 24 Z3 Z2 5 LSbyte Z 0 215 214 213 2712 711 710 79 6 MSbyte 7 The X Y and Z values vary between the binary equivalent of MAX inches Where MAX 36 or 72 if using a standard range transmitter or MAX 144 if using an extended range transmitter The positive X Y and Z directions are shown in Figure 7 Scaling of each pos
82. and Operation Guide Introduction 1 0 INTRODUCTION The Flock of Birds FOB is a six degree of freedom measuring device that can be configured to simultaneously track the position and orientation of up to thirty sensors by a transmitter Each sensor is capable of making from 20 to 144 measurements per second of its position and orientation when the sensor is located within 4 feet of its transmitter An optional extended range transmitter increases this operating range to 8 feet The FOB determines position and orientation by transmitting a pulsed DC magnetic field that is simultaneously measured by all sensors in the Flock From the measured magnetic field characteristics each sensor independently computes its position and orientation and makes this information available to your host computer An FOB consists of one or more Ascension Bird electronic units or extended range transmitter controllers interconnected via a Fast Bird Bus FBB To increase the Flock size just plug an additional Bird unit into the FBB for each additional transmitter or sensor required Because each Bird attached to the bus has its own independent computer the FOB can simultaneously track each sensor providing up to 144 measurements per second from each Each Bird unit in the Flock contains two independent serial interfaces The first interface is for communications between your host computer and the FOBs You may configure this interface as either a full duplex RS 23
83. aracter over either the FBB or RS232 interface The first character sent by The Bird will be a 0 then a 1 2 3 and so on Using this test the user can verify that his host computer can receive all binary characters This will help UNIX users to configure the serial port TTY to assure that the operating system is passing all 8 bit characters 8 5 HOST DATA READ BLOCK During the host data read block test The Bird will send a block of 8 bit characters 0 through 255 decimal each time it receives any character over either the FBB or RS232 interface The block consists of 256 characters where the first will be a 0 then a 1 2 3 and so on Using this test the user can verify that his computer s operating system can receive a large number of binary characters at the desired baud rate without problems 8 6 TEST FOR SENSOR Selecting this test burns a bit into an on board eeprom memory that tells The Bird to test for the presence of a sensor on powerup This is the default factory setting If a sensor is not attached to The Bird on powerup the LED on the circuit card will blink an error code and the error register will be set 8 7 DON T TEST FOR SENSOR Selecting this test burns a bit into an on board eeprom memory that tells The Bird not to test for the presence of a sensor on powerup If a sensor is not attached to The Bird there will be no error blinking or error reporting while this no test bit is burned in It is useful to set this conditio
84. ations Action Verify that the fan is operating Sending Point Command Too Fast WARNING2 Cause Your application software is requesting data from the Bird at a rate that is at least twice as fast as the measurement rate of the Bird resulting in degraded Bird performance Action Don t send your Point requests as fast or use the Stream mode or use the Data Ready Character Error Messages Installation and Operation Guide Getting In and Out of Trouble 12 0 GETTING IN AND OUT OF TROUBLE Although The Bird is resistant to problems there are a few ways you can get into trouble 1 If the front panel LED blinks continuously it means that you are in the test mode and the system is not actually functioning Check dipswitch 8 It should be in the OFF position pointing up for normal system operation 2 If the front panel light does not come on at all a verify that the power supply cable is plugged into the power supply and wall The cable may appear to be plugged into the supply but may be loose b disconnect the RS232 interface cable at The Bird s back panel and toggle the FLY STDBY switch If the light now comes on it means that your RS232 interface cable has a wire attached to pin 7 of The Bird s RS232 connector and that your host computer is holding the Request to Send line high Either disconnect the wire to pin 7 or reprogram your RS232 UART or remove JPR 18 from the circuit card to deassert the RTS line 3 If The Bird do
85. ch he wants METALerror to reflect errors The default value is 32 The METALerror value that is output is computed from METALerror Sensitivity x METALerrorSYSTEM Offset Slope x Range Where range is the distance between the transmitter and sensor METALoffset The Offset value defined in the equation above is an integer byte value between plus or minus 127 If you are trying to minimize the base errors in the system by adjusting the Offset you could set the Sensitivity 21 and the Slope 0 and read the Offset directly as the METALerror value METALslope The slope value defined in the equation above is an integer byte value between plus or minus 127 You can determine the slope by setting the Sensitivity 1 and looking at the change in the METALerror value as you translate the sensor from range 0 to range max for the system ie 36 for a flock Since its difficult to go from range 0 to max you might just translate over say half the distance and double the METALerror value change you measure METALalpha The METALerror value is filtered before output to the user to minimize 129 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value noise jitter The Alpha value determines how much filtering is applied to METALerror METALAIpha is an integer byte varying from 0 to 127 A zero value is an infinite amount of filtering whereas a 127 value is no filtering The system default is 12 As Alpha gets smaller the time lag between the i
86. d The answer depends on the type and number of interfaces RS232 or RS485 and the command itself The following table sorts out these possible combinations In the following the word flock will mean several Bird units interconnected with FBB cables Bird refers to a single unit with a sensor ERC refers to the Extended Range Controller ERT refers to the Extended Range Transmitter the 12 inch black cube that plugs into the ERC The ERC does not have a sensor Applicability references The command usage table refers to the numbers 2 to 6 Each of these number have the following meaning 2 This command must be sent to the individual Bird in the Flock whose mode of operation you want to change even if you are in the GROUP mode If you send this command addressed to the Master it will not change the mode of any other Bird If you have an RS232 interface to each Bird individually as many RS232 interfaces as there are Birds then just send the command they do not have to be prefaced with the RS232 TO FBB command If you have only one RS232 or one RS485 interface which must be attached to the Master Bird to service the entire Flock then the commands must be prefaced with the RS232 TO FBB command 3 This command is only sent to the Master unit You may but do not have to use the RS232 TO FBB preface on commands meant for the Master unit only in fact if the RS232 TO FBB preface is missing the Master assumes the command is for him a
87. d 1 Position Orientation data and 2 Change Examine value data Position orientation data are the data returned from The Bird in the ANGLES POSITION MATRIX POSITION ANGLES POSITION MATRIX POSITION QUATERNION and QUATERNION formats All other types of data that The Bird returns are in the change examine value format Both Position Orientation data and the Change Examine value data return one or more 8 bit data bytes as detailed below Position Orientation data uses a special format described in the following paragraphs The Change Examine value data uses the response format described with each Change Examine value command in the RS232 Command section The Change Examine value data is not shifted and does not contain the phasing bits found in the Position Orientation data 5 3 1 POSITION ORIENTATION DATA FORMAT The Position Orientation information generated by The Bird is sent in a form called a data record The number of bytes in each record is dependent on the output format selected by the user Each 2 byte word is in a binary format dependent on the word type i e Position Angles etc The binary formats consist of the 14 most significant bits bits B15 B2 of the sixteen bits bits B15 BO which define each word The two least significant bits bits B1 and BO are not used by The Bird The first bit of the first byte transmitted is always a one 1 while the first bit of all other transmitted bytes in the record is always a zero
88. d que weet 27 5 1 1 RS232 COMMAND SUMMARY 28 5 2 RS232 COMMAND UTILIZATION 29 521 BEHAVIORS 3 2 iano 29 5 2 2 RS232 STANDALONE DEFAULT VALUES 34 5 2 3 RS232 FLOCK MODE DEFAULT VALUES 34 5 3 RS232 RESPONSE FORMAT uh bet ads 35 5 3 1 POSITION ORIENTATION DATA 35 5 4 COMMAND USAGE TABLE b 38 6 0 FBB HOST 2 2 222 222 222222 2 2 22222 44 6 1 FBB SIGNAL DESCRIPTION 5 24 oe Pace d tex etes 44 6 1 1 FBB RS485 TERMINATION eek Rom on om oe 45 6 2 FBB RS485 HOST TRANSMISSION CHARACTERISTICS 45 6 3 FBB RS485 JUMPER CONFIGURATION 46 6 4 FBB RS485 47 6 5 49 6 5 1 COMMAND SUMMARY 50 6 5 2 FBB COMMAND UTILIZATION 50 6 5 3 FBB BIRD DEFAULT 52 0 0 5 2i tesi Pts 52 6 7 FBB COMMAND REFERENCE 53 FBB RS232G6MID Sawa aw eee ag 54 EBB SENDIDA TA uii ce gt 55 FEB SEND STATUS Spito Sur eee te ee ees 56 FBE SEND ERROR CODE
89. dress of The Bird that you want to respond see the RS232 TO FBB command 5 1 RS232 COMMANDS Each RS232 command consists of a single command byte followed by N command data bytes where N depends upon the command A command is an 8 bit value which the host transmits to The Bird using the format shown below The RS232 command format is as follows MS BIT LS BIT Stop 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Start RS232 Command 1 BC7 BC6 5 BC4 BC3 BC2 BC1 BCO 0 where 7 is the 8 bit command value see RS232 Command Reference and the MS Stop 1 and LS BIT Start 0 refers to the bit values that the in your computer s RS232 port automatically inserts into the serial data stream as it leaves the computer The RS232 command data format is as follows MS BIT LS BIT Stop 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Start RS232 Data 1 BD7 BD6 BD5 BD4 BD3 BD6 BD1 BDO 0 where 7 0 is the 8 bit data value associated with a given command If you are going to use a single RS232 port to talk to all of The Birds in a Flock instead of multiple RS232 ports then you must preface each RS232 command with the RS232 TO FBB command 27 Installation and Operation Guide Running The Flock 5 1 1 RS232 COMMAND SUMMARY The following summarizes the action of each command The details of command usage are presented in Section 5 7 Command Name ANGLES ANGLE ALIGN BORESIGHT BORESIGHT REMOVE BUTTON MODE BUTTON READ CHANGE VALUE EXAMINE VALUE FACTORY TES
90. e If the PARAMETERdata is numeric it is in 2 s complement format The PARAMETERdata received does not contain phasing bits The PARAMETERdata value content and scaling depend on the particular parameter requested See the following discussion of each parameter 111 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value BIRD STATUS PARAMETERnumber 0 During EXAMINE the Bird returns a status word to tell the user in what mode the unit is operating The bit assignments for the two byte response are B15 B14 B13 B12 B11 B10 9 8 B7 B6 BS 1 if Bird is a Master Bird 0 if Bird is a Slave Bird 1 if Bird has been initialized AUTO CONFIGURED 0 if Bird has not been initialized 1 if an error has been detected 0 if no error is detected 1 if Bird is RUNNING 0 if Bird is not RUNNING 1 ifin HOST SYNC mode 0 if not in HOST SYNC mode 1 if Expanded Address mode enabled 0 if Normal Address mode enabled Note If you are in Super Expanded Address mode this command will still report that the Expanded Address mode is enabled and you will have to use the FBB Addressing Mode command to find out which Addressing mode is actually enabled 1 ifin CRTSYNC mode 0 if not in CRTSYNC mode 1 if no sync modes are enabled 0 if a sync mode is enabled 1 if the factory test and Bird commands are enabled 0 if only the Bird commands are enabled 1 if XOFF 0 if XON 1 if the Bird is in SLEEP mode
91. e diagram in the user diskette file RS485 TXT If your host computer s RS485 interface wiring or connector differs from the supplied cable then you will have to fabricate an appropriate mating connector If you want to use multiple RS485 interfaces to gather data from the Flock refer to Application Note 5 15 Installation and Operation Guide Unpacking Your System 2 2 4 SENSOR CABLE Attach the sensor to the 15 pin connector labeled RECEIVER the rear panel of the electronics unit 2 2 5 TRANSMITTER CABLE If you have the standard range transmitter attach it to the 9 pin connector labeled XMTR on the front panel of The Bird electronics unit Verify that you have not plugged the transmitter cable into the RS232 connector 2 2 6 CRT SYNC CABLE If you are going to use the sensor within a few feet of a magnetically deflected CRT display a normal picture tube type raster scan monitor you may need the CRT sync cable to reduce CRT noise picked up by The Bird s sensor The CRT sync cable contains a CRT sync pickup housing with a velcro pad for attachment to the outside of your CRT The end of the cable is plugged into the connector labeled SYNC on the rear panel of the Master Bird Be certain that the connector is fully inserted into the SYNC connector inside The Bird s enclosure and not merely making contact with the back panel The connector must go partially into the back panel to be seated correctly For proper operation it is
92. e 1 in Section 2 1 5 for a description of these jumpers Jumper Configuration JPR 3 pins 1 2 connected JPR 12 pins 1 2 connected pins 2 3 not connected JPR 13 if present pins 1 2 connected pins 2 3 not connected JPR 10 pins 1 2 connected on last Bird on the FBB JPR 14 pins 1 2 connected on first and last Bird on the FBB JPR 16 pins 1 2 connected on last Bird on the FBB JPR 17 if present pins 1 2 not connected For host communications to the ERC using RS485 set the following jumpers See Section 2 3 4 for a description of these jumpers Jumper Configuration JPR 14 pins 1 2 connected Note Also terminate the DATA and CTS signals on your host s RS485 interface card 46 Installation and Operation Guide FBB Host Interface 6 4 FBB RS485 CONFIGURATION Each Bird unit in the Flock contains two independent RS485 serial interfaces The first interface is for communications between your host computer and the FOBs The second interface is a dedicated RS485 interface for communications between the Flock members The user and intra flock RS485 buses are generically called the Fast Bird Bus FBB The user s host computer can utilize either a single high speed RS485 interface to talk to all Birds in the Flock or multiple RS485 interfaces see Application Note 5 Using a single interface the host can collect at least 100 data records per second of position angle information from each of up to six Birds Table 3 Since all Birds in the Floc
93. e FBB address N1 NO 0 0 NumberO 0 1 Number 1 1 0 Number2 1 1 Number3 Therefore to turn on the transmitter 2 at FBB address 6 the command byte is 30H followed by a command data byte of 62H Notes 1 With multiple transmitters the measurement reference frame is defined with respect to the location and orientation of the transmitter that is currently turned on Thus unless each transmitter is aligned perfectly to each other you will get a jump in the measured orientation of the sensor when the next transmitter is turned on To overcome the angular misalignments you can use the REFERENCE FRAME command directed to each transmitter after you powerup the Flock but before you do the transmitter switching 2 If you select a transmitter that is not available then the Master will indicate error 29 transmitter not accessible 85 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands OFFSET OFFSET HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 4B 15 01001011 Command Data X Y Z OFFSET DISTANCES FROM SENSOR Normally the position outputs from the Bird represent the x y z position of the center of the sensor with respect to the center of the transmitter The OFFSET command allows the user to specify a location that is offset from the center of the sensor Figure 8 shows an application of the offset command where the desired positional outputs from the Bird differ from the normal x y z sensor outputs Referring to Figure 8 the x y
94. e chassis would then have its addresses set to 2 0100000 The addresses do not have to be in order but you cannot skip an address no addresses can be set to zero there can be no repeat addresses and there can be no address 127 the Broadcast Address All ERT addresses must be located at addresses 1 to 14 Dipswitches 1 2 3 Normal Address mode default baud rate Dipswitches 1 2 Expanded Address mode baud rate These switches select the desired baud rate Note The FBB RS485 baud rates listed are nominal values Your host computer can use a baud rate up to 2 5 larger or up to 5 5 less than the listed values For example with The Bird s baud set at 260 417 your host computer can use a baud rate of 250 000 and communicate without error Note The Super Expanded Address mode has only one baud rate of 115 2K 11 Installation and Operation Guide Unpacking Your System Dipswitch position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Fly OFF Test ON Fly Mode FBB address 0 14 Dipswitch 4 5 6 7 FBB Addr off off off off 0 off off off on 1 on on off 14 on on invalid Test Mode test number Dipswitch 4 5 6 7 Test off off off off 1 off off off on 3 on on 31 H Baud rate when RS232 interface selected Dipswitch 1 2 3 Baud off off off Not used off off on 2400 off on off 4800 off on on 9600 on off off 19200 on off on 38400 on on off 57600 on on on 11520
95. e plugged into The Bird s SYNC connector located on its back panel before you execute any of the SYNC CRT Mode commands Instructions for installing the CRT sync cable can be found in Section 2 2 6 The single Command Data byte SYNCtype that you send with the SYNC command controls the operation of The Bird with respect to your CRT s vertical scan Set SYNCtype 0 system power up default if you do not want The Bird to be synchronized to either the operation of your CRT or the host computer Set SYNCtype 1 to synchronize The Bird to your CRT if your CRT has a vertical retrace rate that is greater than 72 cps but less than 144 cps When SYNCtype is 1 The Bird makes measurements at the sync rate For best performance SYNCtype should only be set to 1 if the sync rate is at least 100 cycles per second Set SYNCtype 2 to synchronize The Bird to your CRT if your CRT s vertical retrace rate is in the normal range of 50 to 72 cps When SYNCtype is 2 The Bird makes measurements at twice this rate that is from 100 to 144 updates per second SET SYNCtype 3 if you want the Bird to make measurements at three times the sync pulse rate Depending on your sync pulse rate the Bird may not be able to run fast enough to run reliabily For example if you have a pulse rate of 70 Hz and a SYNCtype 3 the Bird would be required to run at 210 Hz It can t run this fast Usually the Bird must run at rates less than 180 Hz At rates above 144 Hz the
96. e sensor and the Slave has the other sensor All commands to the Master are sent over the Master s RS232 port and all commands to the Slave are sent over the Slave s RS232 port COMMAND POSITION MATRIX POSITION MATRIX CHANGE VALUE FBB AUTO CONFIGURATION 2 Flock units POINT POINT ACTION Sent to the Slave to select position and matrix for output Sent to the Master to select position and matrix for output Sent to the Master to start the Flock running Sent to the Master to get one POSITION MATRIX data record Sent to the Slave to get one POSITION MATRIX data record For a one transmitter two sensor Flock configuration with a single RS232 port attached to the Master This one port will send commands and sensor data from both the Master and Slave In this example the Master at FBB address 1 has one transmitter and one sensor and the Slave at FBB address 2 has the other sensor COMMAND RS232 TO FBB with FBB addr 1 POSITION MATRIX RS232 TO FBB with FBB addr 2 POSITION MATRIX RS232 TO FBB with FBB addr 1 32 ACTION Lets the Master know that the next command goes to the Flock unit at addr 1 Master s output format will be position and matrix Lets the Master know that the next command goes to the Flock unit at addr 2 Slave s output format will be position and matrix Lets the Master know that the next command goes to the Flock unit at addr 1 Installation and Operation Guide CO
97. e the user sends the single byte METAL ERROR command to the Bird the Bird will return the single byte METAL ERROR value defined in the previous METAL command 83 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands NEXT TRANSMITTER NEXT TRANSMITTER ASCII HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 0 zero 30 48 00110000 Command Data TRANSMITTER ADDR and TRANSMITTER NUM If you have multiple transmitters in your Flock and you want to turn on a transmitter other than the transmitter at FBB address 1 use the NEXT TRANSMITTER command This command is sent to the current Master with a single byte of command data containing the FBB address 1 to 14 and the transmitter number 0 to 3 of the next transmitter you want to turn on The transmitter number for the standard three foot operating range Flock transmitter is always O The transmitter number for the optional Extended Range Controller ERC can be 0 1 2 or 3 depending on which of the four transmitters is being used on the ERC At the end of its current measurement cycle 1 to 10 milliseconds after the command is received the addressed Bird starts its transmitter Next Transmitter command data format MSB LSB 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 A3 A2 Al AO 0 0 N1 NO Where 0 is the FBB address of the Next Transmitter A3 A2 A1 AO 0 0 0 1 Address 1 O 0 1 0 Address2 1 1 1 0 Address 14 84 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands And 1 0 is the number of the NEXT TRANSMITTER at th
98. eam bit Marks with 1 if first byte MS BIT LS BIT 76 5 4 3 2 10 WORD 11001000 1LSByte 00001000 1 01010001 2LSByte 00011001 2MSByte 01011001 3LSByte 00101010 3MSByte 36 Installation and Operation Guide Running The Flock The user s computer can identify the beginning of the data record by catching the leading 1 and converting subsequent data bytes back to their proper binary values HOST 1 Receives data bytes in stream after 2 Shifts each LSByte left one bit catching first marked 1 Changes that 1 back to a 0 01001000 LS 00001000 MS 01010001 LS 00011001 MS 01011001 LS 00101010 MS 10010000 LS 00001000 MS 10100010 LS 00011001 MS 10110010 LS 00101010 MS 3 Combines each MSByte LSByte pair 4 Shifts each word left one more into data words bit giving the correct original binary value MS LS MS LS 00001000 10010000 00010001 00100000 00011001 10100010 00110011 01000100 00101010 10110010 01010101 01100100 You don t need to worry about the fact that the two least significant bits are different because the data words do not use these bits NOTE The GROUP MODE address and data sent by The Bird to the host in response to the BUTTON READ or EXAMINE VALUE commands are not shifted and have no phasing bit added 37 Installation and Operation Guide Running The Flock 5 4 COMMAND USAGE TABLE The following information answers the question To which Bird unit do send a given comman
99. ed Address mode 126 bytes if in Super Expanded Address mode defining the physical configuration of each Bird on the bus This command can be sent to the Master either before or after the Flock is running The response has the following format where one byte is returned for each possible FBB address BYTE 1 address 1 configuration BYTE2 address 2 configuration BYTE 14 30 126 address 14 30 126 configuration Each byte has the following format BIT 7 If 1 device is accessible on If 0 device is not accessible A device is accessible when its fly switch is on It may or may not be running 131 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value BIT 6 If 1 device is running If 0 device is not running A device is running when the power switch is on it has been AUTO CONFIGed and it is AWAKE A device is not running when the power switch is on and it has not been AUTO CONFIGed or it has been AUTO CONFIGed and it is ASLEEP BIT 5 If 1 device has a sensor If 0 device does not have a sensor BIT 4 If 1 transmitter is an ERT If 0 transmitter is standard range BIT 3 If 1 ERT 3 is present If 0 not present BIT 2 If 1 ERT 2 is present If 0 not present BIT 1 If 1 ERT 1 is present If 0 not present BIT 0 If 1 ERT 0 or standard range transmitter is present If 0 not present FBB AUTO CONFIGURATION PARAMETERnumber 50 The AUTO CONFIGURATION command is used to start running multiple Birds
100. ed User Error Messages Alpha_min and Alpha_max examine change values are now a table of values instead of a single value Definitions of Masters and Slaves changed Corrected jumper assignments for SYNC input Must have rev 3 28 or greater PROM software to utilize these new commands Test mode dipswitch settings corrected Examine Change value data formats clarified Bird measurement rate constant changed from 0 9 to 0 3 FBB termination description changed Quaternion output formats added Host sync command expanded to reduce output lag Filter defaults changed Save configuration command deleted Bit assignments in the system status word have changed You must have rev 3 29 or greater PROM software to utilize the new commands Added requirement to connect jumper 14 on first Flock unit on the bus Default bus termination jumper setting descriptions for jumpers 10 14 16 changed to agree with hardware Filter defaults changed Error messages updated Added extended addressing mode Added tests 29 amp 31 Updated baud rate definitions for extended addressing mode Added group mode Stream mode is now allowed on the FBB You must have rev 3 33 or greater PROM software to utilize the new commands FBB ARM examine value command corrected Manual Date December 11 1992 January 26 1993 March 8 1993 May 25 1993 July 5 1993 September 2 1993 February 8 1994 July 18 1994 October 17 1994 January 31 1995 J
101. ed every sixteen inches Even if the wall has no metal in it there may be a large metal object directly on the other side such as someone s desk Usually the largest source of error is due to the floor If you are going to use the sensors at a distance of eight feet from the ERT then the ERT and sensors should be eight feet away from the floor ceiling walls or other large metal objects The only way to evaluate the building effects is to install the ERT and determine if the accuracy is satisfactory for your application You can evaluate the accuracy degradation simply by taping one sensor to a cardboard box or yard stick or some other method of holding the sensor at a fixed distance above the floor As you move the sensor farther away from the ERT in the X direction record the sensor s Z position output If the floor is not causing a large error then the Z position output will remain 17 Installation and Operation Guide Unpacking Your System relatively constant as you move away from the transmitter The ideal location for the ERT is in an all wood building or in a large room with a stage above the floor for mounting the transmitter and using the sensors Because the ERT generates magnetic fields it may interfere with your computer s display causing image bending jitter or color distortion With an unshielded commercial CRT type display the ERT usually must be located at least four feet away 2 3 2 TRANSMITTER INSTALLATION Usually the
102. edo ete be aes Gaba ba dede ts Eie 63 146 eed ed see ecc tec vii 39 54 81 82 86 128 129 151 point 28 30 34 39 52 54 65 88 94 99 102 106 107 112 118 131 148 158 position 1 2 1 7 10 12 14 16 18 26 28 30 32 35 39 41 47 48 50 52 54 55 161 Installation and Operation Guide Index 58 59 65 71 76 77 80 83 86 89 92 94 99 102 106 107 110 112 114 118 121 128 130 131 143 144 151 152 158 2 6 du uen eot deest tert x 90 DOSIUOD 91 Position g aternioN 22 cedet i eaae tace d 92 position SCalifigu 2 5 02 bor n Rer et hi don OR Pe Eve Re 41 110 113 144 power cable TTE EET cena Siete 16 21 147 power SUD DIY IOCALION ss sa Ino ach wale CO OC ROG RESOURCE Go Gt HC E n m e d 7 power supply specifications 3 clo Qe Re a xd 147 2 eodem tede seria nette AG V 29 30 35 40 54 92 93 112 rererenceIralfie I 222 rere aon eae Sa ala mia e Gad d cee vi 40 94 96 reterence Tramied dures seed vi 40 42 94 96 110 126 29 30 34 40 43 97 102 110 130 rs232 command
103. efore it is able to start a new measurement cycle you should use the CHANGE VALUE DISABLE ENABLE DATA READY mode instead of the HOSTSYNC mode if you want to minimize data lag 107 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands XOFF XOFF HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 13 19 00010011 The Bird responds to the XON XOFF commands which many computers use for RS 232C flow control When your host computer sends The Bird an XOFF the unit will halt transmission at the end of the current output record It will not halt transmission at the instant it receives the command If you need to halt the flow instantly use the RS 232C DATA TERMINAL READY SIGNAL that your host computer s UART sends over the RS 232C cable to The Bird The XOFF command cannot be sent to The Bird mixed in with the Command Data of another command as it simply will be interpreted by The Bird as Command Data 108 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands XON XON HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 11 17 00010001 The Bird responds to the XON XOFF commands which many computers use for RS 232C flow control When your host system sends The Bird an XON the unit will resume transmission of any data records that were pending when it was XOFFed see XOFF The XON command cannot be sent to The Bird mixed in with the Command Data of another command as it simply will be interpreted by The Bird as Command Data 109 Installation and Operation Guide Change Val
104. ence MSB LSB 76 54 3 210 BYTE 010 0 1 1 01 1 Command Byte 000 0 0 0 0 DO 2 Command Data Where DO is either or 1 For a description of the values which may be returned in the Button Value byte see the BUTTON READ command 71 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands BUTTON READ BUTTON READ HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 4E 78 01001110 The BUTTON READ command allows you to determine at any time which of the three buttons on the optional Bird 6D mouse was pressed This command is especially useful when you want to read the buttons but do not have BUTTON MODE set to 1 which would append the Button Value byte to every transmitted record Immediately after you send the BUTTON READ Command Byte The Bird will return a single byte containing the button value The Button Value byte can assume the following Hex values 0 0 button pressed 10 Hex 16 Left button pressed 30 Hex 48 Middle or middle and left button pressed 70 Hex 112 Right or right and any other button pressed Notes The Button Value byte does not contain the phasing bits normally included in The Bird s transmitted data records The above values are the ones actually sent to the host The Bird updates its button reading every 0 01 seconds whether you request the value or not Thus the system does not store previous button presses and indicates only whether a button has been pressed within 0 01 seconds at the defau
105. ent or a false rate due to noise The Bird gets this knowledge by the user specifying what the expected noise levels are in the operating environment as a function of distance from the transmitter These noise levels are the 7 words that form the Vm table The Vm values can range from 1 for almost no noise to 32767 for a lot of noise 119 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value The default values as a function of transmitter to sensor separation range for the standard range and extended range transmitters are Std Range Xmtr Extended Range Xmtr Range Range Vm inches inches integer 0 to 17 0 to 55 2 17 to 22 55 to 70 4 22 to 27 70 to 90 8 27 to 34 90 to 110 32 34 to 42 110 to 138 64 42 to 54 138 to 170 256 54 170 512 As Vm increases with range so does the amount of filter lag To reduce the amount of lag reduce the larger Vm values until the noise in the Bird s output is too large for your application DC FILTER CONSTANT TABLE ALPHA_MAX PARAMETERnumber 13 During EXAMINE the Bird returns 7 words 14 bytes which define the upper end of the adaptive range that filter constant ALPHA_MAX can assume in the DC filter as a function of sensor to transmitter separation When there is a fast motion of the sensor the adaptive filter reduces the amount of filtering by increasing the ALPHA used in the filter It will increase ALPHA only up to the limiting ALPHA_MAX value By doing this the lag in the filter i
106. es not function or runs erratically make sure that all cables are screwed into their front and back panel connectors 4 If you cannot get The Bird to communicate with your computer try using The Bird Output test and The Bird Echo test to verify the host serial link Verify that all Birds are either in the Normal Addressing mode Expanded Addressing mode or Super Expandeding Address mode by counting the light blinks on powerup Verify that you are using the correct baud rate switch setting for the address mode being used Fig 4 for Normal Addressing mode Fig 5 for Expanded Addressing mode Super Expanded Addressing mode only has the one baud rate of 115 2K 5 If the serial communication is not working in RS232 mode check if pin 4 of the serial port Data Terminal Ready is being held high If your computer brings it low The Bird will not send data If in doubt disconnect the pin at the cable where it connects to The Bird 6 If you can not communicate with The Bird check that the transmitter and sensor are plugged into their panel connectors The transmitter and sensor must be plugged in during power up 143 Installation and Operation Guide Getting In and Out of Trouble T 8 9 10 12 13 15 144 If upon starting your software to control multiple Birds in the Flock the light goes out or the data output does not correspond to reality verify that your software delays for at least 600 milliseconds before and
107. esired type of data is indicated by sending one of the following data record commands ANGLES MATRIX POSITION QUATERNION POSITION ANGLES POSITION MATRIX or POSITION QUATERNION These commands do not cause The Bird to transmit data to the host For the host to receive data it must issue a data request Use the POINT data request each time you want one data record or use the STREAM data request to initiate a continuous flow of data records from The Bird If you want to reduce the rate at which data STREAMs from The Bird use the REPORT RATE command All commands can be issued in any order and at any time to change The Bird s output characteristics 30 Installation and Operation Guide Running The Flock The following is a hypothetical command sequence issued after power up which illustrates the use of some of the commands For a standalone configuration COMMAND ACTION ANGLES Output records will contain angles only POINT Bird outputs ANGLES data record STREAM ANGLE data records start streaming from Bird and will not stop until the output mode is changed or the STREAM STOP command is issued POINT An ANGLE data record is output and the streaming is stopped Alternatively you could have used the STREAM STOP command 31 Installation and Operation Guide Running The Flock For a one transmitter two sensor Flock configuration using individual RS232 ports to each Flock unit In this example the Master has one transmitter and on
108. ew cycles sec and then increase or decrease again as you continue to change the speed Reduce the amount of noise that The Bird thinks is in the local environment by using the CHANGE VALUE DC FILTER TABLE Vm command Set the sensor at various distances from the transmitter and reduce the Vm value for this range until the noise is unacceptable The biggest gain in dynamic performance other than elimination of the DC filter comes from reducing Vm Reduce the amount of filtering during the steady state part of fast movements by using the CHANGE VALUE DC FILTER CONSTANT TABLE ALPHA MAX Set ALPHA MAX as close to 0 999 as possible The larger alpha max is the less lag there will be during fast motions But note the larger alpha max is the larger the noise will be during the movement At Ascension when we want a snappy response with good noise characteristics we use all system defaults except for the following overrides a Stream mode b Sudden output change lock 0 c DC filter ON AC narrow notch filter ON AC wide notch OFF d Vm table 2 2 2 10 10 40 200 Where most of the snap comes from the Vm table 159 Installation and Operation Guide Index Index addressing mode v vi 10 11 14 42 49 54 59 61 63 79 98 99 110 112 122 124 133 143 144 angle allg Cose Pole vi 39 42 66 67 110 126 angles vi 26 28 30 34 35 39 40 48 50 52 54 55 63 64 66 67 69
109. face SIGNAL NAME DESCRIPTION FBB BIRD DATA Serial Commands and Data transferred between Birds The host must not use these signals Signals are RS485 levels with serial data format as defined in the FBB Serial Data Format Section FBB HOST DATA Serial Commands and Data transferred between the host and The Birds Signals are RS485 levels with serial data format as defined in the FBB Serial Data Format Section GROUND Ground reference for the FBB 6 1 1 FBB RS485 TERMINATION Signals with RS485 RS422 levels FBB CTS FBB BIRD DATA and FBB HOST DATA MUST BE terminated at both ends of the FBB bus via termination circuitry which is contained in all Birds The termination blocks of Birds residing on the FBB which are not located at the ends MUST BE disabled by removing the termination jumpers 6 2 FBB RS485 HOST TRANSMISSION CHARACTERISTICS FBB Commands and data are transferred over the FBB bus The host computer can transmit commands and data whereas Slave Birds can only transmit data in response to commands The character format is defined as follows Baud Rate 57k to 500k baud as set by Bird dipswitch Number of data bits 8 Number of start bits 1 Number of stop bits 1 Parity MARK If sending a command SPACE If sending data Half duplex 45 Installation and Operation Guide FBB Host Interface 6 3 FBB RS485 JUMPER CONFIGURATION For host communications to The Bird using RS485 set the following jumpers See Tabl
110. fbb rs485 jumper 46 fbb rs485 45 filter rie Tre guelioy 2 aee vd bate do doxes 110 115 124 filtet on off StAtUs tenes oie Eater etra 34 52 110 114 115 158 flock operational limitations s puo ros que p wees SU qn io 58 flock system 5 lt 5 vi 43 110 131 getting in and out of trouble s odia rn 143 group mode 28 29 34 39 43 50 52 55 88 99 102 103 110 130 131 hemisphere stake oo Cua uci ou tera Red vi 28 39 42 76 77 110 125 144 host dala Tears 2 d arx aes Bae ON AAS Dob arene 59 60 NOSt d ala read eit eects s hs 59 60 SOUWANC 253 26 eoe ec dere det edu E v 22 internal jumpers 7 19 29 JUMPED locati S zu t ult iet atte Me Tb att 149 matrix 10 26 28 30 32 33 35 39 40 48 50 54 55 63 76 78 79 91 93 112 148 151 153 metal vii 6 17 18 28 34 39 43 54 71 80 83 110 117 118 127 130 148 next transmilllel so adeo edu dod hee V 20 28 39 54 84 85 146 bes cr
111. h changing the filter characteristics For example the AC filter is optimized for a measurement rate of 103 3 measurements sec At very low measurement rates you may want to shut this filter off BIRD MEASUREMENT RATE PARAMETERnumber 7 During EXAMINE the Bird returns a word that is used to determine the measurement rate of the unit The word returned is the measurement rate in cycles sec times 256 The measurement rate in cycles sec is computed from measurement rate word returned 256 To CHANGE the MEASUREMENT RATE send the Bird one word of PARAMETERdata 117 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value corresponding to measurement rate 256 The MEASUREMENT RATE command is a simpler form of the MEASUREMENT RATE COUNT command Refer to the MEASUREMENT RATE COUNT command regarding speed limits and metal distortion verses noise tradeoffs DISABLE ENABLE DATA READY OUTPUT PARAMETERnumber 8 Enabling the DATA READY character provides a method for notifying you as soon as the newest position and orientation data has been computed Typically you would issue a POINT data request as soon as you receive the DATA READY command If you are running in STREAM mode you should not use the DATA READY character since the position and orientation is sent to you automatically as soon as it is ready During EXAMINE the Bird outputs one byte of data equal to 1 if Data Ready Output is enable or a 0 if disabled If
112. h movement of the sensor toward the screen causing the image to move toward the front of the graphics screen the following transformations from Bird coordinates to modeling matrix elements are required MM 1 1 MB 2 2 MM 1 2 MB 2 3 MM 1 3 MB 2 1 MM 1 4 0 MM 2 1 MB 3 2 MM 2 2 MB 3 3 MM 2 3 MB 3 1 MM 2 4 0 MM 3 1 MB 1 2 MM 3 2 MB 1 3 MM 3 3 MB 1 1 MM 3 4 0 MM 4 1 Ypos MM 4 2 Zpos MM 4 3 Xpos 4 4 1 0 153 Installation and Operation Guide Index Application Note 3 Flock Stand alone Power Supply The Stand alone power supply from Ascension has a safety feature which causes the unit to disconnect internally if plugged into the electronic unit while the power is on This safety feature is often misdiagnosed by users as a problem with the Electronic unit This safety feature is called and once engaged the power supply must be disconnected from the outlet momentarily to be reset To prevent the crow bar from engaging and the resulting power termination be sure that the power supply cable is screwed firmly into the power connecter of the Flock electronic unit before plugging the power supply unit into a power outlet 154 Installation and Operation Guide Index Application Note 4 CRT Sync Pulse Electrical Requirements If you need to synchronize The Bird s measurement cycle to a piece of electronics equipment and it is not practical
113. h located directly above the cable connector of OFF The switch if OFF when you can see on the side edge of the switch The switch is when you can see on the other side edge of the switch Insert the power cable connector into the back panel Push hard with a slight wiggle of the connector to completely engage the connector 21 Installation and Operation Guide Included Software 3 0 INCLUDED SOFTWARE Two 3 5 inch DOS formatted diskettes are included with your unit These diskettes contain source code for Bird interface software written in Basic C and assembly language These programs let you send commands to The Bird from a menu and read output data on the screen They run on any IBM PC compatible computer In addition the C program can be run on many of the UNIX platforms The diskettes contain five directories FLOCK232 FLOCK485 DUAL485 DIGITIZE and NOISE Dir FLOCK232 contains files written in assembly language Basic and C that allow you to run the Flock of Birds using an RS 232C interface This directory contains the following three executable files generated from the source files using polled interrupts ABIRD EXE is written in assembly language BBIRD EXE in BASIC and CBIRD EXE in C Dir FLOCK485 contains a PC compatible assembly language program to operate the Flock of Birds using a single RS 485 interface via a QUATECH interface card Dir DUAL485 contains C code for running the Flock with multiple RS 485 interf
114. he Line Frequency which is being used to determine the Wide Notch Filter coefficients The default Line Frequency is 60 Hz To CHANGE the Line Frequency send 1 byte of PARAMETERdata corresponding to the desired Line Frequency The range of Line Frequencies available are 1 gt 255 Example To change the Line Frequency to 50Hz you would first send a Change Value command 50 Hex followed by a Filter Line Frequency command 14 Hex followed by the line frequency for 50 Hz 32 Hex 124 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value FBB ADDRESS PARAMETERnumber 21 During EXAMINE the Bird will return a byte corresponding to its current FBB address Useful when communicating to the Flock through multiple RS232 interfaces HEMISPHERE PARAMETERnumber 22 During EXAMINE the Bird will return 2 bytes of data defining the current Hemisphere These are as follows Hemisphere AXIS SIGN ASCII HEX ASCII HEX Forward nul 00 nul 00 Aft Rear nul 00 soh 01 Lower ff 0 nul 00 Upper ff 0 soh 01 Right ack 06 nul 00 Left ack 06 soh 01 Note These the same PARAMETERdata values as are used by the HEMISPHERE command 1 4 Hex To CHANGE the Hemisphere send 2 PARAMETERdata bytes as described above Note This command operates in exactly the same way as the HEMISPHERE command The command is now included in the CHANGE EXAMINE command set in order to allow users to examine the values which were pre
115. his command to the MASTER Bird only Otherwise send it to each Bird you are collecting STREAM data from 103 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands SYNC SYNC HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 41 65 01000001 Command Data SYNCtype The SYNC command must be issued to The Bird in the following 2 byte sequence MSB LSB 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Command Byte D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 DO 2 Command Data Where 07 00 00000000 for no sync 00000001 for CRTSYNC type 1 00000010 for CRTSYNC type 2 00000011 for CRTSYNC type 3 00001000 for HOSTSYNC type 1 11111111 for CRTSYNC type 255 pickup placement The Flock of Birds offers several methods of synchronizing its operation and outputs to external events The external event might be a vertical retrace pulse from a CRT display as described in the next section or it might be some user defined external trigger source as defined in Application Note 4 at the end of this manual All user supplied synchronization signals and requests must be directed to the current Master Bird or to a standalone unit CRTSYNC Modes If you are using the sensor or three button mouse within a few feet of a magnetically deflected cathode ray tube The Bird s outputs may become noisy Use the SYNC command in conjunction with the CRT sync cable shipped with your unit to eliminate 104 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands this noise The CRT sync pickup must b
116. ic pulses Use transmitter Mode 0 on some products to reduce errors resulting from conductive metals Use transmitter Mode 1 on all products to reduce errors resulting from fast sensor motions Use transmitter Mode 2 on selected products to reduce errors resulting from conductive metals The power up defaults for various products are The flock of Blrds Mode 0 Motion Star Mode 0 pcBird Mode 2 Bird Mode 2 pcBIRD and Bird products will not accept Mode 0 operation because it will destroy their transmitter circuits 123 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value During EXAMINE the Bird returns a byte that is used to determine the current Transmitter Mode The byte value returned may take one of the following valid values This value is contained in the least significant 7 bits of the byte 1 Mode 1 2 2 To CHANGE the current transmitter mode send the Master Bird one byte of PARAMETERdata corresponding Mode 1 2 above FBB ADDRESSING MODE PARAMETERnumber 19 During EXAMINE the Bird returns a byte that contains a value which defines the current FBB addressing mode The following are the valid values for the addressing mode 0 NORMAL FBB address range 1 gt 14 1 EXPANDED FBB address range 1 gt 30 3 SUPER EXPANDED FBB address range 1 gt 126 This parameter cannot be CHANGED FILTER LINE FREQUENCY PARAMETERnumber 20 During EXAMINE the Bird returns a byte whose value is t
117. ide Operational Limitations 7 0 FLOCK OPERATIONAL LIMITATIONS When in the Normal Address mode and using multiple sensors with one transmitter the sensor closest to the transmitter controls the strength of the field emitted by the transmitter This prevents a given sensor s electronics from being saturated by a very strong transmitted signal As the closest sensor moves farther and farther away from the transmitter the transmitter doubles and redoubles its output at appropriate transmitter to sensor separation distances At some specified distance the transmitter is at its maximum power and can no longer continue to double its output With multiple sensors it is possible to have one sensor far from the transmitter while another sensor is close to the transmitter Thus the sensor closest to the transmitter will command the transmitter to reduce its signal resulting in a reduced signal at the farther sensor hence the position and orientation measurements made by the farther sensor will contain additional noise For a Flock of Birds with the standard transmitter the transmitter reaches full power when the transmitter to sensor separation is approximately 9 inches Thus if all sensors operate at distances greater than 9 inches no one sensor will suffer in performance If one of the sensors moves to within 7 inches of the transmitter than the amount of noise in the measurements made by farther sensors will double The table below gives the transmi
118. ion scheme allows a host or multiple hosts to access multiple Birds simultaneously via multiple RS485 422 ports Three configurations are possible 1 A single interface to gather data from all Birds 2 Individual host RS485 422 connections to each Bird or 3 Grouped host RS485 422 connections to The Birds Configurations 2 and 3 will require you to modify the intra Bird FBB cables supplied with the Flock For hook up of a single interface to service all Birds please refer to Sections 2 and 4 When configured with individual host RS485 422 interfaces to each Bird the host or hosts must have 1 RS485 422 port per Bird unit This is shown below in the figure labeled Individual Host RS485 422 Interfaces In this configuration the host s software must only use the address of Bird that the port is attached to when sending commands to the Flock As shown in the figure cables that interconnect units on the Fast Bird Bus must not connect the FBB HOST DATA signals found on pins 6 and 7 of the FBB connectors In addition each Bird unit must have the FBB HOST DATA termination jumper JPR16 installed As in other configurations FBB BIRD DATA termination JPR14 must be installed on the end units of the FBB The grouped configuration allows a host with multiple RS485 422 ports to attach each port to a group of Birds Each separate group can be communicated with simultaneously over its own port This is shown below in the figure labeled Grouped RS485
119. it is powered up 8 10 SET SUPER EXPANDED ADDRESS MODE This sets the ERC and Bird sensors into Super Expanded Addressing Mode which enables FBB addresses 1 through 126 To set the unit into Super Expanded Addressing Modes select test 31 and turn the power on When the front panel indicator blinks Super Expanded Addressing Mode has been set The dipswitch can then be reset with the proper address and baud rate The power switch must then be cycled for Super Expanded Address operation The ERC and all Bird sensor cards must be individually set to Super Expanded Address Mode When a Bird is in Super Expanded Address mode its light will blink 1 time and then go out when it is powered up 61 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands 9 0 RS232 COMMAND REFERENCE All commands are listed alphabetically in the following section Each command description contains the command codes required to initiate the commands as well as the format and scaling of the data records which The Bird will output to the host computer 62 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands ANGLES ANGLES HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 57 87 01010111 In the ANGLES mode The Bird outputs the orientation angles of the sensor with respect to the transmitter The orientation angles are defined as rotations about the Z Y and X axes of the sensor These angles are called Zang Yang and Xang or in Euler angle nomenclature Azimuth Elevation and Roll
120. ition coordinate is full scale MAX inches That is MAX 7FFF Hex 0 0 Hex MAX 8000 Hex Since the maximum range Range square root X Y 2 from the transmitter to the sensor is limited to MAX inches none of the X Y Z coordinates may reach its full scale value Once full scale is reached the positional coordinates no longer reflect the correct position of the sensor To convert the position received into inches first convert them into a signed integer This will give you a number between 32768 and 32767 Second multiply by 36 if using the default range for a standard transmitter or 72 if you have used the change value 3 command If using an extended range transmitter use 144 Finally divide the number by 32768 to get the position in inches The equation should look like this Standard Range Transmitter signed int 36 32768 Standard Range Transmitter signed int 72 32768 Extended Range Transmitter signed int 144 32768 89 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands POSITION ANGLES POSITION ANGLES HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 59 89 01011001 In the POSITION ANGLES mode the outputs from the POSITION and ANGLES modes are combined into one record containing the following twelve bytes MSB LSB 7 6 4 3 2 1 0 BYTE 1 X8 7 6 5 4 X3 X2 1 LSbyte X 0 X15 X14 X13 X12 X11 X10 2 MSbyte X 0 Y8 Y7 6 Y5 Y4 2 3 LSbyte Y 0 15 14
121. k communicate with each other via the FBB you must interconnect each Bird in a daisy chain fashion with the supplied cabling as indicated in Figures 1 and 4 To enable The Birds to exchange data among themselves or for your host computer to gather data from a given unit each Bird is assigned a unique FBB address via the back panel dipswitches Set the Address 1 on the unit designated as the Master Set addresses 2 to 126 on all other units Address 0 is reserved for a standalone system i e only one Bird unit You cannot use the FBB RS485 interface to talk to a standalone unit But you can use this interface to talk to a Master Bird with Address 1 and configured see CHANGE VALUE command for FBB AUTO CONFIGURATION with one sensor which is the equivalent of a standalone unit but using the FBB command set Address 15 is the Broadcast Address in Normal Address mode 31 in Expanded 127 in Super Expanded used to send a command all Birds on the bus simultaneously When you use the FBB RS485 interface on The Bird you cannot use the RS232 interface to send commands or receive data You may however use the RTS electrical signal on the RS232 interface to perform the functions of the FLY STDBY switch on the front panel 47 Installation and Operation Guide FBB Host Interface Table 4 Maximum RS485 Data Record Output Rate When Using A Single RS485 Interface DATA OUTPUT FORMAT Records Output Sec Bird Number of Baud Rate Positi
122. k the message once and try to continue Bird operation If ERROR DETECT MASK 3 then error messages that are FATAL or WARNING1 level do not blink the error code at all and do not stop Bird operation but the Error register is updated To CHANGE the ERROR DETECT MASK send to the Bird one byte of PARAMETERdata with a value of 0 1 or 3 as defined above DC FILTER TABLE Vm PARAMETERnumber 12 During EXAMINE the Bird returns a 7 word 14 byte table or during CHANGE the user sends to the Bird a 14 byte table representing the expected noise that the DC filter will measure By changing the table values the user can increase or decrease the DC filter s lag as a function of sensor range from the transmitter The DC filter is adaptive in that it tries to reduce the amount of low pass filtering in the Bird as it detects translation or rotation rates in the Bird s sensor Reducing the amount of filtering results in less filter lag Unfortunately electrical noise in the environment when measured by the sensor also makes it look like the sensor is undergoing a translation and rotation As the sensor moves farther and farther away from the transmitter the amount of noise measured by the sensor appears to increase because the measured transmitted signal level is decreasing and the sensor amplifier gain is increasing In order to decide if the amount of filtering should be reduced the Bird has to know if the measured rate is a real sensor rate due to movem
123. l cause The Bird s output angles to change it has no effect on the position outputs If you want The Bird s XYZ position reference frame to also change with this command then you must first use the EXAMINE CHANGE VALUE XYZ REFERENCE FRAME command If you immediately follow the REFERENCE FRAME1 command with a POINT or STREAM mode data request you may not see the effect of this command in the data returned It will take at least one measurement period i e 10 milliseconds if running The Bird at 100 measurements sec before you see the effect of the command If the command is sent to the Master then all accessible Birds in the Flock are updated If the command is sent to the Slave then only the Slave is updated 94 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands The Command Byte and Command Data must be transmitted to The Bird in the following thirteen byte format MSB LSB 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 Command Byte B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B BO 2 LSbyte SIN B15 B14 B13 B12 B B10 B9 B8 MSbyte SIN A B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 Bl BO 4 LSbyte COS B15 B14 B12 10 9 B8 5 MSbyte COS A B7 B5 B4 B3 B2 B BO 6 LSbyte SIN E B15 B14 B13 B12 B B10 B9 B8 7 MSbyte SIN E B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B BO 8 LSbyte COS B15 B14 B12 B10 B9 B8 9 MSbyte COS B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B BO 10 LSbyte SIN R B15 B14 B13 B12 10 9 B8
124. lation and Operation Guide Introduction with the Master to start and stop the Flock and perform other major Flock control functions There can only be one Master running on the FBB at a time The Master Bird may have its own transmitter but this is not a requirement The Flock can also run using a transmitter attached to a Slave If the Slave unit has a transmitter the user s host computer may tell the Master to turn on a given Slave s transmitter Installation and Operation Guide User s Host Computer FBB Introduction RS232 FBB MASTER BIRD ADDR 1 RS232 FBB SLAVE BIRD ADDR 2 RS232 FBB SLAVE BIRD ADDR 3 RCVR Figure 1 FOBs With A Single FBB Interface To Host Computer RS232 FBB RS232 FBB MASTER SLAVE BIRD ADDR 1 BIRD ADDR 2 RS232 FBB SLAVE BIRD ADDR 3 Figure 2 FOBs With Single RS232 Interface To Host Computer Installation and Operation Guide Introduction Urs RS232 5232 RS232 RS232 RS232 FBB RS232 FBB MASTER SLAVE SLAVE BIRD ADDR 1 BIRD ADDR 2 BIRD ADDR 3 Figure 3 FOBs With Individual RS 232C Interfaces To Host Computer RS232 FBB RS232 RS232 FBB Extended Range Controller SLAVE MASTER BIRD ADDR 2 BIRD ADDR 1 BIRD ADDR 3 Figure 4 FOBs With Extended Range Controller Transmitter Using A Single FBB Interface Installation and Operation Guide Unpacking Your System 2 0 UNPACKING YOUR SYS
125. ld be as follows Do a hardware reset of the Master by toggling the RTS line on the RS232 interface to the Master After the Master has been reset and is running issue this FBB RESET command to the Master and the Master will reset all of the Slaves through the FBB Note The Reset Jumper jumper 17 on The Bird jumper 11 on the ERC must be in place on all of the Slaves but not on the Master Bird in order for this command to work 75 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands HEMISPHERE HEMISPHERE HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 4C 76 01001100 Command Data HEMI AXIS HEMI SIGN The shape of the magnetic field transmitted by The Bird is symmetrical about each of the axes of the transmitter This symmetry leads to an ambiguity in determining the sensor s X Y Z position The amplitudes will always be correct but the signs may all be wrong depending upon the hemisphere of operation In many applications this will not be relevant but if you desire an unambiguous measure of position operation must be either confined to a defined hemisphere or your host computer must the location of the sensor There is no ambiguity in the sensor s orientation angles as output by the ANGLES command or in the rotation matrix as output by the MATRIX command The HEMISPHERE command is used to tell The Bird in which hemisphere centered about the transmitter the sensor will be operating There are six hemispheres from which yo
126. le VITE of e aie be Ee ee 119 159 5 vi 10 14 24 27 29 45 59 61 140 143 disable enable data ready 110 amp TINE ees ed AB ty eee ers 5 8 15 16 18 29 30 132 155 erc Internal JUripels 59 Oa 8 8488 E mend etm 19 ero JoCallop aa c aa s deduc tes dad 18 erc pDOWer SUpDly 4 2 573094 52 ere ds hende at 20 21 ero IransiTiltter cable o eur mx ms dide 20 error Gode c ve cese os poses vi 30 41 50 57 60 105 110 118 119 122 136 137 error delegb NIIS K det nre 119 136 error message 138 emormessages s ka blake Catia eyed 57 119 136 examine value 28 35 37 40 43 54 56 73 106 110 111 116 122 130 133 136 expanded error C de us UU ood Bu 110 122 extended range transmitter vi 1 5 10 17 38 89 113 132 137 141 144 factory ICSE ouo t ota xo ee teres eo RE SES 28 34 39 52 54 59 74 112 160 Installation and Operation Guide Index fbb address vi 12 14 27 32 42 47
127. ll The Birds in the Flock to FLY mode the individual lights blink 5 times if in Normal Address mode 2 times if in Expanded Address mode or 1 time if in Super Expanded Address mode then shut off The Flock is not running yet To get the entire Flock running utilize the FBB RS232CMD command to send to the Master unit only the unit with the transmitter the CHANGE VALUE FBB AUTO CONFIGURATION command which is detailed in Section 10 0 under the CHANGE VALUE command The host may then tell the individual Birds in the Flock what type of data to send when an FBB SEND DATA request is issued By default The Birds will send POSITION ANGLE formatted data when a data request is received To change the data type that will be sent the host must utilize the FBB RS232CMD command to send one of the following data record commands ANGLES MATRIX POSITION POSITION ANGLES POSITION MATRIX see the individual command descriptions detailed in Section 9 0 These commands do not cause The Bird to transmit data to the host For the host to receive data it must issue an FBB SEND DATA request addressed to The Bird in the Flock from which it wants data If GROUP mode is enabled the host sends a single FBB SEND DATA request to the Master and the master will return data from all running Flock units 50 Installation and Operation Guide FBB Host Interface The following is an example of a 1 transmitter 3 sensor sequence of configuration commands FBB address 1 has a
128. lone 4 Do not send this command to the address of the ERC 5 Do not use this command if your system is using an ERC ERT 6 If in the GROUP mode send this command only to the Master 38 Installation and Operation Guide Running The Flock COMMAND USAGE TABLE Notation snsr sensor xmtr transmitter addr address exam chg examine change COMMAND APPLICABILITY NOTES Angles 57 W 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr from which you want angles Angle align1 J 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr whose orientation you want to change If you send it to the Master unit the Master will not disseminate the information to the sensors Angle align2 71 q 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr whose orientation you want to change If you send it to the Master unit the Master will not disseminate the information to the sensors BoreSight 75 u 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr you want to BoreSlght align BoreSight 76 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr you want to remove the BoreSlght from Remove Button mode 4D M 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr from which you want button outputs Button read 4E N 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr from which you want button outputs Factory test 2 2 DO USE THIS COMMAND FBB Reset 2F 3 Send to Master only Hemisphere 4C L 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr whose outputs you want to be in a given hemisphere Matrix 58 X 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr from which you want matrix data Metal 73 5 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr fro
129. lt update rate of the time the reading is sent to the host 72 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands CHANGE VALUE CHANGE VALUE EXAMINE VALUE EXAMINE VALUE HEX DECIMAL BINARY CHANGE VALUE Command Byte 50 80 0101000 CHANGE VALUE Command Data PARAMETERnumber PARAMETER value The CHANGE VALUE command allows you to change the value of The Bird system parameter defined by the PARAMETERnumber byte and the PARAMETERvalue byte s sent with the command HEX DECIMAL BINARY EXAMINE VALUE Command Byte 4F 79 01001111 EXAMINE VALUE Command Data PARAMETERnumber The EXAMINE VALUE command allows you to read the value of The Bird system parameter defined by the PARAMETERnumber sent with the command Immediately after The Bird receives the command and command data it will return the parameter value as a multi byte response See section 10 for a description of all parameters that can be changed or examined 73 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands FACTORY TEST FACTORY TEST HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 122 01111010 The FACTORY TEST mode is intended for factory diagnostic use only The user should not use this command 74 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands FBB RESET FBB RESET HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 2F 47 00101111 This command when sent to the Master on the FBB will cause all of the Slaves to be reset through the FBB A typical initialization procedure wou
130. lter constant ALPHA MIN can assume in the DC filter as a function of sensor to transmitter separation When ALPHA MIN 0 Hex the DC filter will provide an infinite amount of filtering the outputs will never change even if you move the sensor When ALPHA MIN 0 99996 7FFF Hex the DC filter will provide no filtering of the data The default values as a function of transmitter to sensor separation range for the standard range and extended range transmitters are Std Range Xmtr Extended Range Xmtr Range Range ALPHA MIN inches inches decimal 0 to 17 Oto 55 0 02 028F Hex 17 to 22 55 to 70 0 02 22 to 27 70 to 90 0 02 27 to 34 90 to 110 0 02 34 to 42 110 to 138 0 02 42 to 54 138 to 170 0 02 54 170 0 02 115 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value To CHANGE ALPHA_MIN send the Bird seven words of PARAMETERdata corresponding to the ALPHA_MIN table defined above At the shorter ranges you may want to increase ALPHA_MIN to obtain less lag while at longer ranges you may want to decrease ALPHA_MIN to provide more filtering less noise more lag If you decrease the value below 0 008 the output noise will actually increase due to loss of mathematical precision ALPHA_MIN must always be less than ALPHA_MAX BIRD MEASUREMENT RATE COUNT PARAMETERnumber 6 See the Bird MEASUREMENT RATE command below PARAMETERnumber 7 for a simpler and more accurate form of this Bird MEASUREMENT RATE COUNT command D
131. m which you want a metal error indicator Next transmitter 30 0 3 Send to current Master only Offset 4B K 2 4 Send to addr of snsr that you want to receive offset positions from Point 421B 2 6 If in Group mode send to the Master only If group mode must use the RS232 TO FBB command to send to each individual sensor if you have only one interface port If you have an RS232 interface port to each snsr then just send the point command to each port Position 56 V 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr from which you want position data Position Angles 59 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr from which you want position angle data 39 Installation and Operation Guide FBB Host Interface COMMAND APPLICABILITY NOTES Position Matrix 5A Z 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr from which you want position matrix data Position 5D 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr from which you want position quaternion Quaternion data Quaternion 5C 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr from which you want quaternion data Reference frame1 48 3 Send to the Master before or after auto config After auto config send to the addr with the transmitter Can also be sent to the address of each sensor individually Reference frame2 72 r 3 Send to the Master before or after auto config After auto config send to the addr with the transmitter Can also be sent to the address of each sensor individually Report rate 51 Q 6 Only use in standalone stream mode or in group stream mode 521 R
132. mand is given the sensor s orientation outputs will be with respect to this mathematically defined ANGLE ALIGNed sensor orientation 70 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands BUTTON MODE BUTTON MODE DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 77 01001101 Command Data MODE The BUTTON MODE command is used to set how the three buttons on the optional Bird 6D mouse will be reported to the host computer The BUTTON MODE Command Byte must be followed by a single Command Data byte which specifies the desired report format The three buttons are reported to the host via a single Button Value byte This byte can be sent by The Bird after the last data record element is transmitted or can be read at any time using the BUTTON READ command If you set the Command Data byte equal to 0 Hex the Button Value byte is not appended to the data record and you must use the BUTTON READ command to examine the status of the buttons If you set the Command Data byte equal to 1 the Button Value byte will be appended to the end of each transmitted data record unless the Metal indicator byte is output also in which case the Metal indicator byte will be the last byte and the Button value byte will be next to last For example you had selected the POSITION ANGLE mode the output sequence would now be X y Z az el rl button for a total of 13 bytes instead of the normal 12 bytes The BUTTON MODE command must be issued to The Bird in the following 2 byte sequ
133. measurement rate or decrease the number of commands sent to The Bird Error Messages TYPE FATAL FATAL FATAL FATAL FATAL WARNING1 WARNING1 WARNING1 WARNING2 141 Installation and Operation Guide CODE ERROR DESCRIPTION TYPE 32 33 34 35 36 142 Sensor Saturated Error WARNING1 Cause This error occurs if the sensor is saturated during power up This will occur if the sensor is not connected the sensor or cable is damaged a large magnetic field is present or the sensor is sitting on a steel table Action The User should check that the sensor is attached to The Bird screw in the connector and that none of the other above mentioned conditions exist Slave Configuration Error WARNING1 Cause This error occurs if the Master determines that a Slave is not configured with a sensor during the Auto Configuration or Arming command Action Verify that all the Slaves have their sensors attached Watch Dog Error WARNING1 Cause This error occurs on an Extended Range Controller if the CPU does not update the Watch Dog Timer within a 100 mS period This will only occur if the CPU or ROMs fail during operation Action Should never occur Over Temperature Error WARNING1 Cause This error occurs on an Extended Range Controller if the transmitter driver overheats This can occur if the fan in the controller fails or if the ambient temperature of the controller exceeds operating specific
134. multiply by 180 and finally divide the number by 32768 to get the angle The equation should look something like signed int 180 32768 64 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands ANGLE ALIGN1 ANGLE ALIGN1 HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 4A 74 01001010 Command Data Sin A Cos A Sin E Cos E Sin R Cos R By default the angle outputs from The Bird are measured in the coordinate frame defined by the transmitter s X Y and Z axes as shown in Figure 7 and are measured with respect to rotations about the physical X Y and Z axes of the sensor The ANGLE ALIGN1 command allows you to mathematically change the sensor s X Y and Z axes to an orientation which differs from that of the actual sensor For example Suppose that during installation you find it necessary due to physical requirements to cock the sensor resulting in its angle outputs reading Azim 5 deg Elev 10 and Roll 15 when it is in its normal resting position To compensate use the ANGLE ALIGN1 command passing as Command Data the sines and cosines of 5 10 and 15 degrees After this sequence is sent the sensor outputs will be zero and orientations will be computed as if the sensor were not misaligned See also the BORESIGHT command Note the ANGLE ALIGN1 command only affects the computation of orientation it has no effect on position If you immediately follow the ANGLE ALIGN1 command with a POINT or STREAM mode data request you may
135. n if you are using your Bird in a multi card configuration where a given card may only have a transmitter and not a sensor 60 Installation and Operation Guide Test Modes 8 8 SET NORMAL ADDRESS MODE This sets the ERC and Bird sensors into Normal Addressing Mode which enables FBB addresses 1 through 14 The mode is stored in the internal non volatile memory To set the unit into Normal Addressing Mode select test 29 and turn the power on When the front panel indicator blinks Normal Addressing Mode has been set The dipswitch can then be reset with the correct baud rate and address The power switch must then be cycled for Normal Address operation The ERC and all Bird sensor cards must be individually set to Normal Address mode When a Bird is in Normal Address mode its light will blink 5 times and then goes out when it is powered up 8 9 SET EXPANDED ADDRESS MODE This sets the ERC and Bird sensors into Expanded Addressing Mode which enables FBB addresses 1 through 30 To set the unit into Expanded Addressing Mode select test 27 and turn the power on When the front panel indicator blinks Expanded Addressing Mode has been set The dipswitch can then be reset with the proper address and baud rate The power switch must then be cycled for Expanded Address operation The ERC and all Bird sensor cards must be individually set to Expanded Address mode When a Bird is in Expanded Address mode its light will blink 2 times and then go out when
136. nected 4 4 RS232 DATA RATES As shown in Figures 2 or 3 when your host computer is using an RS 232 interface to communicate with the Flock of Birds it can utilize either one serial port connected to the Master to communicate with all Birds or a separate RS232 port for each Bird in the Flock Using a single RS232 port to talk to all Birds has the advantage of requiring less host hardware it has the disadvantage of limiting the number of measurement per second that your host can read from each Bird Table 2 below shows the maximum data record output rate that can be obtained when using a separate RS232 interface to each Bird the first table entry or a single RS232 interface for all Birds The rate that your host computer is able to obtain will be less than or equal to these table values depending on the time lags imposed by your host computer s operating system for example a UNIX operating system will slow the I O down to such an extent that you may only be able to achieve one third of the maximum rates listed 25 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Host Interface Table 3 Maximum RS232 Data Record Output Rate DATA OUTPUT FORMAT Records Output Sec Bird Number of Sensors Baud Rate Position Position Angles Position Matrix 1 19 2K 203 113 66 1 Master 38 4K 309 206 120 or 1 Slave 115 2K 515 412 219 1 Master 2 Slaves 3 Slaves 5 1 Master 4 Slaves 6 1 Master 5 Slaves 7 1 Master 6 Slaves 8 1 Master 7 Slaves
137. nfigure a Flock For example if the Flock is currently AUTO CONFIGURED with 3 Bird units you can reconfigured with 2 Bird units by sending AUTO CONFIGURATION command with 2 as the data while the Flock is in operation Resending AUTO CONFIGURATION to the Master after an error develops in the Flock will many times clear the error and restart the system If you have GROUP STREAM mode running you must first terminate STREAM mode before sending another AUTO CONFIGURATION command Before sending the AUTO CONFIGURATION command you must wait at least 600 milliseconds to allow any previous commands to complete After sending the AUTO CONFIGURATION command you must also wait at least 600 milliseconds before sending another command PARAMETERnumber 50 during an EXAMINE VALUE command the Bird returns 5 bytes of FBB configuration information when in Normal Addressing mode 7 bytes when in Expanded Addressing mode or 19 bytes when in Super Expanded Addressing mode Three pieces of information are passed FBB CONFIGURATION MODE FBB DEVICES and FBB DEPENDENTS FBB CONFIGURATION MODE indicates the current Bird configuration as either Standalone or One Transmitter Multiple Sensors mode FBB DEVICES is used to tell which Birds on the FBB are running FBB DEPENDENTS informs the Birds which Slaves on the FBB will be using the signal transmitted from the current Master The bit definitions of the bytes are BYTE 1 FBB CONFIGURATION MODE 0 STANDALONE 1
138. not reset Bird indicates factory default setting Installation and Operation Guide Unpacking Your System 2 1 6 ADDRESSING MODE CONFIGURATION The Bird can be operated in three addressing modes 1 Normal Addressing mode 2 Expanded Addressing mode and 3 Super Expanded Addressing mode Normal Addressing mode is used when you have up to 14 Bird units in your Flock This mode is the default mode set at the factory Normal Addressing mode may be permanently changed or set by setting the dipswitches to test number 29 see Section 8 0 for details Expanded Addressing mode is used when you have more than 14 Bird units in your Flock In this mode all transmitters must be at addresses 1 to 14 and the sensors are at addresses 1 to 30 In Expanded Address mode the sensors must be further than 10 inches from the transmitter for the position orientation information to be correct or 32 inches for an Extended Range Transmitter If the sensor is closer than this limit position and orientation outputs will be zeroed For example in MATRIX output mode all nine output words would be zero Expanded Addressing mode may be permanently changed or set by setting the dipswitches to test number 27 see Section 8 0 for details Super Expanded Addressing mode is used when you have more than 30 Bird units in your Flock In this mode all transmitters must be at addresses 1 to 14 and the sensors are at addresses 1 to 126 In Super Expanded Address mode the sensor
139. not see the effect of the ALIGN command in the data returned It will take at least one measurement period i e 10 milliseconds if running The Bird at 100 measurements sec before you see the effect of the command 65 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands The host computer must send the Command Data immediately following the Command Byte The Command Data consists of the sines and cosines of the Azimuth A Elevation E and Roll R angles that specify the amount of sensor misalignment you want to remove Use the ANGLE ALIGN2 command for sending the angles instead of the sines and cosines of the angles The Command Data must be sent even if the angles are zero The Command Byte and Command Data must be transmitted to The Bird in the following thirteen byte format MSB LSB 7 6 5 4 3 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 Command Byte B7 B6 5 B4 B3 B2 Bl BO 2 LSbyte SIN A B15 B14 B13 B12 Bll B10 B9 B8 3 MSbyte SIN A 7 6 5 B4 B3 B2 Bl BO 4 LSbyte COS B15 B14 B13 B12 B1 B10 B9 B8 5 MSbyte COS B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B BO 6 LSbyte SIN E B15 B14 B13 B12 B11 B10 B9 B8 7 MSbyte SIN B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 Bl BO 8 LSbyte COS B15 B14 B13 B12 B1 B10 B9 B8 9 MSbyte COS B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B BO 10 LSbyte SIN R B15 B14 B13 B12 B11 B10 B8 11 MSbyte SIN R B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 Bl BO 12 L
140. nsertion of metal in the environment and it being reported in the METALerror value increases REPORT RATE PARAMETERnumber 29 During EXAMINE the Bird that this command is sent to returns one byte of data that defines how often the Bird outputs data to your host computer when in STREAM mode This change parameter value is similiar to the REPORT RATE command except the user is not limited to a report rate of every first second eighth or thirty second cycles During CHANGE the user supplies one byte with this command with any value between 1 and 127 that defines how many measurement cycles occur before position and orientation data are output when the Bird is in STREAM mode FBB HOST RESPONSE DELAY PARAMETERnumber 32 During EXAMINE the Bird returns a word corresponding to the minimum time it will take the Bird to respond to FBB command The word is in units of 10 uS Therefore if a value of 14 Hex 20 Decimal is returned the Bird will wait 200 uS to drive the half duplex FBB DATA lines The FBB HOST RESPONSE DELAY value can be increased if the host is polling its UART s received data ready signal or if the host cannot turn its transceiver to receive fast enough prior to the Bird starting its response This command has no effect when using the full duplex RS232 interface To CHANGE the FBB HOST RESPONSE DELAY send the Bird one word of PARAMETERdata corresponding to the delay count defined previously GROUP MODE PARAMETERnumber
141. nsitivity 21 and the Slope 0 and read the Offset directly as the METALerror value METALflag 4 Turns on METAL detection and changes the Slope value defined in the equation above The Slope byte value must be an integer between plus or minus 127 You can determine the slope by setting the Sensitivityz1 and looking at the change in the METALerror value as you translate the sensor from range 0 to range max for the system ie 36 for a flock Since its difficult to go from range 0 to max you might just translate over say half the distance and double the METALerror value change you measure METALflag 5 Turns on METAL detection and changes the filter s Alpha value The METALerror value is filtered before output to the user to minimize noise jitter The Alpha value determines how much filtering is applied to METALerror Alpha varies from to 127 A zero value is an infinite amount of filtering whereas 127 value is no filtering The system default is 12 As Alpha gets smaller the time lag between the insertion of metal in the environment and it being reported in the METALerror value increases 82 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands METAL ERROR METAL ERROR HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 74 116 01110100 After metal error detection has been enabled by either the METAL command s or the examine change value 28 the user may look at just the metal error value without requesting position and orientation data Each tim
142. ntal noise A METAL error byte 0 indicates no or minimal position and angle errors depending on how sensitive you have set the error indicator A METAL error byte 127 indicates maximum error for the sensitivity level selected The metal detector is sensitive to the introduction of metals in an environment where no metals were initially present This metal detector can fool you however if there are some metals initially present and you introduce new metals It is possible for the new metal to cause a distortion in the magnetic field that reduces the existing distortion at the sensor When this occurs you ll see the METALerror value initially decrease indicating less error and then finally start increasing again as the new metal causes more distortion User beware You need to evaluate your application for suitability of this metal detector Because the Bird is used in many different applications and environments the METAL error indicator needs to be sensitive to this broad range of environments Some users may want the METAL error indicator to be sensitive to very small amounts of metal in the environment while other applications may only want the error indicator sensitive to 80 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands large amounts of metal To accommodate this range of detection sensitivity the METAL command allows the user to set a Sensitivity that is appropriate for his application The METAL error byte will always show there
143. o not locate the supply within two feet of the sensor Locate the supply at least one foot away from the electronics unit 2 1 5 INTERNAL JUMPERS Inside each electronics unit is a set of jumper blocks that must be set to conform to the type of interface you are using If you have notified Ascension of your interface before the unit was shipped then the jumpers have been preset for you If not the jumpers in each unit are set at the factory for the RS 232C interface using the flock s baud rate generator To change the jumpers you must open up each electronics unit using the following steps DANGER THERE ARE STATIC SENSITIVE CIRCUIT COMPONENTS ON THE PCB GROUND YOURSELF BEFORE TOUCHING THE TO DISSIPATE STATIC CHARGE THAT MAY HAVE BUILT UP ON YOUR CLOTHING Installation and Operation Guide Unpacking Your System 1 OPEN THE ELECTRONICS ENCLOSURE Unplug all cables attached to the unit Turn the unit upside down Loosen but do not remove the four screws found in each of the black support legs These screws secure the top half of the enclosure Turn the unit over so it is standing on its legs and lift the top cover off vertically Do not try to remove the front and rear back panels 2 LOCATE THE JUMPERS Table 1 contains a list of all jumpers in the electronics unit Refer to Section 4 if using an RS232 interface Section 6 if using a single RS485 422 interface or Application Note 5 if using multiple RS485 42
144. on Verify that the error persists after removing the transmitter and the sensor Transmitter Configuration Data Corrupt WARNING1 Cause The system was not able to read the Transmitter EEPROM Initialized Code Action or the Transmitter is not plugged in Insure that the Transmitter is present calibrate the transmitter and set the Initialized Code in the EEPROM Sensor Configuration Data Corrupt WARNING1 Cause Action The system was not able to read the Sensor EEPROM Initialized Code or the Sensor is not plugged in Insure that the Sensor is present calibrate the sensor and set the Initialized Code in the EEPROM Invalid RS232 Command WARNING2 Cause Action The system has received an invalid RS232 command which can occur if the user sends down a command character that is not defined or if the data for a command does make sense i e change value commands with an unknown parameter number Only send valid RS232 commands to The Bird Not an FBB Master WARNING2 Cause Action The system received a command which should only be sent to the Master Bird Send the command with the address of the Master As a note commands which should only be sent to the Master Bird can be sent to the BROADCAST address Error Messages Installation and Operation Guide Error Messages CODE ERROR DESCRIPTION TYPE 8 No Birds accessible in Device List WARNING2 Cause The Master Bird detects that no Birds are acce
145. on Position Position Sensors Angles Matrix 1 pes or 1 Slave 2 1 Master 1 Slave 4 1 Master 3 Slave 6 1 Master 5 Slave 8 1 Master 7 Slave 10 1 Master 9 Slave Notes 1 The rates that are greater than 100 The Bird s default measurement rate are not meant to imply that each Bird is making this many measurements Rather it indicates that you can request and receive data over the RS232 port at a rate greater than The Bird is making its measurements When you request data at a rate greater than the measurement rate you will get duplicate data records Rates less than 100 do not mean The Bird is making measurements this slowly The Birds are always making 100 measurements per second per sensor independent of how many sensors are in a Flock When you request data at a rate less than the measurement rate you will lose data records 2 Rates for UNIX platforms will be much less than these table values 3 Writes to the screen or disk will reduce these table values 48 Installation and Operation Guide FBB Host Interface 6 5 FBB COMMANDS Each FBB command consists of a single Command Byte followed by N Command Data bytes where N depends upon the command A command is a 9 bit value which the host transmits to The Bird using the format shown below The ninth bit is the parity which your host must force to be a 1 if sending a command or force to 0 if sending data The FBB command format is as follows MS BIT LS BIT Sto
146. on is returning fixed position data and zero orientation data then you are requesting data from the ERT which has no sensor Use the RS232 TO FBB command to direct your data request to a Flock unit with a sensor If you are in standalone mode and on powerup the light blinks twice then goes out you are in the Expanded Addressing mode Restore the Normal Addressing mode by following the instructions in Section 8 8 Installation and Operation Guide Getting In and Out of Trouble 16 There are no fuse or other user serviceable parts inside The Bird s cabinet If the front panel LED does not come on or blink when the RS232 cable is disconnected then the unit is not getting power For technical assistance call Ascension Technology at 802 893 6657 between the hours of 9 AM and 5 PM Eastern Standard time or FAX us at 802 893 6659 or check the support section of our WEB site for debug help at www ascension tech com 145 Installation and Operation Guide Appendix Nomenclature FBB FOB MASTER SLAVE APPENDIX NOMENCLATURE Fast Bird Bus A high baud rate RS485 interface interconnecting The Bird units The FBB is used by The Birds for talking among themselves The user host communicates using either RS 232C or RS485 interfaces The RS485 interface is a separate half duplex bus within the FBB bus Flock of Birds A hardware configuration which ties several Bird units together via the FBB The Master Bird is the Flock Bird that
147. onfiguration or alignment data entered before the system went to SLEEP will be retained 100 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands SLEEP SLEEP HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 47 71 01000111 The SLEEP command turns the transmitter off and halts the system The command is issued to the Master Bird or the standalone Bird but not to the Slave Bird While asleep The Bird will respond to data requests and mode changes but the data output will not change To resume normal system operation issue the RUN command 101 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands STREAM STREAM HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 40 64 01000000 In the STREAM mode The Bird starts sending continuous data records to the host computer as soon as the Command Byte is received Data records will continue to be sent until the host sends the STREAM STOP command or the POINT command or any format command such as POSITION to stop the stream Because the Bird may have output some data to your host computer between the time you sent the Bird the command to stop the stream and the time the Bird executed the command you should check your input port and empty it before you execute any new commands To ensure that your input port is empty you should read it for at least 10 milliseconds The STREAM command can be used with either a Bird in stand alone mode or with a group of Birds with a single FBB or RS232 interface If you are using a group of Birds
148. orward hemisphere if the sensor moved into the aft hemisphere then the signs on Y and Z would instantaneously change to opposite polarities while the sign on X remained positive To track the sensor your host software on detecting this sign change would reverse the signs on The Bird s X Y and Z outputs In order to track correctly You must start tracking in the selected hemisphere so that the signs on the outputs are initially correct and you must guard against the case where the sensor legally crossed the Y 0 Z 0 axes simultaneously without having crossed the X 0 axes into the other hemisphere 77 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands MATRIX MATRIX HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 58 88 01011000 The MATRIX mode outputs the 9 elements of the rotation matrix that define the orientation of the sensor s X Y and Z axes with respect to the transmitter s X Y and Z axes If you want a three dimensional image to follow the rotation of the sensor you must multiply your image coordinates by this output matrix The nine elements of the output matrix are defined generically by M 1 1 M 1 2 M 1 3 M 2 1 M 2 2 M 2 3 M 3 1 M 3 2 M 3 3 Or in terms of the rotation angles about each axis where Z Zang Y Yang and X Xang COS Y COS Z COS Y SIN Z SIN Y COS X SIN 2 COS X COS Z SIN X SIN Y COS 2 SIN X SIN Y SIN Z SI
149. over the translational range Angular resolution 0 1 RMS 12 Update rate 100 measurements sec Outputs X Y Z positional coordinates and orientation angles rotation matrix or quaternions Interface RS232 2 400 to 115 200 baud RS485 57 600 to 500 000 baud Format Binary Modes Point or Stream RS232 only Electrical Power requirements 5 VDC 2 45 amps avg 3 85 amps peak 12 VDC 0 53 amps avg 0 63 amps peak 12 VDC 0 34 amps avg 0 46 amps peak Environment All specifications are valid at 30 deg C 10 deg in an environment void of large metal objects and electromagnetic frequencies other than the power line 148 Installation and Operation Guide Appendix IV Jumper Locations APPENDIX IV JUMPER LOCATIONS ON THE BIRD S CIRCUIT BOARD JPR 18 12 JPR 3 1 2 TION JPR 12 123
150. p Parity 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Start FBB Host Command 1 1 BC7 BC6 BC5 4 2 BA1 BAO 0 lt gt lt FBB Address gt where BC7 BC5 is the bit command value and 4 is the 5 bit FBB address and the MS BIT Stop 1 LS BIT Start 0 and Parity refer to the bit values that the 1UART in your host computer s RS485 port automatically inserts into the serial data stream as it leaves the computer You must force parity 1 when sending a command FBB command data bytes sent by the host to The Bird have the following format MS BIT LS BIT Stop Parity 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Start FBB Host Command Data 1 0 BD7 BD6 BD5 BD4 BD3 BD2 BD1 BDO 0 where BD7 BDO is the 8 bit data value You must force parity 0 when sending data Note The FBB Commands will not work in the Super Expanded Addressing mode 49 Installation and Operation Guide FBB Host Interface 6 5 1 FBB COMMAND SUMMARY There are 8 decimal possible FBB host commands of which the following 5 are used FBB CMD COMMAND DESCRIPTION CMD BITS NAME 765 0 000 FBB RS232CMD Sends an RS232 command to The Bird using the 5485 interface 1 00 1 FBB SEND DATA Requests a data record from The Bird 2 010 FBB SEND STATUS Requests The Bird status record 3 011 FBB SEND ERROR Requests the error code from The Bird 7 1 1 1 not used Illegal commands 6 5 2 FBB COMMAND UTILIZATION After switching the front panel switch of a
151. r to be aligned to the Bird s REFERENCE FRAME In other words when you send the command the sensor s orientation outputs will go to zero making it appear as if it was physically aligned with the Bird s REFERENCE FRAME All orientation outputs thereafter are with respect to this BORESIGHTed orientation This command is equivalent to taking the angle outputs from the Bird and using them in the ANGLE ALIGN commands but without the need to supply any angles with the command This command does not change any angles you may have set using the ANGLE ALIGN command However if you use the ANGLE ALIGN command after you send the BORESIGHT command these new ANGLE ALIGNs will remove the effect of the BORESIGHT command and replace them with the ANGLE ALIGN angles Use the BORESIGHT REMOVE command to revert to the sensor outputs as measured by the orientation of the sensor 69 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands BORESIGHT REMOVE BORESIGHT REMOVE HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 76 118 01110110 Sending the single byte BORESIGHT REMOVE command to the specified Bird causes the sensor s orientation outputs to revert to their values before you sent the BORESIGHT command That is if there were no ANGLE ALIGN values preset the sensor s orientation outputs will now be with respect to the sensor s physical orientation If there were ANGLE ALIGN values present before the BORESIGHT command was given then after the BORESIGHT REMOVE com
152. r electrical and electronic distributors Putting the cable under a piece of rug will not provide protection it will only create a fire hazard 2 3 8 ERC LOCATION The ERC can be located either near the ERT or near The Bird electronics unit however DO NOT STACK THE ERC ON TOP OF THE BIRD ELECTRONICS UNIT This will generate noise in the position and orientation measurements 18 Installation and Operation Guide Unpacking Your System 2 3 4 ERC INTERNAL JUMPERS If you must change the internal jumpers note that there are dangerous voltages inside the enclosure Turning the on off switch to off will not remove the dangerous voltages You must unplug the power cord before removing the enclosure top Refer to Section 4 if using an RS232 interface or Section 6 if using an RS485 422 interface To locate the jumpers refer to the printed circuit card drawings in Appendix IV DANGER HIGH VOLTAGE Remove the power cord from the ERC before opening to eliminate the dangerous high voltages inside Jumper Function 1 2 do not exist 3 1 2 connected when using RS485 host control 1 2 not connected when using RS232 host control 4 9 do not exist 10 1 2 connected BIRD BUS CTS terminated 1 2 not connected BIRD BUS CTS not terminated 11 1 2 connected FBB reset is enabled 1 2 not connected FBB reset is not enabled 12 1 2 connected RS485 host receive data enabled 2 3 connected RS232 host receive data enabled 13 does not exist 14
153. rd data record output to your host computer every Bird measurement cycle when in STREAM mode then use the REPORT RATE command to change the output rate to every other cycle R every eight cycles S or every thirty two cycles T If no REPORT RATE command is issued transmission proceeds at the measurement rate by default See Examine Change parameter 29 REPORT RATE for a more flexible method that allows for any report rate divisor from 1 to 127 97 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands RS232 TO FBB RS232 TO FBB HEX DECIMAL BINARY Normal Expanded Super Expanded Addressing mode Command Byte FO EO AO 240 224 160 11110000 11100000 10100000 FBBADDR The RS232 TO FBB pass through command allows the host computer to communicate with any specified Birds in the Flock via a single RS232 interface The command can ONLY be used when communicating with the Master Bird The command is a preface to each of the RS232 commands When in Normal or Expanded Addressing mode the RS232 TO FBB command is 1 Byte long When in Super Expanded Addressing mode the command is 2 Bytes long For the Normal Addressing mode addresses 1 to 15 the command is Command Byte FO destination FBB address in Hex i e address 1 1 hex would be F1 FBB address 14 E hex would be FE For the Expanded Addressing mode addresses 1 to 30 the command is Addresses 1 to 15 Command Byte FO destination FBB address in Hex i e FBBaddress
154. rnal FBB Only for prom revs less than 3 81 on off off off on 17 Factory Test on off off on on 19 Factory Test on off on off on 21 Test for sensor on off on on on 23 Don t test for sensor on on off on on 27 Set Expanded Address mode on on on off on 29 Set Normal Address Mode on on on on on 31 Set Super Expanded Address Mode Note After power up tests have successfully completed The Bird s LED will blink the following number of times depending on which address mode it is in Normal Addressing Mode LED blinks 5 times Expanded Addressing Mode LED blinks twice Super Expanded Addressing Mode LED blinks once 8 1 FACTORY TEST The test is used during the manufacturing process of The Bird 8 2 BIRD OUTPUT During The Bird output test The Bird will output 4 characters O 4F Hex K 4B Hex CR 00 Hex lt LF gt OA Hex approximately twice per second over either the FBB RS232 interface depending on the host control mode The user can validate his host cable and serial communication receive software with this test 59 Installation and Operation Guide Test Modes 8 3 BIRD ECHO During The Bird echo test The Bird will echo every character received over either the FBB RS232 interface Using this test the user can validate the host interface hardware and software 8 4 HOST DATA READ During the host data read test The Bird will send one 8 bit character 0 through 255 decimal each time it receives any ch
155. s alpha 0 This is the default power up configuration No METALerror byte is output at the end of the Bird s data stream A zero value zero decimal or zero hex or zero binary must be sent as the METALdata if you are turning off METAL detection METALflag 1 Turns on METAL detection using the system default sensitivity offset slope and alpha values When METAL detection is turned on an additional byte is output at the end of the Bird s output data If you have BUTTON MODE enabled then the METAL error value will be output after the BUTTON value byte is output 81 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands METALflag 2 Turns on METAL detection and changes the Sensitivity of the measurement to metals The Offset Slope and Alpha values are unchanged from their previous setting The METALerror value that is output is computed from METALerror Sensitivity x METALerrorSYSTEM Offset Slope x Range Where range is the distance between the transmitter and sensor The user supplies a Sensitivity byte as an integer between 0 127 depending on how little or how much he wants METALerror to reflect errors The default value is 32 METALflag 3 Turns on METAL detection and changes the Offset value defined in the equation above The Offset byte value must be an integer value between plus or minus 127 If you are trying to minimize the base errors in the system by adjusting the Offset you could set the Se
156. s must be further than 10 inches from the transmitter for the position orientation information to be correct or 32 inches for an Extended Range Transmitter If the sensor is closer than this limit position and orientation outputs will be zeroed Super Expanded Addressing mode may be permanently changed or set by setting the dipswitches to test number 31 see Section 8 0 for details 2 1 7 DIPSWITCH CONFIGURATION On the back panel of each Bird unit there is a dipswitch that must be set to select the baud rate unit address and other functions Whenever you change the dipswitch settings you must toggle The Bird s FLY STDBY switch to STDBY and then back to FLY for the new settings to be recognized by the system The switch assignments are as follows in Figure 5 for Normal Addressing mode and Figure 6 for Expanded Addressing mode Super Expanded Addressing mode only has the one default baud rate of 115 2K Dipswitch 8 For the FOB to be in an operational mode FLY where it can output position and orientation dipswitch 8 must be set to OFF When dipswitch 8 is set to ON the system enters TEST mode where it performs the functions specified by the test number set in switches 4 5 6 7 Refer to Section 8 0 for details on each test 10 Installation and Operation Guide Unpacking Your System Dipswitches 4 5 6 7 Normal Addressing Mode default When in Normal Address mode Up to 14 Bird units on the FBB i e 1 ERC plus up to 13 sensors
157. s not recommended At these increased ranges the Bird s outputs will exhibit increased noise and reduced dynamic response If the increased noise is too great for your application use the CHANGE VALUE command on the ALPHA_MIN filter parameter FILTER ON OFF STATUS PARAMETERnumber 4 During EXAMINE the Bird returns in two bytes a code that tells you what software filters are turned on or off in the unit The average user of the Bird should not have to change the filters but it is possible to do so The most significant byte returned is always zero The bits in the least significant byte are coded per the following BIT NUMBER MEANING B7 B3 0 B2 0 if the AC NARROW notch filter is ON 1 if the AC NARROW notch filter is OFF default B1 0 if the AC WIDE notch filter is ON default 1 if the AC WIDE notch filter is OFF BO the DC filter is ON default 1 if the DC filter is OFF The AC NARROW notch filter refers to a two tap finite impulse response FIR notch filter that is applied to signals measured by the Bird s sensor to eliminate a narrow band of noise with sinusoidal characteristics Use this filter in place of the AC WIDE notch filter when you want to minimize the transport delay between Bird measurement of the sensor s position orientation and the output of these measurements The transport delay of the AC NARROW notch filter is approximately one third the delay of the AC WIDE notch filter The AC WIDE notch filter refers to a
158. s reduced during fast movements When ALPHA_MAX 0 99996 7FFF Hex the DC filter will provide no filtering of the data during fast movements The default values as a function of transmitter to sensor separation range for the standard range and extended range transmitters are Std Range Xmtr Extended Range Xmtr Range Range ALPHA_MAX inches inches fractional 0 to 17 0 to 55 0 9 07333 Hex 17 to 22 55 to 70 0 9 22 to 27 70 to 90 0 9 27 to 34 90 to 110 0 9 34 to 42 110 to 138 0 9 42 to 54 138 to 170 0 9 54 170 0 9 120 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value To CHANGE ALPHA_MAX send the Bird seven words of PARAMETERdata corresponding to ALPHA_MAX During CHANGE you may want to decrease ALPHA MAX to increase the amount of filtering if the Bird s outputs are too noisy during rapid sensor movement ALPHA MAX must always be greater than ALPHA MIN SUDDEN OUTPUT CHANGE LOCK PARAMETERnumber 14 During EXAMINE the Bird returns a byte which indicates if the position and orientation outputs will be allowed to change if the system detects a sudden large change in the outputs Large undesirable changes may occur at large separation distances between the transmitter and sensor when the sensor undergoes a fast rotation or translation The byte returned will 1 to indicate that the outputs will not be updated if a large change is detected If the byte returned is zero the outputs will change To change SUDDE
159. six tap FIR notch filter that is applied to the sensor data to eliminate sinusoidal signals with a frequency between 30 and 72 hertz If your application requires minimum transport delay between measurement of the sensor s position orientation and the output of these measurements you may want to evaluate 114 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value the effect on your application with this filter shut off and the AC NARROW notch filter on If you are running the Bird synchronized to a CRT you can usually shut this filter off without experiencing an increase in noise Note For optimal notch filter performance make sure that the Bird is set for the proper Line Frequency by checking it with the FILTER LINE FREQUENCY command The DC filter refers to an adaptive infinite impulse response IIR low pass filter applied to the sensor data to eliminate high frequency noise Generally this filter is always required in the system unless your application can work with noisy outputs When the DC filter is turned on you can modify its noise lag characteristics by changing ALPHA_MIN and Vm To CHANGE the FILTER ON OFF STATUS send the Bird two bytes of PARAMETERdata with the most significant byte set to zero and the least significant set to the code in the table above DC FILTER CONSTANT TABLE ALPHA MIN PARAMETERnumber 5 During EXAMINE the Bird returns 7 words 14 bytes which define the lower end of the adaptive range that fi
160. ssible in the FBB Devices 10 11 12 13 Action word part of the FBB Configuration Command All accessible Birds must be indicated in the FBB Devices part of the FBB Configuration Command Bird is Not Initialized WARNING2 Cause Action The Master Bird is sent the FBB ARM command but it has not been initialized via the FBB Configuration command Send the FBB Configuration command prior to sending the FBB ARM or the WAKE UP command FBB Receive Error Intra Bird Bus WARNING1 Cause Action Either an overrun or framing error has been detected by the serial channel 0 UART as it received characters from another Bird on the internal RS485 interface If all Birds have the proper crystal installed then this error should never occur RS232 Receive Overrun or Framing Error WARNING1 Cause Action An overrun or framing error has been detected by the serial channel 1 UART as it received characters from the user s host computer on the RS232 interface If an overrun error the baud rate of the user s host computer and The Bird differ This may be due to incorrect baud selection inaccuracy of the baud rate generator or the RS232 cable is too long for the selected baud rate If a framing error the host software may be sending characters to its own UART before the UART finishes outputting the previous character FBB Receive Error FBB Host Bus WARNING1 Cause Action Either an overrun or framing error has
161. ters applied to The Bird data To determine which filters you can remove 1 Set The Bird s sensor at the maximum distance from the transmitter that you will be using in your application 2 Use the CHANGE VALUE FILTER ON OFF STATUS command to remove one filter at a time Observe the noise on the outputs of your measurements as you remove each filter If the amount of noise is acceptable then leave the selected filter out The DC filter will have the largest impact on noise and usually cannot be eliminated unless you are going to be running with the sensor close to the transmitter or you are going to filter your own data Installation and Operation Guide Index Minimize the amount of steady state filtering applied by the DC filter Use the CHANGE VALUE DC FILTER CONSTANT TABLE ALPHA_MIN command and increase ALPHA MIN until the noise level is unsatisfactory The closer the sensor is to the transmitter the larger ALPHA MIN can be Run The Bird at a higher measurement rate Use the CHANGE VALUE BIRD MEASUREMENT RATE command and increase The Bird s measurement rate from its default speed of approximately 103 measurements second You can increase the speed up to a maximum of approximately 140 measurements seconds As you increase the speed you will note that the amount of noise in The Bird measurements may be higher or less than the amount of noise at the power up default speed The noise can increase or decrease rapidly with a speed change of just a f
162. to 15 2 2 3 FBB CABLE Host to Bird 15 224 SENSOR CABLE 2 tis ais a 16 2 2 5 TRANSMITTER CABLE m RR VETE 16 2 25 ORTI SYNG CABLES 6 de 16 220 POWER CABLE 9 12 16 2 3 EXTENDED RANGE CONTROLLER TRANSMITTER OPTION 17 2 3 1 EXTENDED RANGE TRANSMITTER LOCATION 17 2 3 2 TRANSMITTER INSTALLATION 18 233 ERC LOCATION BS ae Re 18 2 3 4 ERC INTERNAL 85 19 2 3 5 CONFIGURING THE FLOCK WITH 20 2 3 6 ERC TRANSMITTER 20 2 3 7 ERC POWER SUPPLY VOLTAGE SELECTION 20 2 3 8 ERC POWER SUPPLY CABLE 21 3 0 INCLUDED SOFTWARE INC 22 4 0 5232 1 23 4 1 RS232 SIGNAL 23 4 2 RS232 TRANSMISSION 5 5 24 4 3 RS232 JUMPER CONFIGURATION 25 44 RS232 DATA RATES ses ros xe teste peas Gd ES 25 5 0 RUNNING THE FLOCK USING RS232 27 RS292 COMMANDS sse teed s ede Shade eee ele Seu aw
163. transmitter and sensor addresses 2 and 3 only have sensors COMMAND RS232CMD its CHANGE VALUE FBB AUTO CONFIG 3 Flock units FBB RS232CMD POSITION FBB RS232CMD ANGLES FBB RS232CMD POSITION ANGLES FBB SEND STATUS FBB SEND DATA FBB SEND DATA FBB SEND DATA TO ADDRESS 1 the Master ACTION Bird 1 ARMs the Flock by disseminating transmitter information to Birds 2 and 3 If ARMing goes OK the Master sends the RUN command to the Slaves Flock should be FLYing Bird 1 setup to output Position Data Bird 2 setup to output Angle Data Bird 3 setup to output Position and Angles Host checks status of The Bird 1 Host get position data from Bird 1 Host get angle data from Bird 2 Host get position and angle from Bird 3 51 Installation and Operation Guide FBB Host Interface 6 5 3 FBB BIRD DEFAULT VALUES Upon power up The FBB controlled Bird address 1 through 126 is in the following default mode 1 POINT mode 2 POSITION ANGLE outputs selected 3 XON 4 RUN deactivated 6 ANGLE ALIGN sines cosines set for alignment angles of zero 7 REFERENCE FRAME sines cosines set for reference angles of zero 8 BUTTON MODE 0 for no button value output 9 FACTORY TEST commands not active 10 Maximum range scaling 36 inches 11 Filter on off status AC WIDE notch on DC on AC NARROW notch off 12 Filter constant ALPHA_MIN 0 02 13 Filter constant ALPHA_MAX 0 9 14 Sudden output change lock
164. tter OFF and suspends system operation STREAM Data records are transmitted continuously from the selected Flock unit If GROUP mode is enabled then data records are output continuously from all running Flock units STREAM STOP Stops any data output that was started with the STREAM command SYNC Synchronizes data output to CRT or your host computer XON Resumes data transmission that was halted with XOFF XOFF Halts data transmission from The Bird 5 2 RS232 COMMAND UTILIZATION 5 2 1 POWER UP BEHAVIOR The FLY STDBY switch on the front panel is NOT an on off power switch There is always power applied to the electronics unit as long as the power supply is plugged in When the switch is set to FLY and if the host is not asserting the RTS Bird RESET signal on the RS232 interface then The Bird will perform its power up functions During power up The Bird reads the dipswitch and internal jumpers to determine its mode of operation If the RS232 RTS signal wire is not attached to The Bird or JPR 18 is removed from the Bird circuit card The Bird will perform its power up function as soon as the FLY STDBY switch is switched to FLY The initial behavior of The Bird after power up depends on the mode of operation STANDALONE or FOB selected by the dipswitches 29 Installation and Operation Guide Running The Flock If The Bird is configured for Standalone operation one Bird unit with a transmitter and sensor and with its address set 0
165. tter to sensor distances at which the transmitter doubles its power for both the standard range and extended range transmitters Standard Range Xmtr Extended Range Xmtr Xmtr power Range Range increase as a from center of xmtr from face of xmtr fraction of MAX inches inches power 0 25 to 0 5 7 24 0 5 to 1 0 MAX POWER 9 30 When operated in the Expanded Address mode or Super Expanded Address mode see Section 8 0 the sensor s location does not control the strength of the transmitter s field The transmitter is always at full power If the sensor saturates in the Expanded Address mode or Super Expanded Address mode it outputs all zeroes for data 58 Installation and Operation Guide Test Modes 8 0 TEST MODES When the dipswitch position 8 is on down on the ERC or on an individual MotionStar sensor card in the chassis the individual circuit card is in test mode and the light will blink at a regular rate The user can select test 1 through 31 using dipswitches 4 through 7 as follows Remember you must toggle the power switch to initiate the desired test DIPSWITCH 4 5 6 d 8 Test Number TEST off off off off 1 Factory Test off Off on 3 Bird Output off off on off on 5 Bird Echo off off on on on 7 Host Data Read off on off off on 9 Host Data Read Block off on off on on 11 Set 500K Baud Internal FBB Only for prom revs less than 9 2081 off off on 13 Set 625K Baud Inte
166. u may choose the forward aft rear upper lower left and the right If no HEMISPHERE command is issued the forward is used by default The two Command Data bytes sent immediately after the HEMISPHERE command are to be selected from these Hemisphere HEMI AXIS HEMI SIGN ASCII HEX ASCII HEX Forward nul 00 nul 00 Aft Rear nul 00 soh 01 Upper ff 0 soh 01 Lower ff OC nul 00 Left ack 06 soh 01 Right ack 06 nul 00 76 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands The ambiguity in position determination can be eliminated if your host computer s software continuously tracks the sensor location In order to implement tracking you must understand the behavior of the signs of the X Y and Z position outputs when the sensor crosses a hemisphere boundary When you select a given hemisphere of operation the sign on the position axes that defines the hemisphere direction is forced to positive even when the sensor moves into another hemisphere For example the power up default hemisphere is the forward hemisphere This forces X position outputs to always be positive The signs on Y and Z will vary between plus and minus depending on where you are within this hemisphere If you had selected the lower hemisphere then the sign of Z would always be positive and the signs on X and Y will vary between plus and minus If you had selected the left hemisphere then the sign of Y would always be negative etc Returning to the default f
167. u want to know parameter 10 error code Exam chg value 50 B 2 Send to addr of The Bird unit where the error should be masked parameter 11 4F B or examined error mask Exam chg value 50 C 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr whose filtering you want to examine or parameter 12 4F C change DC filter Va Exam chg value 50 D 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr whose filtering you want to examine or parameter 13 4F D change alpha max Exam chg value 50 E 2 4 Send to addr of the snsr whose outputs you want to lock or parameter 14 4 E examine output lock Examine value 50 F 2 Send to addr of the unit whose system model identification you parameter 15 identification want to know 41 Installation and Operation Guide COMMAND Examine value 50 parameter 16 expanded error Exam chg value 50 parameter 17 4F XYZ ref frame Exam chg value 50 parameter 18 4F Transmitter mode Examine value 50 parameter 19 Addressing mode Exam chg value 50 parameter 20 4F Filter line freq Examine value 50 parameter 21 FBB address Exam chg value 50 parameter 22 4F Hemisphere Exam chg value 50 parameter 23 4 Angle align2 Exam chg value 50 parameter 24 4F Reference frame2 Examine value 50 parameter 25 Bird Serial Number Examine value 50 parameter 26 Sensor Serial Number Examine value 50 parameter 27 Xmtr Serial Number 42 10 11 11 12 12 13 14 14 15 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 1A 1B APPLICABILITY 2 4 2
168. ue Examine Value 10 0 CHANGE VALUE EXAMINE VALUE Valid CHANGE VALUE and EXAMINE VALUE PARAMETERnumbers are listed in the table below Note not all PARAMETERnumbers are CHANGEable but ALL are EXAMINEable PARAMETER CHANGEable CHANGE EXAMINE PARAMETER DESCRIPTION bytes bytes send send received Dec Hex 0 0 No 0 2 2 Bird status 1 1 No 0 2 2 Software revision number 2 2 No 0 2 2 Bird computer crystal speed 3 3 Yes 4 2 2 Position scaling 4 4 Yes 4 2 2 Filter on off status 5 5 Yes 16 2 14 DC Filter constant table ALPHA MIN 6 6 Yes 4 2 2 Bird measurement rate count 7 7 Yes 4 2 2 Bird measurement rate 8 8 Yes 3 2 1 Disable Enable data ready output character 9 9 Yes 3 2 1 Changes data ready character 10 A No 0 2 1 Bird outputs an error code 11 B Yes 3 2 1 On error stop or don t stop Bird operation 12 C Yes 16 2 14 DC filter constant table Vm 13 D Yes 16 2 14 DC filter constant table ALPHA MAX 14 E Yes 3 2 1 Sudden output change elimination 15 F No 0 2 10 System Model Identification 16 10 No 0 2 2 Expanded Error Code 17 11 Yes 3 2 1 XYZ Reference Frame 18 12 Yes 3 2 1 Transmitter Operation Mode 19 13 No 0 2 1 FBB addressing mode 20 14 Yes 3 2 1 Filter line frequency 21 15 No 0 2 1 address 22 16 Yes 4 2 2 Change Examine Hemisphere 23 17 Yes 8 2 6 Change Examine Angle Align2 24 18 Yes 8 2 6 Change Examine Reference Frame2 25 19 No 0 2 2 Bird Serial Number 26 1A No 0 2 2 Sensor Serial Number 27 1B No 0 2 2 Xmtr Serial Number
169. une 22 1996 December 8 1997 February 18 1998 January 18 1999 USER MANUAL REVISIONS Changes Added Examine Extended Error Code information and Application Note 5 on using multiple RS485 interfaces Conversion factor for vertical retrace speed in SYNC command reduced by a factor of two starting with rev 3 39 PROM software Application note 1 revised FBB RS485 interface command structure has changed with rev 3 41 PROM References to extended addressing changed to Expanded Addressing to avoid confusion with the extended range transmitter Expanded error code bit assignments corrected Examine Flock system status added Examine Change XYZ REFERENCE FRAME command added Must have rev 3 45 or greater PROM software to utilize this new command RS232 TO FBB command corrected for Expanded Addressing mode Dipswitch setting to enable Expanded Addressing changed from test 31 to test 27 starting with rev 3 47 PROM software Vm table values changed to agree with rev 3 52 and greater PROMs Misc text changes made Various text improvements RS232 TO FBB command corrected for Expanded Address mode STATUS B12 corrected JPR 13 changed to JPR 17 and jumper function changed starting with PCB rev 6B Starting with rev 3 57 PROM software the light now blinks twice on powerup if in Expanded Address mode Delays now required before and after AUTO CONFIG Misc text improvements Examine Change Bird Measurement Rate added AUTO CON
170. uring EXAMINE the Bird returns a word that is used to determine the measurement rate of the unit The word returned represents a timer count KMTR_TIME_CNT that determines how long each of the Bird s three transmitter antennas will be turned on off From this word you can estimate the total measurement period XMTR_TIME_CNT is returned with values from 0000 to FFFF Hex or 0 to 65535 decimal The measurement rate in cycles sec is computed from measurement rate 1000 4 0 XTIME 0 3 Where XTIME in milliseconds is XTIME XMTR_TIME_CNT CLOCK 1000 where CLOCK is the period of one computer time count in microseconds Witha crystal value equal to 40 MHz CLOCK 8 40 The crystal value is determined by using the command EXAMINE VALUE Bird COMPUTER CRYSTAL SPEED The Bird s measurement rate is nominally set for 103 3 measurements sec If however the Bird is synchronized to your CRT see CRT SYNC command the measurement rate will automatically increase If you reduce the measurement rate after you are synchronized the Bird will drop out of synchronization To regain synchronization reissue the CRT SYNC command 2 Increasing the rate will not cause loss of synchronization nor will it result in an increased measurement rate beyond the retrace rate of the CRT 116 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value To CHANGE the MEASUREMENT RATE COUNT send the Bird one word of PARAMETERdata corresponding to XMTR TIME CNT
171. via the dipswitches then the front panel light will blink 5 times if in Normal Address mode 2 times if in Expanded Address mode or 1 time if in Super Expanded Address mode and then turn on steady At this time the transmitter and sensor will begin operating and the unit is ready to accept host commands If during power up the electronics unit does not detect the presence of a transmitter and sensor the front panel light will blink the corresponding error code refer to Section 11 0 When the switch is set to STDBY the light goes out the transmitter and sensor are shut off and the unit does not respond to host computer commands If configured for FOB operation several Bird units interconnected by the FBB with their individual addresses set 1 through 126 via the dipswitches then the front panel light will blink 5 times if in Normal Address mode 2 times if in Expanded Address mode or 1 time if in Super Expanded Address mode and then go off The host computer must then send the Master an AUTO CONFIG command On receipt of this command the front panel lights on all units will turn on There will be no blinking if operating correctly If there is a blinking refer to Section 11 0 for the error codes When configured for FOB Operation The Bird will not detect if a transmitter and sensor are present since they are not required of all Flock members The host may then tell The Bird what type of data to send when a data request is issued The d
172. viously inaccessible Note The values can only be EXAMINED with this command if they were previously CHANGED by this command 125 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value ANGLE ALIGN2 PARAMETERnumber 23 During EXAMINE the Bird will return 3 words 6 bytes of data corresponding to the Azimuth Elevation and Roll angles used in the ANGLE ALIGN2 command This command differs from the ANGLE ALIGN2 command only in that it allows both reading and writing of the angles See ANGLE ALIGN2 for a full explanation of it use To CHANGE the angles send 6 bytes of PARAMETERdata after the 2 command bytes Note The angles can only be read back with this command if they were previously written with this command i e if the ANGLE ALIGN2 or the ANGLE ALIGN COMMAND was used to set the angles then those angles will not be accessible with the EXAMINE ANGLE ALIGN2 command REFERENCE FRAME2 PARAMETERnumber 24 During EXAMINE the Bird will return 3 words 6 bytes of data corresponding to the Azimuth Elevation and Roll angles used in the REFERENCE FRAME2 command See REFERENCE FRAME2 command for an explanation To CHANGE the angles send 6 bytes of PARAMETERdata after the 2 command bytes Note These angles are only accessible with this command if they were previously written with this command BIRD SERIAL NUMBER PARAMETERnumber 25 During EXAMINE the Bird will return a 1 word 2 byte value corresponding to the Serial
173. vital that the sync pickup be correctly positioned on the CRT cabinet Follow the instructions in Section 9 0 for the SYNC command to properly position the pickup Peel the protective paper from the tape on the velcro attachment and fasten the pickup to the CRT s housing at the predetermined location Note once you have enabled CRT sync by setting the SYNC command equal to either CRTSYNCtype 1 or 2 The Bird will stop running if the pickup falls off the CRT 2 2 7 POWER CABLE When using the optional power supply attach the power plug to the 9 pin connector labeled POWER on the rear of the electronics unit and set the FLY STDBY switch to STDBY before plugging in the AC line cord If you are using your own power supply it must conform to the voltage amperage and wiring requirements listed in Appendices and Ill CAUTION SCREW IN ALL CABLE CONNECTORS OTHERWISE ERRATIC SYSTEM BEHAVIOR MAY RESULT 16 Installation and Operation Guide Unpacking Your System 2 3 EXTENDED RANGE CONTROLLER TRANSMITTER OPTION If you did not purchase the Extended Range Transmitter option then you do not need to read this section The Flock of Birds with the Extended Range Controller ERC and Extended Range Transmitter ERT option is a six degree of freedom measuring device that can be configured to simultaneously track the position and orientation of up to 125 sensors with up to four ERTs when using a single ERC Each sensor is capable of making from 1
174. wo ways by which The Bird can be placed in the reset condition when the front panel switch is in Standby or when the RS232 Request to Send signal is high You can disable the Request to Send reset by removing JPR 18 4 2 RS232 TRANSMISSION CHARACTERISTICS The host computer must be configured for the following data characteristics Baud Rate Number of data bits Number of start bits Number of stop bits Parity Full duplex 24 2400 115 200 as set by Bird dipswitch 8 1 1 none Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Host Interface 4 3 RS232 JUMPER CONFIGURATION For host communications to the Flock of Birds using RS232 set the following jumpers See Table 1 in Section 2 1 5 for a description of these jumpers Jumper Configuration JPR 3 pins 1 2 not connected JPR 12 pins 1 2 not connected pins 2 3 connected JPR 10 pins 1 2 connected on first and last Bird on the FBB JPR 14 pins 1 2 connected on first and last Bird on the FBB JPR 16 pins 1 2 connected on first and last Bird on the FBB JPR 17 if present pins 1 2 not connected JPR 18 connect pins 1 2 if you want to reset the Bird using the RS232 Request to Send signal Disconnect pins 1 2 if you don t want the RS232 Request to Send signal to reset the Bird For host communications to the ERC using RS232 set the following jumpers See Section 2 2 4 for a description of these jumpers Jumper Configuration JPR 3 pins 1 2 no connection JPR 12 pins 2 3 con
175. yY13 vi2 vil Y10 Y9 4 MSbyte Y 0 28 27 A6 Z5 24 23 22 5 LSbyte 2 0O 215 214 713 712 711 710 79 6 MSbyte 7 0 78 77 Z6 75 74 Z3 22 7 LSbyte Zang 0 715 214 213 212 711 710 49 8 MSbyte Zang 0 Y8 Y6 Y5 Y4 Y3 Y2 9 LSbyte Yang 0 X14 Y13 XI2 YIL XY0 Y9 10 MSbyte Yang 0 8 7 6 X5 X4 x3 X2 11 LSbyte Xang 0 15 X14 X13 X12 X11 X10 X9 12 MSbyte Xang See POSITION mode and ANGLE mode for number ranges and scaling 90 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands POSITION MATRIX POSITION MATRIX HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 5A 90 01011010 In the POSITION MATRIX mode the outputs from the POSITION and MATRIX modes are combined into one record containing the following twenty four bytes MSB LSB 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 BYTE 1 8 XY x6 X5 X4 X3 X2 1 LSbyte X 0 5 Kia XIZ X10 2 MSbyte X 0 Y8 Y7 Y6 5 Y4 X3 Y2 3 LSbyte Y 0 Y15 Y14 Y13 12 v11 10 9 4 MSbyte Y 0 Z8 77 26 75 74 73 72 5 LSbyte 7 0 715 714 713 712 711 710 79 6 MSbyte 7 0 M8 M7 M6 M5 M4 M3 M2 7 LSbyte M 1 1 0 15 M14 M13 M12 M10 M9 8 MSbyte M 1 1 0 M8 M7 M6 M5 M4 M3 M2 9 LSbyte M 2 1 0 M15 M14 M13 M12 M11 M10 M9 10 MSbyte M 2 1 0 M8 M7 M6 M5 M4 M3 M2 11 LSbyte M 3 1 0 M15 M14 M13 M12 1 M10 M9 12 MSbyte M 3 1 0 8 M7 M6 M5 M4 M3 M2 13 LSbyte M 1 2 0 M15
176. ylus s tip with respect to the transmitter s center M i j are the elements of the rotation matrix returned to the user when he requests POSITION MATRIX outputs Definition of the individual matrix elements can be found in the User s manual under the heading MATRIX Math The stylus coordinates can be computed from the following Xs X M 1 1 YS M 2 1 2 M 3 1 1 2 Yo M 2 2 2 M 3 2 Z Za Xo M 1 3 Yo M 2 3 Zo M 3 3 151 Installation and Operation Guide Index Application Note 2 Convert Bird Outputs to a Graphics Modeling Matrix Purpose Build the 12 elements of a standard computer graphics modeling matrix given the 9 matrix output elements from The Bird MB i and The Bird s X Y Z position outputs Xpos Ypos and Zpos The standard computer graphics XYZ coordinate system is positive X axis points to the right positive Y axis points up and positive Z points towards you Y Standard Graphic Mode The Bird s XYZ coordinate system is when the transmitter is between you and the graphics screen and the transmitter s power cord extends in the direction toward the screen positive X axis points out of the screen positive Y axis points to the left positive Z axis points down Ascension s Graphic Mode 152 Installation and Operation Guide Index To have the screen image follow the rotations and translations of The Bird s sensor wit
177. you are using the FBB interface only the Master Bird will output the DATA READY character since the data is ready at the same time from all Flock members If you are using an RS232 interface each Bird that has its DATA READY output enabled will output the DATA READY character To CHANGE DATA READY send the Bird one byte of PARAMETERdata 1 if the Bird is to output the Data Ready Character every measurement cycle as soon as a new measurement is ready for output The default Data Ready Character is a comma 2C Hex 44 Dec SET DATA READY CHARACTER PARAMETERnumber 9 During EXAMINE the Bird returns one byte the current Ascii value of the Data Ready Character To CHANGE the DATA READY CHARACTER send the Bird one byte of PARAMETERdata equal to the character value that the Bird should use as the Data Ready Character 118 Installation and Operation Guide Change Value Examine Value ERROR CODE PARAMETERnumber 10 During EXAMINE the Bird will output a one byte Error register code defined in the Error Message Section 11 0 The error code is reset to all O s after it has been read ERROR DETECT MASK PARAMETERnumber 11 During EXAMINE the Bird returns one byte which is the ERROR DETECT MASK IF ERROR DETECT MASK the Bird when it detects an error will perform as defined in the Error Message Section 11 0 If ERROR DETECT MASK 1 then FATAL errors which would stop the Bird and blink the error code continuously only blin
178. z offset distances you supply with this command are measured in the reference frame attached to the sensor and are measured from the sensor center to the desired position After the command is executed all subsequent positional outputs from the Bird will be x y z desired With the command you send to the Bird three words of data the Xoffset Yoffset and Zoffset coordinates The scaling of these coordinates is the same as the POSITION command coordinates For example assume you were using a Bird in its default maximum range mode of 36 inches full scale Also assume the Xoffset Yoffset and Zoffset values where 5 4 inches 2 1 inches and 1 3 inches You would then output three integer or their hex equivalents to the Bird equal to Xoffset 4915 5 4 32768 36 Yoffset 63625 65536 1911 Zoffset 1183 86 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands LY Desired X Y Z Sengor Reference Frane Trangmitter Reference X Y Z X Y Z attitude trangpode X Y Z Frame desired sengor offset H H Figure 8 Sensor Offsets 87 Installation and Operation Guide RS232 Commands POINT POINT HEX DECIMAL BINARY Command Byte 42 66 01000010 In the POINT mode The Bird sends one data record each time it receives the B Command Byte When in GROUP MODE the Master Bird will output a record for each running Bird the Flock see EXAMINE CHANGE parameter number 35 Remember when GROUP MODE is enabled

Ascension flock of birds manual

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