E14-C.L.E.W.E. INDEX:
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Safe & Sound @ E14-CLEWE @ #4_GPS arrives!
Another week is past! My AdaFruit GPS Logger shield has arrived and I decided to do some testing with that to ensure it works and to keep you updated while waiting for the Challenge Kit to arrive. On the plus side I am seeing others have received some of their kit so I am pretty sure that it will be here very soon! Woohoo!
Definitely makes you realize time constraints when you need to work with an item that you have not worked with before and shipping delays happen. :-) I can now realize the advantage of having the main part already on hand.
So onto the Adafruit Ultimate GPS Logger Shield - Includes GPS Module!
This arrived yesterday:
Pretty basic packaging...
The shield itself, some headers to solder on and a battery. Get ready to access that pdf link I provided above if you want to read anything about testing and options.
It really is designed to be attached to an Arduino and pretty much everything gives instructions as such so a little creative processing will be used when the T.I. MCU arrives.
They expect you to take the headers and solder the shield directly to your Arduino.
Luckily for testing purpose, I recently received an Arduino from Element 14 care of the Bit by the Bug Promotion! Thank youtariq.ahmad
Not surprisingly, trying to cheat and installing the headers and mounting the shield without soldering did not work. But since I merely wanted to use my new UNO to test with and the shield needs to be implemented with the T.I. Kit I did not want to do any soldering. If this would have worked the PWR Led on the top right would be on and the FIX Led would be flashing. No go. So headers are removed and out come the jumper cables.
Arduino IDE:
Currently I am running the desktop version of the Arduino IDE, version 1.8.1. There is a web version as well but I was feeling like keeping it all on the desktop so I installed the program. You can find the IDE here.
The software install went without any problems and my Arduino UNO was found automatically. No issues, all was looking good.
Per the suggestion of the pdf I decided I wanted to test the Shield via Direct Connection to verify I have a good working piece of equipment.
I have found out previously that NOT testing all of your critical equipment can adversely affect your Project and pretty much make you feel silly/stupid. I had, on another project, dealt with each piece of equipment as that part of the process came up, stepping through everything and assuming that all items were good. Not sure why I made that assumption but it bit me, so now I plan to test everything prior so I can get replacement pieces in if needed.
First you need to open a blank sketch in the IDE and paste in this:
// this sketch will allow you to bypass the Atmega chip
// and connect the GPS directly to the USB/Serial
// chip converter.
// Connect VIN to +5V
// Connect GND to Ground
// Connect GPS RX (data into GPS) to Digital 0
// Connect GPS TX (data out from GPS) to Digital 1
void setup() {}
void loop() {}
After attempting to upload this sketch I received a connection error. Time to look up why it failed. Luckily it provided where to go look: "Problem uploading to board. See http://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/Troubleshooting#upload for suggestions."
The first thing it has you do is verify if your board is found/recognized. Yes, all good there.
The next thing was to check your Serial port. This had not auto filled even though it had seen my Com 3. So I had to manually click that.
Once that was enabled I retried the upload and success!
Following the instructions commented in the code I used jumpers to connect the Shield with my UNO and flipped the itty bitty switch on the shield to Direct.
The next thing to do was to go to tools and Serial monitor, ensuring I was set to 9600 baud and see if the GPS was communicating.
Well that was less than exciting. Obviously something was not happening. But with the jumpers in place I was seeing power on the shield and the Fix led constantly trying to find a satellite. Looking at the code it is saying to take the TX on the shield and the TX on the UNO and connect them, doing the same with the RX. I guess my mind didn't like that so I had connected TX to RX and RX to TX.
Deciding to follow the directions exactly, I switched the jumpers and:
Communication! I didn't actually take my system outside to give it a chance to fix on a satellite, that will be later in testing.
So now I am more confident the Shield is ready for more when my Kit arrives.
Here is a picture of everything jumpered with the power led lit and the fix led lit.
If my kit does not arrive soon I will move on to testing for SD accessing and actually taking it outside to let it play with some signals.
Thank you for your attention and hopefully you will check out my next blog when it is posted. At the top of everyone of my blogs is an index letting you have easy access to all of my blogs for this Challenge. Enjoy!
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