Hi hi
Regarding the Ping2 sonar and the Ping Sonar Viewer.
The software is great, and can handle everything that the product has to offer.
I have the Ping2 Echo-sounder under my BR2 unit to see how far away the ROV is from the bottom. It is good to have the distance, because sometimes the visibility is not that good, and knowing how far it’s to the bottom before you “crash” into it. Then it comes in handy to have the Ping sonar.
Running the Ping2 sonar viewer takes space on the computer screen, and much of the information the Sonar Viewer has to offer does not really matter, at least to me.
Sometimes I just want to have the distance numbers… Nothing more… Just so I know, I’m 5 meter… 2 meters… Etc. from the bottom.
Is there a simplified version possibility? Or get the measurement into like QGroundControl so it reads just like the Depth Sensor? Any other idea regarding for OSD (On-Screen-Display) for Ping2 Echosounder?
Hi @diveexplorer -
You can absolutely read out altitude from the Ping2 in both QGround Control and Cockpit - it’s a bit nicer in Cockpit but in both cases, just involves displaying a parameter.
- Go to Ping Sonar Devices and turn on mavlink messages
- In Cockpit, add the generic indicator widget and select the rangefinder.distance parameter, and the icon you’d like to show
- In QGC, unlock the bottom telemetry readout and add a parameter, then select rangefinder.distance.
In both cases, this distance will be saved in the .ass telemetry subtitle file!
Ah… that´s it Tony.
Thanks for the advice, I will sure try this.
Thor
Hi guys
I am trying to get my Ping2 to display onscreen (in a mini widget) in Cockpit 1.4
rangefinder.distance does not show up in the “custom” setup- is it the “Alt(Rel)” option ? - this however does not match values in Pingviewer.
Mavlink distances checked in Cockpit
Ping Viewer v2.5.1 shows 192.168.2.2.9090 with green indicator light, and waterfall, but mostly around 6m on my desk, not “0.01m” as on the “Alt(Rel)” widget
Do i need to get it into water? (Can try tomorrow)
Cheers!
ROV2, BlueOS1.3.1, Navigator, Stable4.5.1
Ping1D
|Bridge|UDP 9090|
|MAVLink Distances||
|FW|3.28.0|
|ID|1|
|Model|0|
|Revision|1|
|Device|/dev/ttyAMA3|
Attached the
Cockpit (Jan 14, 2025 - 16꞉24꞉28 GMT+8) #8936f61b.ass.txt (97.0 KB)
ASS file (saved and sent as txt as ass not allowed…?)
Hi @chubbybutton -
Welcome to the forums!
The file you saved is not particularly useful - it is the subtitles file that is associated with a Cockpit or QGC video recording.
Log files shouldn’t be necessary to get this working though!
There are a few parrameters that need to be configured, beyond turning on Mavlink distances in BlueOS (is this what you meant to say, instead of Cockpit?)
The surftrack fixit extension is an easy way to setup remaining parameters required - once the system is properly channeling Ping data into rangefinder.distance, you’ll be all set in Cockpit - but update to the latest version, 1.6!
Also, note that no Bridge should be setup or used with the Ping to get this working.
Thanks so much Tony !
Surftrack fixit seemed to do the trick - rangefinder.distance became selectable and working and displaying the same values as Pingviewer.
(Still seems to be “Bridge UDP9090” showing in BlueOS, will that cause problems?)
Is this the value that Alt_Hold mode will look for? andeact to?
And also what the Alt Command widget responds to?
(…and finally, if yes to those last two questions, Is there any way of controlling the limits in the AltCommand slider? i.e. 0-5m instead of 0-100m… anything to do with parameters in Surftrack?
RNGFND1_MAX_CM is 700cm, did you mean 5000cm?
(btw, only seemed to be able to add a Very Generic Widget to the lower bar, then move up into screen area window, just a glitch on my setup?)
Hi @chubbybutton -
Glad that you got it working! My coworker reminded me that we added the information to a guide, so the surftrack fixit route is not necessarily required 
Can you share a screenshot of the Bridge UDP9090 you’re referring to? If this is under the Ping sonar devices, that is normal.
Alt_hold actually uses the pressure sensor to hold depth - this will move up and down with the waves though!
SurfTrack is the new flight mode that holds a fixed distance from the bottom based on the Ping returns. You’ll see updates to the setpoint when in that mode and adjusting your depth via the right joystick. It is a new feature only in use by some customers so share feedback on your results using it!
The surftrack extension is telling you that you may want to increase the RNGFND_MAX distance to 50m, rather than 7m, so that you can follow the bottom over a wider range of… ranges.
I’ve not had trouble dragging widgets to the top bar - it can be a bit tricky as they need to land in an already open area on the bar.
Thanks again for your prompt response, so useful when juggling development and vessel bookings…!
Yes, “Bridge UDP9090” just as displayed in BlueOS/Ping, as per your screen shot 14 Jan above, post #6.
Update you on results with SurfTrack tonight-sounds perfect!
@chubbybutton -
The UDP9090 is normal - it refers to the protocol and port the ping data is being sent on.
Best of luck! You can adjust the behaviorof the control loop used in Surf_track flight mode with the ArduSub parameter PSC_JERK_Z
Hi Tony
A day of mixed fortunes (as per electronics in the ocean eh!).
Updated to Cockpit 1.7.0 but the Light and Gain mini widgets don’t display anything, just “–”, though functionality fine.
We had endless connection glitches before even getting anything wet which eventually traced to a broken pin attaching USB-B plug receptor to its circuit board inside the FXTI box by which time we had overheated the ROV, this morning found dead! Managed to trace that issue to blown DC-DC power supply which we had a spare and all seems to be fine. Will order another couple of those little power supplies too!
Is there a way to set a CPU temp alarm? I thought previously i heard a “CPU hot, throttling underway”…I guess it was the power source failing this time. Did I see 80degC was upper limit?
Is the little USB-B to Ethernet board available as a spare? (We have ordered a new FXTI box anyway, Keith at Gaia)
(Upgraded to 1.7.1 this morning but still no Gain/Light so rolled back to 1.6.0 and all works fine. Will re-try 1.7.2? when we have time.)
“Compass calibration degraded…” - do i need to calibrate via QGC?
Eventually managed to run a few transects with spare ROV, towing behind a clump weight at around 2m off the bottom, at 2 to 3 knots. Will send some stills, but quite low visibility.
Hi @chubbybutton -
Yes - field days can often be a challenge!
We’re aware of the Cockpit issue, and should have that fixed - version 1.6 and onwards lets you auto-update when opening the application (for standalone) if you’re connected to the internet.
I always like to “loop test” the night before a deployment, to catch anything like the broken connection that tripped you up! Was the ROV in the sun during your troubleshooting/ I guess extreme heat could have damaged the DCDC 5V power supply you replaced.
In BlueOS, under Vehicle Setup / Configure / Failsafes, you can indeed adjust the threshold and event (warn,disarm, etc.) for temperature and other failsafes (like high internal pressure.)
Generally, the Pi can start to have issues when its CPU temp reaches 80C +, yes. I like to keep the CPU temp as a widget in Cockpit!
You can special order that part - add the special item to your cart at checkout, and put this SKU + quantity desired in the notes - assuming this is it!
SKU: BR-100388
The compass calibration message means you may have a less than perfect calibration - you can recalibrate via QGC, but I prefer doing so from the Compass setup under Vehicle Setup in BlueOS - no more QGC if I can help it!
Glad you still got some transects done!
Hi Tony,
Video snippet attached, flying at 3.7m off the seabed (will go closer as our techniques are refined) at 3knots in 7m or so of water (these numbers show onscreen from the .ass file but not when i record in VLC , i believe i can burn the subtitles onto video but no time now…), so going pretty well. At this stage we only intermittedly switch to Surftrack but will be useful as the days progress, as well as Althold as we traverse over small ravines we don’t want to venture into. We also running a couple of 4K DJI cameras shooting straight down at 1Hz which will actually be the images being used to classify the benthic habitat.
Thanks for all your help!
Hi tony
Our fieldwork is going well but have few troubles with video files (up to 4gb) not processing and sometimes resulting in other videos being deleted. I read the forum issues but they seemed resolved and allowing 12gb 4K files……
The topside computer hard drive was quite full - could that be a problem?
Is the desktop version of Cockpit more stable/ reliable for video?
Cheers
Mark
Hi @chubbybutton -
I turn off auto-processing to help with issues recording large 4k files- better to process when the vehicle is not active!
It’s important to remember - whether you are using the extension in the browser, or the standalone application, the video files are being stored on your computer hard drive , not the vehicle! If the hard drive was full, you would have nowhere to store the video!
There should be no differences when it comes to video between the standalone and extension versions. The standalone version will let you process videos without the vehicle connected, and the videos do just appear in your home folder / Cockpit, rather than having to “download” them (they are not actually downloading, but just being built from video chunks and moved to your downloads folder.)
Thanks @tony-white
Video processing progressed smoothly with more space on the Topside computer, automatic unselected. However no files appear in my Users/Cockpit video folder. And the video browser in the Desktop version of Cockpit shows different files to the extension version. Do i have an incorrect address or something somewhere for video?
Thanks again, Mark
Hi @chubbybutton -
The videos are stored in different locations when comparing the browser based and standalone versions, including the video chunks that are converted into the eventual video file. The videos recorded in the browser extension version can only be downloaded - this often requires selecting “keep” in your Chrome downloads menu in the upper right.
You may want to try the RTSP stream option in the video stream configuration (pencil icon on the BlueOS screenshot you shared.) This can be a bit more performative in Cockpit compared to UDP.
It looks like you may have a video that is failing to process in your standalone version. Can you share what version of Cockpit that is? Do you have a rough idea of how long a recording it was? Are there any files in your home folder under Cockpit in a video chunks directory?
@rafael.lehmkuhl may have suggestions or questions as well…
thanks again @tony-white !
I have updated the standalone Cockpit and test video did end up in User/Cockpit/videos so seems to be working. Videos were up to 3Gb or so. Will give it a run in the field next trip. (User/Cockpit/videos/temporary-video-chunks has a 0kb file called “5c5a2dc7_0”).
It seems that my extension Cockpit needs to be re/started a few times before vehicle becomes responsive - is that normal? Eventually usually fine but delay can be nerve wracking if need to reconnect underwater…
Hi @chubbybutton -
There was a bug with (standalone) Cockpit taking a long time to startup if large videos were present in the videos directory, however that has been squashed with the latest version…
A screen recording of whatever startup delay you’r encountering would be helpful!