QGC 4.1.6 small things

[Boko (Bo Koppel)]

Hi!
After updating to 4.1.6 I note 3 things

1. Still a warning for “No GPS Lock”

2. QGC always starts in a small window.
   The non technical users find that anoying at sea

3. My Python script for setting parameters (disable and able roll/pitch) is no longer working.
   Python starts, but can not connect to sub, so it keeps waiting.
   BlueROV2/StabOff.py at master · BoKoppel/BlueROV2 · GitHub
   Bo

[EliotBR (Eliot)]

Hi @Boko,

@Boko

1. Still a warning for “No GPS Lock”

@EliotBR

if your Pixhawk has a GPS connected but it doesn’t have a position lock then the message will (and should) still appear

The message doesn’t appear for me when I have no positioning devices connected/set up. If you don’t have a positioning device then it’s possible there’s an issue with your ArduSub parameters (maybe try resetting them?).

@Boko

2. QGC always starts in a small window.

Interesting. That’s not the case for me, but I also run Windows as a virtual machine from my Mac, so it’s possible there are some differences in screen or something. From a search of the QGC issues I couldn’t find anything about that, so I’ve asked internally if anyone else has experienced it.

Are you able to share more information about the computer it’s running on? It may be a device-specific issue.

@Boko

3. My Python script for setting parameters (disable and able roll/pitch) is no longer working.
   Python starts, but can not connect to sub, so it keeps waiting.

I’m not sure why you would want to do that, but given it’s not even managing to connect it’s presumably a network configuration issue rather than a functionality one, and I don’t expect it’s related to QGC.

Your script seems to use a custom udp port (14555) - any chance you’ve forgotten to set that up in Companion/BlueOS?

[Boko (Bo Koppel)]

Hi Eliot!
Thanks for quick answers as always!

1. Still a warning for “No GPS Lock”
   These systems are used both with and without Waterlinked UW GPS,
   There have never been any setup made in Ardusub for that, Ardusub finds the UW GPS automatic at startup. Maybee there is an automatic persistent parameter in 0.0.30 that once UW GPS have been detected, a flag is set to always look for GPS?
   Is there a parameter to change when not using UW GPS to get rid of message?

2. QGC always starts in a small window.
   The solution is a bit odd: Set the QGC shortcut icon preference to open “Normal window” to get fullscreen. Set it to “Maximized” and the QGC window get small.
   Same in Win 10 and Win 7

3. Python script for setting parameters in Ardusub
   When updating to 0.0.30 my MavProxy row --out udpbcast:192.168.2.255:14555
   was no longer there, so note to self: check Mavproxy when updating Ardusub

[EliotBR (Eliot)]

@Boko

There have never been any setup made in Ardusub for that

Our GPS docs would seem to disagree, apparently:

@ardusub.com - GPS Positioning - Autopilot Configuration

There is some configuration that needs to be done on the autopilot in order for the absolute positioning to perform correctly. These parameters need to be set:

• GPS_TYPE = MAV(14) (This is done automatically by the same application that listens for data on port 27000)
• EK2_GPS_TYPE = 2D Position(2) (We don’t want to use the 3D position, we get very good depth measurements from the pressure sensor)

@Boko

Maybee there is an automatic persistent parameter in 0.0.30 that once UW GPS have been detected, a flag is set to always look for GPS?

Is there a parameter to change when not using UW GPS to get rid of message?

Indeed, the GPS_TYPE parameter is set automatically to MAV (14) once an underwater GPS has been detected. I tried setting that manually on my setup and it did indeed bring back the “No GPS Lock” message (which makes sense).

If you set that parameter to None or AUTO in QGC when you’re not using the GPS then the message should go away

@Boko

2. QGC always starts in a small window.
   The solution is a bit odd: Set the QGC shortcut icon preference to open “Normal window” to get fullscreen. Set it to “Maximized” and the QGC window get small.
   Same in Win 10 and Win 7

Why QGC, just why…?
Glad you managed to find a workaround at least

We still weren’t able to replicate the actual “small” window (ours were a pretty normal size), but the icon preferences did seem to have modified behaviour on one of the machines we tested with.

@Boko

When updating to 0.0.30 my MavProxy row --out udpbcast:192.168.2.255:14555
was no longer there, so note to self: check Mavproxy when updating Ardusub

Odd. There are several mavproxy changes throughout the Companion post-update script (depending on which version is being updated from), but I can’t see any that would modify a udpbcast line - perhaps that was done somewhere else in an update, or maybe you reset to the default mavproxy parameters for some other reason and adding back your extra line got missed.

Regardless, good that the direct cause of the issue you were having has now been found and resolved