QBASE 915MHz Datalink Sytem FCC Warning Statements This device complies with part 15 of the FFC rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions:
(1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:
--Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
--Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
--Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.
--Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help. 7 CHAPTER QBASE GROUND CONTROL STATION QBase is a Microsoft Windows based desktop software. QBase assists the user in planning a mission. The planning process is always accomplished in the following order:
Choose Trinity Choose your payload
settings 17 m/s Wind 120 m SPC UMC APC Snap CPC Snap + UMC
Take-off and landing
Monitoring
90%
T.BAT SATs: 15 MIS:
BAT:
49%
92%
06:04 18.5 V Pics: 112 ALT: 120m HDG: 224 AS: 17.0 m/s DST: 676m WP: 4/16 GS: 17.0 m/s COME HOME MISSION EMERGENCY Geo Tagging Find the QBase mission planning video tutorial on our YouTube channel. Just search for www.youtube.com/c/QuantumSystems 12 | Trinity user manual 7 QBase ground control station 7.1 INSTALLING / UNINSTALLING QBASE The following chapter will deal with the installating and the uninstalling of QBase. 7.1.1 Install QBase 1. QBase is provided by your reseller. 2. 3. Open Start QBase to open the program. Note: For the connection between QBase and the Trinity via the QBase modem a driver is required. Visit www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm to install the driver. MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Windows 7 / 8.1 / 10 64bit CPU-Speed OS RAM 4 GB or higher Free Disk Space 100 MB Display 24-bit color depth 2.5 GHz or higher (Hyper-threading or Multicore recommended) Screen Resolution 1600 x 900 recommended or higher at normal size (96 dpi) Video / Graphic Adapter 64 MB RAM minimum, 256 MB RAM recommended; NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel chipsets supported;
Accelerated graphics card driver; Be sure to use the latest available driver If you have problems starting QBase, make sure your installation of Microsoft Windows is up to date. 1. Open the QBase installer and select Remove QBase. 2. Select Finish to remove QBase. 7.1.2 Uninstall QBase Alternative: Uninstall QBase from the program list of the Windows control panel. Trinity user manual | 13 7 QBase ground control station 7.2 MENU OVERVIEW The graphical user interface of QBase is divided into several sections. MAP NAVIGATION The map can be moved by using left mouse button. Zooming is possible with the mouse wheel. Touch screen devices:
in and to zoom out. 7.2.1 Main menu Mission
(top left corner) Settings New Create a new mission. The current mission will be deleted. QBase (see chapter 7.10.1) Open a mission. View Manager (see chapter 7.10.2) Save the current mission in Quantum-Systems
Flight Data Link (see chapter 7.10.3) Save as
Create Map
Payload Maintenance Create Camera (see chapter 7.8) Updates (see chapter 7.11) FlyLog Debrief (see chapter 7.7.1) UAV Firmware (see chapter 7.12) Geo Tagging (see chapter 7.7.2) SD Card (see chapter 7.14) Exit QBase 14 | Trinity user manual 7.2.2 Left section Message Window Shows info (blue), warning (yellow) and error (red) messages. Zoom In Zoom Out Map Settings Adjust the display settings of the map. 7 QBase ground control station
Pan to Select if you wish to pan to the UAV, to the mission or if you wish to search for an address. Select Map
make sure QBase is connected to the internet. Wind Settings
20 km Zoom in to select the Scale and select New Measurement to measure a distance between two locations. The button becomes visible when zoomed in. Select the Scale again to close the measurement tool. 7.2.3 Right section The right section of QBase includes the relevant buttons for planning and monitoring a mission (see chapter 7.3 & 7.6). Monitoring UAV Monitor the UAV during the mission accomplishment. Mission Template
Flight Planning
waypoints. Area Planning
Read / Write Flight Plan
7.2.4 Footer UAV Command UAV Command Enables the user to control the Trinity via QBase (see chapter 7.6.2) Payload Info Payload Info Information about the current state of the payload (see chapter 7.6.3.)
By clicking left on the The waypoints of the mission are numbered and shown in purple. The current waypoint is framed.
Zoom in and out with the mouse wheel. Use Autoscale Mission Info Mission Info Gives an overview of the planned mission (see chapter 7.3 step 51). Trinity user manual | 15 7 QBase ground control station 7.3 PLANNING A PHOTOGRAMMETRY MISSION The aim of planning a mission in QBase is to generate waypoints and camera trigger positions. This information is uploaded to the Trinity. Mission planning step by step The planning process should be accomplished in the following order. With increasing step order the planning process becomes more detailed. Settings that are adjusted are not automatically updated in the previous steps. Therefore, it is not recommended to jump back and forth between the steps. See chapter 7 for an overview of the mission planning process.
surrounding and the topographic conditions. See chapter 8.4 for choosing a good take-off position. 1. Set the wind condition. Get information of the wind speed and the wind direction online. Set the wind speed [BFT or m / s]
Set the wind direction:
+ clockwise
- counter clockwise 2. Open the Mission Template in the right section.
after the selected time expired. At the link reestablishing waypoint the Trinity loiters for the selected time and tries to reestablish the connection to QBase and the transmitter. See chapter 5 for further information about the communication links. See step 42 to set the link reesta-
blishing waypoint
UAV 3. Select the UAV type Trinity. 4. Set the Link Loss conditions. 5. Set the Loiter Time. General Mission 6. Set the Speed RECOMMENDED SETTINGS Wind speed Flight speed 0 3 m / s 3 6 m / s 17 m / s 18 m / s 7. Set the Altitude.
Please do not
take-off position. 8. Set the Side and Forward Overlap. Overlap settings are dependent on the payload. Overlap default settings in Mission Template are based on the payload settings. Payload 9. Select the Payload. Focal length of the camera. altitude and the camera properties. 16 | Trinity user manual
7 QBase ground control station
forward overlap. The wind speed and the wind direction is not considered at this point. For the exact trigger speed including the wind conditions see step 51. If the selected camera can not manage the required trigger speed the trigger speed is displayed in red color.
10. Either select Pan to ?
in the left section and search for the desired location or zoom to the desired location. 11. Open Area Planning by selecting
Mission Template before. 12. Select Create a new area in the header section.
corner it must be selected. Undo Redo Delete selected vertex (orange circle) Cancel 13. select 14. If you wish to edit the select
. 15. If you wish to delete
. 16. Select Mission Info to display the size of the planned area. Note:
by a green colored triangle . 17. Adjust the 18. Set the direction of the the legs. Set the direction to Auto to obtain the minimum amount of legs. Set the direction to Manual if it is useful to change the legs depen-
ding on the wind direction. 19. Set the distance between the legs. Percent: distance based on side overlap in percent Manual: distance between the legs Gap: set the gap between the legs
20. Legs can be extended legs at the entry are extended by 10 meters. 21. Check Flip Legs to change the waypoint order 22. Check Invert Legs to change the entry and exit on a leg. 23. Check Optimize Leg Sequence to optimize the leg order based on turn radius of the Trinity and the current leg distance. 24. Select Generate Flight Plan. Note: If changes in Area Planning or Mission Template are made afterwards, the
Generate Flight Plan again. The number of waypoints is limited to 200. If the amount is exceeded, the button is disabled. 25. The Flight Planning menu
26. Waypoints can be edited, added and deleted in the header section. View Settings Area:
Shows the area including the numbered legs.
Highlighted path: Highlights the simulated path between the previous, the current and the next waypoint. Trigger positions: Displays the trigger positions (yellow dots). Waypoints:
Shows the waypoints.
Trinity user manual | 17 7 QBase ground control station Lock / Unlock Waypoint Moving Enables / Disables the function to move any waypoint. Waypoints can be moved by selecting and dragging them. Set New Waypoints By selecting on the map a new waypoint between two existing waypoints can be added. Delete Waypoints When selected choose the waypoints that you wish to delete. Delete Flight Plan 27. Set the Home Waypoint by selecting in the header section.
The yellow part indicates the transition cone with the transition track which is by default 50 meters. Within this area the transition is performed. Make sure this area is free of obstacles. To adjust the direction and the angle of the transition cone see step 31. 28. Select the Home Waypoint on the map in order to set the transition waypoint properties. Direction A: Transition altitude (m) B: C: Time between home waypoint
D: Track length between the home
31 29. Set the Transition Altitude. 30. Set the direction of the transition. 31. Set the Transition Cone. If the surrounding allows for it, set the transition altitude as low as possible in order to save energy by reducing the hover duration to a minimum. Note: Choose the transition direction based on the surrounding. If possible set it against the wind direction.
Trinity will not enter the transition phase and the mission will be aborted. It is possible to manually adjust the direction of the Trinity (see chapter 9.2). 32. Open the
120 50 1 2 1 2 3 120 50 3 H 0 0,5 H 0 0,5
try to flip or invert the legs (see step 21 23) or extend the track between the home waypoint and the first waypoint of the flight area by inserting extra waypoints in Remember to update the flight plan by selecting Generate Flight Plan. 33. If the altitude can not be reached between (see step 26). 18 | Trinity user manual 7 QBase ground control station 1 2 3
120 50 Distance: 0,4 Altitude: 75 H 0 0,5
during climbing phase
obstacles are. Add a waypoint at the obstacle.
35. Set the Retransition Waypoint by selecting in the header section. Location at which the Trinity finishes the retransition and is in hover mode short before landing. The retransition track is indicated by the dotted path and is by default 150 meters. The retransition track must be free of any obstacles. The retransition waypoint should be located close to the home waypoint
(take-off and landing location), because the distance between the retransition waypoint and the home waypoint is covered in high energy demanding hover mode.
condition real retransition location might not comply with the retransition waypoint in QBase. Therefore, make sure an area with a radius of 20 meters around the retransition waypoint is free of obstacles. 36. Select the retransition waypoint on the map in order to set the retransition properties: Distance between the retransi-
tion point and the home waypoint. The distance is covered in hover mode. At the home waypoint the Trinity is landed manually (see chapter 9.2). 37. Set the retransition altitude.
for it, set the retransition altitude as low as possible in order to save energy by reducing the hover duration to a minimum. 38. Set the speed
39. Set the direction of the retransition. If possible set the direction against the wind direction. 40. Set the direction of the descent circle. Before the retransition, the Trinity enters the descent circle automatically in order to descend to the required retransition altitude. In case no link reestablishing waypoint is set the Trinity will use the descent circle as the link reestablishing waypoint. Set the direction of the circle depending on the surrounding and obstacles. 40 Make sure the descent circle is free of obstacles.
between the last waypoint and the descent circle ensure that the
42. Locate the Link Reestablishing Waypoint by selecting in the header section.
it is possible the link between QBase and the Trinity or between the RC transmitter and the Trinity is reestablished. If the connection is successful either continue the mission or select COMING HOME on the transmitter. Locate the Link Reestablishing
close to the home waypoint. 43. Set the altitude of the link reestablishing circle. 44. Set the of the link reestablishing circle. 45. Set the radius of the link reestablishing circle. 46. Set the direction of the link reestablishing circle. 43 44 45 46 Trinity user manual | 19 7 QBase ground control station 47. If needed adjust the waypoints. It is possible to adjust the settings for every waypoint individually. Select the waypoint that you wish to modify. 48. Select the waypoint type. By default, the waypoint type is selected
49. Set the at the selected waypoint. 50. Set the at the selected waypoint. Waypoint types The selected waypoint is displayed in green. 48 49 50 Fly By
before reaching the waypoint to smoothly align with the next leg. Fly Over
the next leg after the waypoint. Aligned Direction
the waypoint and the direction of the next leg. If needed subtypes can be selected in the waypoint property menu manually. For photogrammetry missions it is recom-
mended to set the subtype to Auto. Not all subtypes are applicable for every scenario. Non applicable subtypes are indicated by a red dotted line between the waypoints. Loiter The Trinity enters a circular trajectory around the waypoint. The radius of the trajectory, the circling duration and the circling direction can be set in the waypoint property menu. The Trinity approaches and leaves the trajectory from the outside. 51. Mission Info Open the Mission Info menu in the bottom right corner, to obtain an overview of the planned mission. If the selected camera can not manage the required trigger speed the trigger speed is displayed in red color. In this case try to switch the side and forward overlap settings in the Mission Template (step 8).
52. Select
20 | Trinity user manual 7 QBase ground control station 7.4 UPLOADING A FLIGHT PLAN TO THE TRINITY
information of the mission template and the area planning. 1. Select in the right section. 2. Select Write Flight Plan
. Write Flight Plan 3. The following Flight Plan Check A: UAV Type Check
B: Distance Retransition to Home The user is warned if the distance between the home waypoint and the retran-
sition waypoint exceeds 50 meters. If the distance exceeds 100 meters it is not
C: Predicted Battery Usage A warning comes active if the required battery capacity exceeds 75 %. D: Trigger Interval The required payload trigger interval should not be shorter than the minimum
4. Select Write Flight Plan. The button is disabled if one of the criteria is not met. The window is closed automatically after
Note:
7.5 DOWNLOADING A FLIGHT PLAN FROM THE TRINITY
is transferred from the Trinity to QBase. The current QBase mission is overwritten. Note: 7.6 MONITORING AND CONTROLLING THE TRINITY DURING FLIGHT OPERATION With QBase it is possible to monitor and to control the Trinity during a mission. When the Trinity is connected to QBase via the
. To connect QBase with the Trinity see chapter 8.3 QBase modem the actual position of the Trinity is shown on the map
& 8.7. Monitoring UAV The current status of the Trinity can be seen in the header section. UAV status messages and error messages are dis-
played on the left. UAV Command The UAV Command panel provides the user with the possibility to control the Trinity during a waypoint based mission. Payload Info During the mission the current state of the payload board can be displayed by selecting Payload Info in the footer section. Trinity user manual | 21 7 QBase ground control station 7.6.1 Header section 13 22 | Trinity user manual 1: Sensor data shows the current state of the sensors. green: OK red: sensor error 2: Current airspeed green: deviation between current and commanded orange: deviation between current and commanded red: deviation between current and commanded airspeed 10 % 20 %
airspeed <10 %
airspeed >20 %
3: Commanded airspeed 4: Current ground speed 5: Current altitude airspeed <10 %
green: deviation between current and commanded orange: deviation between current and commanded red: deviation between current and commanded airspeed 10 % 20 %
airspeed >20 %
7.6.2 UAV command During the mission the Trinity can be controlled with the help of the UAV Command panel. As no control sticks are available
Open the UAV Command panel in the footer section. The control commands are equivalent to the commands on the transmitter. 1. Battery state of your tablet or laptop 2. Number of satellites 3. Status of the FDL connection 4. Remaining mission time 5. Battery state of the Trinity 6. Number of the taken pictures 7. Current altitude above take-off 8. Distance to the Home Waypoint 9. Heading (direction of the nose of the Trinity) 10. Waypoints (current /overall) 11. Current airspeed 12. Current ground speed 13. Flight operation commands (see chapter 9.2) 7.6.3 Payload info Payload Info The interface provides the user with information about the state of the power supply of the
7 QBase ground control station 6: Commanded altitude 7: Remaining battery capacity in percent 8: Remaining mission time 9: Payload The connection status of the cameras as well as the number of pictures are displayed. Count: amount of pictures / amount of trigger attempts 10: State of the connection between QBase and the Trinity 11: RSSI state of the received data (yellow graph)
(green graph)
7.7 DEBRIEFING OF A PHOTOGRAMMETRY MISSION
the Trinity. With the help of QBase it is possible to transfer the FlyLog from the Trinity to your computer, laptop or tablet. Moreover QBase offers the opportunity to create a KML (Keyhole Markup
Google Maps or Google Earth. Download the FlyLogs to geotag the pictu-
res with the geodata (see chapter 7.7.2). 1. Connect the Trinity main body to your computer via USB. Do not connect the battery. The power is supplied by the USB connection. 2. Open the QBase Main Menu and select FlyLog Debrief
. 3. Show the list of Logs by selecting
. generated from the FlyLog. 4. 5. Select the that you wish to download from the Trinity and select . 6. Choose a directory. 7. By selecting Load from Folder your computer. 7.7.2 Geotag the pictures with the geodata QBase offers the possibility to geotag the pictures that were taken during the mission with geodata. This enables the user to post-process the pictures with the help of a photogrammetry software. The pictures are saved on a SD card which is on board of the Trinity. 1. Download the FlyLog from your Trinity (see chapter 7.7.1). 2. Remove the SD card from the payload compartment. 3. Insert the SD card into your computer, laptop or tablet. 4. Save the pictures on your computer, laptop or tablet. 5. Open the Main Menu in QBase and select Geo Tagging
. 6. Select the FlyLog 7. Select the camera that the pictures were taken with. Trinity user manual | 23 10. The geotagged pictures are saved in the folder GeoTagged, a subfolder of the folder that contains the original pictures. After saving the pictures on your computer, laptop or tablet it is recommended to delete the pictures from the SD card.
7 QBase ground control station 8. Select the folder that contains the pictures. 9. Select Start. 7.8 PAYLOAD Creating a new camera 1. Select the Main Menu in the top left corner. 2. Select Create Camera
. 3. Select a camera name. 4. Set camera settings. The settings need to be obtained from the technical
5. Set default forward overlap. 6. Set default side overlap. 7. Set fastest trigger interval. 8. Select to add the camera to the payload list. 9. If you wish to add another camera to the same payload repeat steps 3. 8. 10. Save the payload in the directory that is selected in settings (see chapter 7.10.1). The payload is automatically added to the payload list in the Mission Template if it is saved in the payload directory that was selected in the QBase settings. 7.9 CREATING AN OFFLINE MAP
process QBase needs to be connected to the internet. Note: 1. Select the Main Menu in the top left corner. 2. Select Create Map
. 3. Select Load Map. 4. 5. Choose the level of detail. 6. Select Estimate Cache Size 7. Select Export Tiles to create the map. The map is saved in the maps directory that is set in QBase settings (see chap-
7.10 SETTINGS 7.10.1 Directory settings
1. Select the Main Menu in the top left corner. 2. Select QBase
. Click to set directory to the default settings. 3. Select Set Path to change the directories. The new path is automatically saved when the QBase User Interface is closed. 24 | Trinity user manual A B C D E 7.10.2 View manager
7 QBase ground control station 1. Select the Main Menu in the top left corner. 2. Select View Manager
. 7.10.3 Flight data link The frequency band and the transmission power of the QBase modem and of the Trinity modem can be changed. In order to guarantee a connection between the Trinity and the QBase modem the frequency bands need to match. Normally no changes
1. Connect the QBase modem to your computer, laptop or tablet via USB. If you wish to change the settings of the Trinity modem 1a. Connect the battery pack to the main body of the Trinity and power the Trinity. 1b. 2. Select the Main Menu in the top left corner. 3. Select Flight Data Link. A: Current settings of the Local (QBase) and Remote (Trinity) modem.
Changing the frequency band or the transmission power of your Trinity includes automatically changing the settings of the QBase modem. B: Select the modem. The currently selected modem is displayed
(Local or Local & Remote
). C: Select the Band. D: Select the transmission power. The transmission power of the QBase modem can be adjusted in a range of 1.3 mW 100 mW. Please follow the local regulations for the maximum allowed transmission power. E: Select to save the settings. Note: You can only change the frequency band or the transmission power of your Trinity if the local and remote modems are connected. Please ensure that only one Trinity and one QBase modem are active when changing the frequency band. Special case: The frequency band of your Trinity is set to A and the frequency band of the QBase modem is set to B and you wish to change the frequency bands to B. First change the band of the QBase (local) modem to A in order to change both frequency bands to B afterwards. 7.11 UPDATING QBASE If new QBase updates are available a information window informs you when you start QBase. It is recommended to down-
load the new update as soon as it is available. 1. Select the Main Menu in the top left corner. 2. Select Updates
. 3. Select Download 4. Close QBase. 5. Reinstall QBase with the downloaded installer (see chapter 7.1). The old version of QBase is automatically overwritten. Trinity user manual | 25 7 QBase ground control station 7.12 UPDATING THE TRINITY
new QBase update. 1. Follow the steps for downloading and installing a new QBase update (see chapter 7.11). 2. Connect main body of the Trinity with your computer, laptop or tablet via USB (see chapter 7.7.1). Do not connect the battery. The power supply is guaranteed by the USB connection. 3. Select the Main Menu in the top left corner. 4. Select Update Firmware. 5. QBase 6. Follow the instructions of the update guide.
the Trinity and QBase are updated as soon as an update becomes available. 7.13 ERROR MESSAGES AND USER NOTIFICATIONS DISPLAYED IN QBASE QBase is equipped with two message windows. Please see chapter 14.7 for the messages. 1. Message Window (in the left section) 2. (in the header section) The user is informed about the current state of the Trinity. 1. Select the Main Menu in the top left corner. 2. Select SD Card
. 3. Select the latest 4. 7.14 DOWNLOADING A LOG FILE FROM THE AUTOPILOT SD CARD
26 | Trinity user manual