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 Openvario and custom external vario gauge
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Vertigo
Pulcino

Belgium
5 Posts

Posted - 01/10/2017 :  11:46:46  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Hi all,

My brother has an Openvario with sensorboard, currently running Xcsoar. He asked me to make a mechanical vario gauge, so he can free up more space on his 5.7" display, by removing the vario and vario related infoboxes to the external vario. You can see an early proof of concept here:
https://youtu.be/7Zbjo2WrcWk

Here is how it works; Openvario's sensor.d and vario.d measure and calculate all data; I configured xcsoar to use one serial port for "NMEA out". My arduino based gauge is connected to openvario through this serial port.This allows me to get vertical speed, pressures and battery voltage. Nothing more. I currently do not have a GPS connected to openvario, so Im not sure I would get that info. In the plane, FLARM will be used as GPS source. But I would also need airspeed (theoretically I could calculate that I suppose), McReady settings, Speed-to-fly mode and STF speeds, and possibly even more.

If IM honest, Im not getting a lot of response from openvario or xcsoar developpers, and while googling, I stumbled upon LK8000. I tried it briefly with condor, and Im quite impressed, and think it might be worth switching. But my problems remain. In fact, some may even get worse.

A few questions:

- is there an OV +LK8000 image for the 5.7“ Texim (640x480) ? Or can I use the image for the 7" and just change resolution?
- is there a protocol that will output as much information as possible on a serial port (vario info, gps info, Mc ready setting, STF, possibly even ballast, bugs, etc if/when they change) ? I tried on my PC, using condor as input, and NMEA out on the other serial port, and I dont seem to be getting anything.
- LK8000 seems limited to 2 serial ports. OV hardware has 3/4. Flarm and my gauge would already use 2. Later I can see a need for a secondary GPS source and possibly the radio control feature (my brother needs to buy a new radio, and Im sure this could be very desirable). Are there plans to expand this ?

thanks a lot.





Edited by - Vertigo on 01/10/2017 11:54:16

Coolwind
Moderator

Italy
8957 Posts

Posted - 01/10/2017 :  14:17:57  Show Profile  Visit Coolwind's Homepage  Reply with Quote
First of all congratulations it's a real beauty! Then for overlay you can get a bitmap nd resize it. I am not sure I understood your first question.
Second q: no, there is no such capability to send out telemetry data. But it is possible to send out data by programming the code of course, let's say it is something possible in the end.
Third, please try using our android version that's already has 6 serials managed.
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Vertigo
Pulcino

Belgium
5 Posts

Posted - 01/10/2017 :  14:39:07  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Thanks for the compliment, but this is little more than a proof of concept I banged together, its far from ready, and everything will change. Not in the least the LCD, the current OLED was a €7 part from banggood to test the concept, but its not sunlight readable. I'll test e-ink and memory displays in the next week.

> Then for overlay you can get a bitmap nd resize it.

Not sure what you mean. You mean the gauge scale?

As for the first question; by image, I mean software image. There is one compiled for openvario (cubieboard) for 7" displays. But my brother has a 5.7" 640x480 Texim display. And the GUI doesnt "fit":



As for android; thats not an option I think. The Openvario hardware was only recently built and the cockpit is being re-designed around it (with stick controller etc). The display is fully sunlight readable, unlike any android device Im aware off. Or did you mean running android version on the cubieboard/OV ? I dont know if thats possible, the sensorboard (vario.d / sensor.d) would need to work, those will be the primary source for the instruments.

But yeah; if there is no telemetry out, currently not even vario out it seems? then this is a dead end :(.

Edited by - Vertigo on 01/10/2017 14:49:01
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Coolwind
Moderator

Italy
8957 Posts

Posted - 01/10/2017 :  23:39:33  Show Profile  Visit Coolwind's Homepage  Reply with Quote
Ah sorry I misunderstood that.
Strange, because lk does fit automatically on any resolution with very few exceptions.
The 640x480 is standard and fully supported.
Look inside runtime.log and see what resolution is actually detected. let us know!
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brunotl
Pterodattilo

France
1090 Posts

Posted - 02/10/2017 :  10:08:28  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
on open Vario Image, screen size is hardcoded, i try to buil new image before end of week.
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Vertigo
Pulcino

Belgium
5 Posts

Posted - 02/10/2017 :  10:20:16  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by brunotl

on open Vario Image, screen size is hardcoded, i try to buil new image before end of week.



I suppose orientation is hardcoded as well then? If so, can you configure it for portrait?
thanks a lot.

@Coolwind, I received your message, I'll try contacting you this evening.
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Vertigo
Pulcino

Belgium
5 Posts

Posted - 02/10/2017 :  10:40:09  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Also, a question about keyboard control. My brother's openvario doesnt have a touch screen (sunlight readable was more important than anything), but has both the Stefly remote stick and stefly rotary module. These work like (programmable) keyboard inputs, I can make them send any key I want (the stick controller can also function as a crude mouse). But I havent yet found how I can map or assign keystrokes in LK8000 or what the default key mapping is. Can you even navigate menu's with a keyboard?

Edited by - Vertigo on 02/10/2017 10:41:30
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Coolwind
Moderator

Italy
8957 Posts

Posted - 02/10/2017 :  15:46:34  Show Profile  Visit Coolwind's Homepage  Reply with Quote
You can force LK to run at any resolution on startup by passing -x=1234 -y=1234 values. 1234 being the values you want for horizontal and vertical resolution.
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Vertigo
Pulcino

Belgium
5 Posts

Posted - 02/10/2017 :  16:09:01  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Coolwind

You can force LK to run at any resolution on startup by passing -x=1234 -y=1234 values. 1234 being the values you want for horizontal and vertical resolution.



I already tried that, but those values appear to be ignored by the OpenVario build, which matches with Bruno's statement that the resolution is hardcoded in this image, for some reason.
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Victor 8
Pulcino

Germany
19 Posts

Posted - 10/11/2017 :  08:18:30  Show Profile  Visit Victor 8's Homepage  Reply with Quote
You can edit the file
\opt\bin\ovmenu-ng-lk8000.sh at line 269 as follows:

/LK8000/LK8000-OPENVARIO -x=640 -y=480
This worked for me with image 17119.
Best regards

Dieter
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pierfax
Pterodattilo

Italy
1030 Posts

Posted - 15/11/2018 :  13:32:36  Show Profile  Visit pierfax's Homepage  Reply with Quote
any news about OPEN vario and LK8000 ?

Pier Fassina
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