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Configuration

Connection

To configure the SentiBoard, connect to the CONFIG port (/dev/ttySentiboard00 in Linux). Any VT100 (or VT102) capable terminal should work - on Linux use for example:

minicom -con -D /dev/ttySentiboard00

On Windows, Tera Term is recommended. On Windows just try both of the SentiBoard's COM ports - one will likely give binary (unreadable) data and the other will give a command-line interface. You might need to write something and press the Enter-key before any text is shown.

Sensor names

The sensor names are as printed on the SentiBoard. Both the full name (written in lower case characters without spaces) or the short name given on Layout and Connectors page can be used

Command legend

  • Pipe (|) marks a choice of operators - a|b = either a or b
  • Lower case options are literal commands. on|off = either the text "on" or the text "off"
  • Upper case options are variables - NUM means a number, not the text "NUM"
  • Square brackets ([]) marks optional parameters. A [B [C]] means that the variable A must be provided, B might be provided, and if B is provided C might be provided as well.

The SentiBoard implements a simple menu system. There are currently three different menus: the main menu, the sensor config menu and the trigger menu. To exit a menu, perform the "x" command. Note that commands from the main menu can not be used in the submenus and vice versa.

  • config SENSORNAME|TRIGGERNAME Enter the sensor/trigger configuration submenu. See section below for details. This is likely what you want to do.
  • reload (experimental) reload the sensor configuration without resetting the board.
  • save save the current configuration to non-volatile memory, making it available if the SentiBoard is restarted.
  • flash load restore the configuration currently saved to NVM
  • reset restart the SentiBoard.
  • power on|off SENSORNAME sets the state of the power output of the specified port and stores the value in the current configuration.
  • enable SENSORNAME sets that the SentiBoard should parse data from the sensor and poll for new data (if polling is enabled). This also changes the configuration, but does not store it in NVM.
  • disable SENSORNAME sets that the SentiBoard should neither parse data from the sensor nor poll for new data (even if polling is enabled). This also changes the configuration, but does not store it in NVM.
  • debug on|off SENSORNAME if enabled, data received from a sensor is sent as a human readable format to the console instead of in a binary format to the sensor output.
  • version prints version and build info

Sensor configuration

Usage: config SENSORNAME Goes to a submenu where sensors can be configured. To save the configuration use the save command in the main menu. While in this menu, the following commands are valid:

  • e true|false enables or disables data from the sensor
  • p true|false enables or disables power output on the sensor port
  • s [BYTES] sets up to four bytes as the current sync_id (zero bytes disables sync_id). The sync_id is the starting byte(s) of each data package from the sensor.
  • es [BYTES] sets up to four bytes as the current end-sync_id. To use this option add a static length that is larger than the longest possible package. This is used for example with ASCII text-format, and 0x0A ('\n') as the end_sync. When using this, set the length to 0.
  • l [NUM|FORMAT] set the length of the data to receive in each sensor message. This is either a static value, or a place in the package where the length of the data is, optionally plus an additional amount, specified by FORMAT1.
  • b NUM sets the baudrate to the number NUM. Range 0-0xFFFF
  • i off|rising|falling|toggle [only] sets the Input Capture to trigger off or on rising, falling, or either flank. If the optional only flag is set, a zero-data message is sent when the TOV is received at the interrupt pin.
  • w MIN [MAX] makes the SentiBoard trigger a warning if the rate is less than MIN and optionally more than MAX. Set to [0 65535] to (effectively) disable.
  • r IC|RATE sets the SentiBoard to poll for data, either when the IC triggers or at a specified rate
  • d DATA sets the data that is used to poll the sensor. DATA is parsed as a hexadecimal value. Note that the SentiBoard must be restarted after changing this.
  • ? Print the current configuration of the selected sensor.
  • x Exit and return to the main menu. Saving must be done in the main menu.

Trigger configuration

Usage: config TRIGGERNAME Goes to a submenu where sensors can be configured. To save the configuration use the save command in the main menu. TRIGGERNAME is one of: oc1, oc2, oc3, oc4 or oc7. See the Trigger page for a list of which OC is connected to which port or just look in the trigger submenu. While in this menu, the following commands are valid:

  • e true|false enables or disables data from the sensor
  • s SENSORNAME selects port's IC in which to synchronize with. Typically where your GPS is connected.
  • r FLOAT the rate in which the sensor is triggered in Hz
  • p PERIOD the period the flank should be active, 0-100 given in percent. 0% and 100% is heavily discouraged to use as 0% is never active and 100% is always active.
  • ? Print the current configuration of the selected sensor.
  • x Exit and return to the main menu. Saving must be done in the main menu.

  1. FORMAT is a format that parses where in the sensor message the size of the message is given. FORMAT is specified as [<|>]SIZE @ PLACE [+ EXTRA], where the optional < and > represents little and big endian respectively; SIZE is one character in "bhjiBHJI", where the letter in BHJI specifies 1-4 bytes respectively and the case specifies the signedness; PLACE is how many bytes into the package the length is specified; and EXTRA is the number of extra bytes to read in addition to the specified length. An example is the uBlox binary format <H @ 4 + 8 where the length is specified as a little endian, 2 byte unsigned integer, four bytes into the package (after the sync id and package type specification). In addition, 8 additional bytes (sync id - 2 bytes, package specification - 2 bytes, length - 2 bytes, checksum - 2 bytes) are needed to receive the whole package. ↩