Sp36821.2 Firmware Download
Martta Borromeo
Download all parts of the following given firmware/software and then extract any one of them you will get the folder. Now copy the files to USB. for More Detail about the download process watch the video Click Here
The Rate in the table is the rate at which the MCB STATUS led will blink which is handy to visually check. It is best to count the time of 4 or more blinks then divide by that number for more accuracy. If the blink rate is found to be other than in the table it is possible you have a beta or non-approved version.
DateCode was started around version v35 and shows up in /diagnostics topic along with the version. DateCode is in YYYYMMDD format for releases and YYMMDD for beta releases. It is the date of that particular version. If you have a version that the date is before the date in the table it is likely a Beta or unofficial release. DateCode did not start till around v35.
Sometimes you may need to get a firmware upgrade for your Motor Controller board.This operation is less frequently needed and in general we advise customers to do the firmware upgrade only if they run into an issue we know we have addressed in an update.
We upgrade firmware using a tool that will by default install the latest released firmware. If an older fimware version is needed, it will require manual version entry seen in the Version column of the table below.
There are now two ways to prevent the ROS motor_node from constant queries and commands to the MCB board over the serial connection.
For a standard Magni configuration it is best to completely stop the Ubiquity Software and then do the firmware upgrade.As of our motor_node available as of April 2021 you can also do a new method that does not shutdown everything but only impacts the motor node by a disable or relinquish of the serial port to allow direct serial control which in this case would be for the firmware upgrade. We suggest for a standard Magni use the full system stop.
As of about April 2021 users who have very current ubiquity_motor repository code are able to do a softer stop of the motor node and then later re-enable the motor node. We suggest use of the prior method but show this to be complete.
The name above is an example file for released v40 firmware. For beta firmware if you are told to use a given version then you may not be able to request a beta version so you would have to check our please visit OUR REPOSITORY and navigate into the firmware folder.
Starting with version 5.2 the large text for the board revisions are printed in bright white silkscreen on the left edge of the board. This page will not describe physical differences to identify the boards because the board revision is clearly marked. Below shows rev 5.2 and rev 5.3 left edge markings.
All MCB boards have the revision on the left edge of the PCB but bright white silkscreen was only started to be used as of rev 5.2. Below is an enhanced picture of a rev 5.1 board to better show what is there. These markings are very low contrast but are present on all MCB boards.
There were several versions of switch boards from pre-production through first shipment of units using the rev 4.9 MCB. The revision number only started to appear on rev 2.0 switch boards shipped at the time of the rev 5.0 MCB boards.
In order to support user needs to place the main power switch and/or the ESTOP switch in a location that is on their robot cover or perhaps is more accessible due to the customer physical additions we developed the revision 2.2 switch board seen below
The revision 2.2 board has P202 seen in the back right that is wired in series with the red keycap ESTOP switch on the board. Our plan is we will ship the connector that mates with P202 that has one piece of wire sorted to itself. In this way P202 is shorted from the factory and a user may remove this jack and put two wires going to his own ESTOP switch for his own robot needs.
On the back left you see P201 which is wired in parallel with the black main power switch. The thought here is users who want a remote main power switch connect a connector to two wires and then leave the installed main power switch OFF or pushed in. The customer switch will then be the power switch.
For either ESTOP switch or Main Power switch we ship one jumper that can be modified but sometimes for replacment boards you may want the part numbers for the cable. Ideally a crimp tool would be used for the pins but it is possible to manually solder onto pins although that is time consuming and a little tricky to wrap the crimp metal around the wire so the pin will fit in the housing.
In early prototypes there were switch boards with large white switches that had green leds in them to show the state. These should not be in production units unless some sort of replacement had to happen early in first production units.
The firmware on the MCB is critical to have up to date to avoid prior bugs from showing up when a different MCB is put in the robot. The MCB board may be shipped with old firmware so all replacements of the MCB should be followed by checking and updating MCB firmware after the replacement board is running. Refer to Upgrading MCB Firmware to check and upgrade if needed.
One common use is that users can add more serial ports using USB to serial ports. Another common usage is to plug into a USB port for a device such as a Lidar or other expansion IO device. Keep in mind the power supplied by USB ports varies and in a general way may be lower than your device requires so see the power jacks we discuss next rather than expect the USB to supply currents much over 100mA in a reliable way.
We prefer that the user use the Auxilary 12V and 5V power first because they are separate from the robot main supplies.The auxilary supplies should be able to supply 12V at 7 amps and 5V at 7 amps. High transient loads may cause them to briefly sag.
Located at the bottom of the MCB board as the board is in the Magni robot there are two 5V connectors that you may plug in a standard USB A cable to get 5V. There is no USB data at all, just power. If you need full USB connectors you need to plug into up to 4 USB jacks on the Raspberry Pi computer attached to the MCB.
The 8-pin Aux Motor Board jack allows for high current full unregulated battery voltage usage. We recommend you contact us if you wish to use this jack. The jack was put on this board for an expansion jack for internal. See the P1001 jack description in the To see this comprehensive document please see Motor Controller Board Pinouts
The 35Amp main battery fuse is just above the USB power jacks and supplies protection for the system. It can be a different color. For almost ALL our customers this fuse really could be 10 or 15 amps so you may wish to use a lower current fuse for added safety especially if you are going to be changing around boards and so on frequently.
We do see customers drop things on the still plugged in electronics (WHICH WE TRY TO WARN THEM NOT TO DO) and a 35 amp fuse can lead to great damage. For most all our customers this fuse does not have to be over 15 amps.
A row of 5 leds can be seen to the lower left as you look at the MCB board. In boards prior to rev 5.0 they were vertical but as of rev 5.0 and later they have been horizontal. Here is a table showing the meaning of these leds from left to right.
When the main power is active there is an led on the far left and lower part of the board that will be on. This indicates the main power is active and the board is powered up. If this is on but the black power button is off there may be a problem with our ECB, Electronic Circuit Breaker circuit.
Starting with MCB version 5.2 we have an onboard 3.3V power regulator so that the 3.3V circuits do not have to use the 3.3V power from the Raspberry Pi. This is both a reliability enhancement as well as a way to have more 3.3V power even when a user uses a different CPU than the Raspberry Pi. We do not directly support usage of this supply for user circuits yet.
Normally the SOUT led will blink very fast right after power up of the robot. The SIN led will take a minute or more to blink because the Raspberry Pi has to initialize the Linux operating system before it gets to starting to communicate with the MCB. Unfortunately the led is a bit hard to see but be aware that until this SIN led starts to blink very fast the robot will not respond to any sort of command. So the leds is valuable to tell when the robot is ready to go.
We are working on small I2C based expansion board designs to be available in 2022 that will plug into the MCB board and still allow the OLED display to then plug in on top of that board to form a stack of boards powered by the MCB P2 jack.
Another board is only in low volume 1st prototype form that would offer more IO at higher currents some with relay driver ability. This board also would have 4 0-3V analog ADC inputs as well as 2 0-3V DAC outputs both of which are meant for only slow or static analog signal usage. It would have 2 switches and some leds and an expansion I2C jack for ease of customer I2C connections.
Starting with our SwitchBoard rev 2.2 it is now possible to include either your own ESTOP switch on your chassis cover or shell. Besides that though here we describe using low cost RF control units that offer a latched set of relay connections so you can install an RF safety switch to turn off Magni Power remotely if you require that for your own safety needs.
I suggest one particular RF control unit that by adding a connector for 12V power and a connector to plug into our Switch board jack called P202 you can have such an RF controlled power switch. Note that this could also be done on our rev 2.2 switch board to have the main power-on also with RF if you wish that feature.
We find the one that looks like this picture and has a dual button control unit allows for latched or momentary power modes. You can find this style on EBay using the search string of DC12V 1CH Relay Receiver RF Transmitter Remote Control Switch
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