GPS Receiver

Build and program your own GPS receiver. Contents

Overview Challenge 1: Understanding GPS Data o Collecting our Components o Connecting the !eceiver to our Computer o Setting up a "erminal #mulator o Understanding GPS Data Challenge $: Controlling the !eceiver o Collecting our Components o Connecting the !eceiver to the Chip o Displaying !aw GPS Data on the %CD o Parsing the !aw GPS Data o Selecting GPS Output Streams o Displaying Speci&ic GPS Data #lements o 'ormatting GPS Data on "wo %ines

Overview (n this pro)ect* you will +uild an inter&ace to the Glo+alSat #,-./01 GPS !eceiver. "he #,-./01 is a $/-channel GPS receiver +ased on the Si!' Star((( chipset* and it &eatures a +uilt-in antenna. 1&ter +uilding the inter&ace circuit* you will learn how to customi2e it to display more than 3/ standard GPS data types* including latitude* longitude* altitude* velocity* heading* time* and date.

Figure 1. GlobalSat EM-406 GPS Receiver.

%i4e most GPS receivers* the #,-./01 con&orms to the standard 5#,1 Si!' inter&ace protocol* so the code you write in this pro)ect will wor4 with most other GPS receivers. C!allenge 1" #n$erstan$ing GPS %ata (n order to +etter understand the GPS data &ormat* you will &irst connect your GPS receiver directly to your computer through the ,achine Science programming ca+le. GPS receivers are capa+le o& transmitting a large volume o& data* which can +e di&&icult to see on a small %CD screen. By viewing the data on a computer monitor* you will +e a+le to learn a+out the di&&erent GPS data streams and data types.

Collecting &our Co'(onents (n order to connect your GPS receiver to your computer* you will need the &ollowing components: Part 1 B C D )uantit* 1 1 1 1 %escri(tion Glo+alSat #,-./01 GPS #ngine Connector harness 60-pin7 Bent header 60-pin7 Bent header 6.-pin7

Connecting t!e Receiver to &our Co'(uter Using 'igure $ as a guide* connect the GPS receiver to the programming +oard* which will lin4 it to your computer. "o avoid inte&ering with the microcontroller* +uild this circuit in an area o& the +oard away &rom the chip. 'igure 3 shows one way to lay out this circuit. "o orient the GPS unit properly* note the position o& the grey wire in 'igure 3.

Figure +. Connecting t!e GPS receiver to t!e co'(uter ,sc!e'atic-.

Figure .. Connecting t!e GPS receiver to t!e co'(uter ,(!oto-.

Setting u( a /er'inal E'ulator Connected as shown in 'igure $* the GPS receiver will send satellite data to your computer8s CO, port. "o view the data* you will need to run a terminal emulator--a program that emulates an older-style te9t-only computer terminal. Depending on your operating system* your computer may already have a terminal emulator* or you may need to download one &rom the (nternet:

:indows 6;ista7: "era"erm Pro :e+ is availa+le here: http:<<www.ayera.com<teraterm< :indows 6pre-;ista7: =yper"erminal is availa+le in the Start menu under Programs > 1ccessories > Communication.

,acintosh: ?"erm comes pre-installed with OS@ and a+ove. %inu9: CuteCom can +e &ound at: http:<<cutecom.source&orge.net<

"he instructions in this section are &or installing "era"erm Pro :e+* +ut should give you enough in&ormation to help you set up any o& the other programs listed a+ove. 1. Determine which CO, port your ,achine Science programming +oard is using +y viewing the Options menu in the Programming :indow. $. Download "era"erm Pro :e+ &rom http:<<www.ayera.com<teraterm< 3. Un2ip the .2ip &ile to a convenient location on your hard drive. .. Open the &older and dou+le clic4 on the &ile ttermpro.e9e. ou will see a dialog +o9 li4e the one shown in 'igure ..

Figure 4. 0ew connection $ialog bo1.

A. Select Serial and the CO, port +eing used +y your ,achine Science programming +oard. ou should now see unintelligi+le characters scrolling across and down your screen as shown in 'igure A.

Figure 2. /era/er' 3in$ow.

0. "he reason you see a )um+le o& characters is that you need to set the +aud rate in +aud rate in your terminal program to match the +aud rate o& the GPS receiver. Select BSerial port...C &rom the Setup menu. ou should now see a dialog +o9 li4e the one shown in 'igure 0.

Figure 6. Serial (ort setu(.

D. Select .E// &or the +aud rate. ou should now see lines o& GPS data +eing updated every second on your screen* as shown in 'igure D.

Figure 4. /er'inal e'ulator. #n$erstan$ing GPS %ata GPS receivers are capa+le o& transmitting eight types o& GPS data streams* shown +elow: O(tion GG1 G%% GS1 GS; ,SS !,C ;"G ?D1 %escri(tion "ime and position data %atitude* longitude* time and status GPS receiver operating mode* satellites used in the position solution* and DOP values "he num+er o& GPS satellites in view* satellite (D num+ers* elevation* and a2imuth Signal-to-noise ratio* signal strength* &reFuency* and +it rate &rom a radio-+eacon* receiver "ime* date* position* course and speed data Course and speed in&ormation relative to the ground Pulse Per Second 6PPS7 timing message

!e&erring to 'igure D 6or your terminal emulator* i& it is still running on your computer7* you should see &our types o& GPS data streams: GG1* !,C* GS;* and GS1. "hese are the &our de&ault data streams that are transmitted +y the GPS receiver. #ach stream is transmitted on a single line. 1n e9ample o& a GG1 data stream is shown +elow. GGPGG1*101$$H..ED*3D$3.$.DA*5*1$1AE.3.10*:*1*/D*1./*H./*,* * * *////I1E

#ach GPS data stream can have up to si9teen GPS data &ields. "he data &ields are separated +y commas* as shown in the sample a+ove. "a+le 3 +elow details the data &ields contained in the GG1 data stream. 0a'e ,essage (D U"C "ime %atitude 5<S (ndicator %ongitude #<: (ndicator Position 'i9 (ndicator Satellites Used =DOP ,S% 1ltitude Units Geoid Separation Units 1ge o& Di&&. Corr. Di&&. !e&. Station (D Chec4sum KC!>K%'> E1a'(le GGPGG1 101$$H..ED 3D$3.$.D. 5 1$1AE.3.10 : 1 /D 1./ H./ , %escri(tion GG1 protocol header hhmmss.sss 6hJhours* mJminutes* sJseconds7 ddm.mmmm 6dJdegrees* mJminutes7 5Jnorth or SJsouth dddmm.mmmm 6dJdegrees* mJminutes7 #Jeast or :Jwest /J&i9 not valid* 1*$* or 3J &i9 valid !ange / to 1$ =ori2ontal dilution o& precision ,eters a+ove sea level ,eters ,eters ,eters Seconds Chec4 &or valid data Carriage return and line &eed indicating end o& message

//// I1E

DonLt worry a+out understanding all o& the GPS data types shown in this ta+le. "he ones o& greatest interest to you will pro+a+ly +e time* latitude* longitude* and altitude. (n the ne9t challenge* you will learn how to display this in&ormation in a meaning&ul way on your %CD. C!allenge +" Controlling t!e Receiver (n this challenge* you will construct a circuit connecting the #,-./01 to the 1tmega Board and program the chip to display reada+le GPS data on the %CD.

Collecting &our Co'(onents (n order to +uild the circuit* you will need the &ollowing components: Part 1 B C D )uantit* 1 1 1 1 %escri(tion Glo+alSat #,-./01 Connector harness 60-pin7 Bent header 60-pin7 1tmega Board

Connecting t!e Receiver to t!e C!i( Using the schematic in 'igure E as a guide* add your components to the +read+oard. 'igure H shows an e9ample o& a completed +oard &or this circuit. Since the leads on the GPS receiver are not la+eled* you may need to e9amine the picture to ma4e the correct connections.

Figure 5. Connecting GPS receiver to t!e t'ega165 ,sc!e'atic-.

Figure 6. Connecting GPS receiver to t!e t'ega165 ,(!oto-. %is(la*ing Raw GPS %ata on t!e 7C% "he &ollowing code will allow you to +egin receiving data &rom your GPS receiver and displaying the in&ormation on your %CD. (n this &irst step* you will not +e parsing the data &rom your receiver. 1s you learned in the previous challenge* GPS receivers can produce a lot o& data* so your tiny %CD will Fuic4ly &ill up with a lot o& num+ers* letters* and sym+ols. :hile you will not +e a+le to read the data* it will indicate that your circuit is wor4ing properly. 6(t also loo4s 4ind o& coolM7 (,PO!"15" 5O"#: "he GPS receiver and the ,achine Science programming +oard +oth use the same pin &or transmitting data to the 1tmega10E. ou must disconnect the wire lin4ing the GPS pin . to the Port D/ o& the 1tmega10E +e&ore downloading your code. ou can immediately reconnect this wire once the code has +een downloaded. 1. #include "mxapi.h" $. #include "usart.h" 3. #include "lcd.h"

4.
A. int main (void) 0. { D. char gps_characters; //Declare a variable

storing !"# characters

or

usart_init(4$%%); //&nitiali'e the (#)*+ to 4$%% baud H. lcd_init(); //&nitiali'e ,our -.D 1/. /hile(0110) //#tart an in inite loop 11. { 1$. gps_characters1usart_read(); //*ead each character rom the !"# 13. lcd_character(gps_characters); //Displa, each character on the -.D 1.. 2 1A. 2
E. Parsing t!e Raw GPS %ata (n order to +etter view the data on your %CD* you will need to parse the raw data stream &rom the GPS receiver. (n 'igure D* you can see that the terminal emulator on your computer displays each data stream on a separate line. (t does this +y chec4ing &or a carriage return and line &eed* the 1SC(( characters 13 and 1/* at the end o& each data stream 6as shown in the last rows o& "a+le 37. :hen the terminal emulator &inds these two characters* it starts the ne9t data set on a new line* ma4ing the data much easier to read than i& it were simply a continuous stream. "he microcontroller has no +uilt-in a+ility to parse data. 1s you may have seen in the previous e9ercise* the carriage return and line &eeds at the end o& each data string are displayed on the %CD as more data. 1s a result* using the previous code* the GPS data was displayed on the %CD in long stream without easily discerni+le +rea4s. "he ne9t code sample introduces +rea4s a&ter each line o& data* )ust li4e the terminal emulator did. (t chec4s continuously &or a line &eed character 61SC(( 1/7* and when it gets one* it repositions %CDLs cursor at the start o& the &irst line +e&ore displaying the ne9t character. "he data on the display remains somewhat di&&icult to read* since all o& the di&&erent GPS data streams are displayed* +ut it is easier to pic4 out patterns in the data. 1. #include "mxapi.h" $. #include "usart.h" 3. #include "lcd.h"

4.
A. int main (void)

3. {
D.

char gps_characters; //Declare a variable to store !"# characters E. usart_init(4$%%); //&nitiali'e the (#)*+ to 4$%% baud H. lcd_init(); //&nitiali'e the -.D 1/. /hile(0110) //#tart an in inite loop

11. 1$.

gps_characters 1 usart_read(); //*ead each character rom the !"# 13. lcd_character(gps_characters); //Displa, each character on the -.D 1.. i (gps_characters 11 0%) //.hec4 or the line eed ()#.&& 0%) character 1A. { 10. lcd_instruction( 5&*#+_-&67 ); //8ove the cursor to the irst line 1D. 2 1E. 2 1H. 2
Programming Challenge ,odi&y your code so that each line new line scrolls up in the same way that it displays on your computer monitor. "his is di&&icultM Selecting GPS Out(ut Strea's "he &ollowing code turns on and o&& speci&ic GPS data streams. !emem+er that the receiver is capa+le o& transmitting any or all o& the eight di&&erent GPS streams listed in "a+le $ at a rate o& up to 1// =ert2 each. (n order to display the data on the %CD* it is +est to turn on only one stream and turn o&& the rest* using a &unction called gpsNsetdata. "his &unction ta4es two arguments: the &irst argument selects the GPS stream that you want to turn on or o&&O the second argument determines how &reFuently 6in =ert27 the GPS receiver transmits the stream. 1 value o& / turns o&& the stream entirely* while a value o& 1 to HH speci&ies a transmission &reFuency o& 1 to HH times a second. 1. $. 3. ..

9.
E.

#include #include #include #include

"mxapi.h" "usart.h" "lcd.h" "gps.h"

0. int main (void)

:. { char gps_characters; //Declare a variable to store !"# character H. usart_init(4$%%); //&nitiali'e the (#)*+ to 4$%% baud 1/. lcd_init(); //&nitiali'e the -.D 11. dela,_ms(;%%%); //Dela, /hile !"# receiver /arms up 0;.

/< +urn o all 687) ormats except the one ,ou /ant to see. </ 1.. gps_setdata(687)_!!)= 0); //+urn on !!) ormat at 0 >ert' 1A. gps_setdata(687)_!#)= %); //+urn o !#) ormat (% >ert') 10. gps_setdata(687)_!#?= %); //+urn o !#? ormat (% >ert') 1D. gps_setdata(687)_*8.= %); //+urn o *8. ormat (% >ert') 1E. /hile(0110) //*un the ollo/ing code in an in inite loop 1H. { $/. gps_characters 1 usart_read(); //*ead each character rom the !"# $1. lcd_character(gps_characters); //Displa, each character on the -.D $$. i (gps_characters110%) //.hec4 or the line eed ()#.&& 0%) character $3. { $.. lcd_instruction(5&*#+_-&67); //8ove the cursor to the irst line $A. 2 $0. 2 $D. 2
13.

ou do not need to select a GPS data stream every time you program the device. Once a stream is selected* the receiver displays only that stream until the gpsNsetdata &unction is called again. Programming Challenge "ry changing the GPS stream displayed +y your GPS receiver. "ry changing how o&ten the GPS stream is updated. %is(la*ing S(eci8ic GPS %ata Ele'ents :ith the &ollowing code* you can display speci&ic GPS data elements* such as time* latitude* longitude* and altitude* &rom the selected data stream. "o simpli&y matters* every GPS data stream is parsed in the +ac4ground +y a &unction within the Bgps.hC header &ile. "he parsed data is stored in an array called gpsNdataP Q* with each value in the array representing a di&&erent GPS data element. ou can re&erence any element in the gpsNdataP Q array in your code.

'or e9ample* with the GG1 data stream* selected a line o& data might loo4 li4e this: GGPGG1*101$$H..ED*3D$3.$.DA*5*1$1AE.3.10*:*1*/D*1./*H./*,* * * *////I1E (n this instance* gpsNdataP/Q would eFual GGPGG1* gpsNdataP1Q would eFual 101$$H..ED* gpsNdataP$Q would eFual 5* and so on. "he &ollowing ta+le shows the gpsNdataPQ values &or some o& the more use&ul data elements in the GG1* !,C* and ;"C data streams. GPS %ata E1a'(le ,essage (D GGPGG1 %atitude 3D$3.$.DA #nits Degrees and minutes For'at ddmm.mmmm GG / $ R9C / 3 :/G /

5orth<South 5 %ongitude 1$1AE.3.10 Degrees dddmm.mmmm and minutes #ast<:est : 1ltitude H./ ,eters Speed /.$ Rilometers < hour Course 3/H.0$ Degrees "ime 101$$H..ED hhmmss.ss Date 1$/AHE ddmmyy Satellites /D / to 1$

3 .

. A

A H

0 D E 1 H 1

1 D

"his program uses the chipLs internal interrupts* which allow the microcontroller to e9ecute multiple tas4s at the same time. 1 &ew new statements are added to ena+le and initiali2e the interrupts. 1. $. 3. ..

#include #include #include #include

"mxapi.h" "usart.h" "lcd.h" "gps.h"

9.
0. int main (void)

:. {
E.

usart_init(4$%%); 4$%% baud

//&nitiali'e the (#)*+ to

usart_interrupt_rx(76)@-7); //7nable interrupts or the (#)*+ 1/. sei(); //+urn on interrupts 11. lcd_init(); //&nitiali'e the -.D 0;. 13. /hile(0110) //#tart an in inite loop 1.. { 1A. lcd_instruction(5&*#+_-&67); //8ove the cursor to the irst line 10. lcd_instruction(.-7)*); //.lear the -.D 1D. lcd_text(gps_dataA;B); //Displa, the Crd value in the selected data stream 1E. 2 1H. 2
H. For'atting GPS %ata on /wo 7ines "he last code e9ample in this pro)ect will display and &ormat multiple GPS data &ields on +oth lines o& the %CD. "he added &unctions in this e9ample should +e &amiliar to you &rom other ,achine Science pro)ects. 1. $. 3. ..

9.
E.

#include #include #include #include

"mxapi.h" "usart.h" "lcd.h" "gps.h"

0. int main (void)

:. { usart_init(4$%%); //&nitiali'e the )tmega03$s (#)*+ to 4$%% baud H. usart_interrupt_rx(76)@-7); //7nable interrupts or the (#)*+ 1/. sei(); //+urn on interrupts 11. lcd_init(); //&nitiali'e ,our -.D 0;. 13. /hile(0) //*un the ollo/ing code in an in inite loop 1.. { 1A. lcd_instruction(5&*#+_-&67); //8ove the cursor to the irst line 10. lcd_text(gps_dataA;B); //Displa, value o third data ield 1D. lcd_character(DED); //Displa, DED character

1E.

0F.
$/.

lcd_text(gps_dataACB); ourth data ield

//Displa, value o

lcd_instruction(#7.G6D_-&67); //8ove the curse to the irst line $1. lcd_text(gps_dataA4B); //Displa, value o i th data ield $$. lcd_character(DED); //Displa, DED character $3. lcd_text(gps_dataA9B); //Displa, value o sixth data ield $.. lcd@lan4-ine(); //#end blan4s to clear the lines $A. 2 $0. 2