GPS Connector for idaq

Transcription

1 GPS Connector for idaq User guide Rev 03 April 2015

2 GPS Connector for idaq User Guide 2

3 TOOLS for SMART MINDS Worldwide technical support and product information: TOOLS for SMART MINDS Corporate headquarter Via Padania, 16 Castel Mella Brescia (Italy) Copyright 2013 TOOLS for SMART MINDS. All rights reserved. 3

4 GPS Connector for idaq User Guide SUMMARY Introduction... 5 Requirements... 5 Minimum hardware requirements... 5 Minimum software requirements... 5 Installation... 5 Features of GPS Connector for idaq... 6 User interface... 7 Management of a GPS device... 8 Creating a new GPS... 8 NMEA Serial GPS... 8 Simulated GPS... 9 Opening, closing and editing a GPS device Acquiring GPS data Application options Real time position on a map Help palette Editing communication parameters Appendix A: icon and symbol legend Useful links

5 TOOLS for SMART MINDS INTRODUCTION GPS Connector is an external component for idaq. GPS Connector acquires data from GPS devices and sent them to idaq. It supports different GPS devices using NMEA standard and it permits to view GPS data in a dedicated map. REQUIREMENTS In this section requirements for using GPS Connector for idaq are listed. MINIMUM HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS Ensure that your computer fulfills the following hardware requirements: Dual core CPU or higher. 2 GB RAM (4 GB is strongly recommended). Display resolution 1024x768 or higher. 200 MB free space on disk required by GPS connector for idaq Mouse or other pointing device. MINIMUM SOFTWARE REQU IREMENTS Ensure that your computer fulfills the following software requirements: OS: Windows 7 or higher..net Framework 2.0 or higher. idaq. You can download an evaluation copy of idaq at INSTALLATION Download GPS Connector for idaq from and follow the installation steps. Once installation is completed, you can run GPS Connector for idaq through the desktop shortcut. All files are installed into <program files>\tools for SMART MINDS\GPS Connector for idaq folder. 5

6 GPS Connector for idaq User Guide FEATURES OF GPS CONNECTOR FOR IDAQ GPS Connector is a simple external component that is able to acquire GPS data from several GPS devices. Acquired location packages are sent to idaq which allows their visualization and saving. GPS Connector for idaq is an indispensable tool if you want to acquire and save GPS data with idaq. GPS Connector for idaq has the following features: Includes an easy-to-use front panel Quick setup Supports several GPS devices using NMEA standards Tray minimization File-based GPS management Provides a simulated GPS device for testing Map visualization 6

7 TOOLS for SMART MINDS USER INTERFACE GPS Connector for idaq has a simple and intuitive interface that permits users to access to all its functions in ease. The following image shows the main window of GPS Connector for idaq. FIGURE 1 GPS CONNECTOR FOR IDAQ, USER INTERFACE The element available in the main window are: 1. Command panel. It contains the main commands the user can utilize to access the main features of GPS Connector for idaq. The command panel is composed of the following buttons: a. New GPS. It permits to define a new GPS. When a new GPS is created, the application creates a new file (*.gps). b. Close GPS. It closes GPS in use. c. Open GPS. It permits to open an existing GPS file. d. Edit GPS. It permits to edit the GPS in use. Editor depends on the type of GPS in use. e. Show map. It shows a map with the last position received from the GPS in use. This map is continuously updated. f. Options. It permits to set application settings. g. Help Palette. It allows you to edit credentials and view user guide. h. Exit. It closes the application. 2. GPS connection status. If green, the application is connected to the GPS device. If it is red, the application is not connected with any GPS device. 3. idaq connection status. If green, the application is connected with idaq. If it is red, connection with idaq is not established. 4. Location. It shows the last GPS data received from the GPS in use. 5. Description. It contains the last GPS description of the GPS in use. 6. GPS file name. It is the file name of the GPS in use. 7

8 GPS Connector for idaq User Guide MANAGEMENT OF A GPS DEVICE GPS Connector for idaq performs a file-based management of GPS device. It means that GPS devices are saved in.gps file and you can load an existing GPS device in ease saving time. CREATING A NEW GPS As reported in the following figure, click on New GPS button to create a new GPS file. FIGURE 2 - CREATING A NEW GPS DEVICE GPS Connector for idaq allows selection of Simulated GPS and NMEA Serial GPS. View the following sections for more details about GPS device types. After selection of GPS type, a file name for the new GPS file must be specified. NMEA SERI AL GPS NMEA Serial GPS are devices that send GPS data through a RS232 port in the standard NMEA format. Bluetooth GPS can be also used; to connect a Bluetooth GPS a serial port (COM) must be active in order to acquire GPS data. A smartphone with an integrated GPS can be used as Bluetooth GPS to send data to GPS Connector for idaq. S E T T I N G S NMEA Serial GPS requires a setup before acquiring data. As reported in the following figure, use the Bluetooth GPS editor to set up your Bluetooth GPS. 8

9 TOOLS for SMART MINDS FIGURE 3 - BLUETOOTH GPS EDITOR Bluetooth GPS editor is composed of the following elements: 1. Brand name. 2. Model name 3. Name. 4. Serial port parameters. The most common used parameters are preset as default parameters. Edit them if your serial port has different configuration parameters. o Serial port. It is the serial port used to acquire data from the GPS device. o Baud rate. It is the transmission rate. Default value is o Data bits. It is the number of bits in the incoming data. Default value is 8. o Stop bits. It specifies the number of stop bits used to indicate the end of a frame. Default value is 1. o Parity. It specifies the parity used for every frame to be transmitted or received. o Flow Control. It is the type of control used by the transfer mechanism. By default, this parameters transfer mechanism is disabled. When a new Bluetooth GPS is created, Bluetooth GPS editor is automatically shown. Otherwise, if the Bluetooth GPS has been already created, click on Edit GPS button. SIMULAT ED GPS Simulated GPS is a simulated device for testing. The only parameters required from this GPS are brand, model and name. The following window shows the editor window for the simulated GPS. 9

10 GPS Connector for idaq User Guide FIGURE 4 - SIMULATED GPS EDITOR When a simulated GPS is loaded, a dedicated console is shown for manual insertion of GPS coordinates. OPENING, CLOSING AND EDITING A GPS DEVICE When a GPS file is created or loaded, GPS Connector for idaq starts acquisition from it. GPS connection status is green when a connection with the GPS device is established. To close the GPS in use, click on Close GPS button. Connection between GPS Connector for idaq and GPS device will be interrupted. To open an existing GPS file, click on Open GPS button. GPS device in use will be closed and GPS Connector for idaq will try to establish a connection with the loaded GPS device. To edit a GPS, click on Edit GPS button. The GPS editor window will appear according to the type of GPS in use. ACQUIRING GPS DATA When a connection between GPS Connector for idaq and a GPS device is established, GPS Connector for idaq receives location data from GPS device and send them to idaq. The following image shows how GPS Connector for idaq works. GPS Device GPS Connector for idaq idaq GPS Data GPS Data FIGURE 5 ACQUISITION SCHEME Notice that if GPS device-gps Connector or GPS Connector-iDaq connections are not established, idaq cannot receive GPS data. 10

11 TOOLS for SMART MINDS APPLICATION OPTIONS To edit application settings, press Setting button. The following window appears: FIGURE 6 - APPLICATION OPTIONS WINDOW From Options window, you can set file path of the GPS in use and maximum frequency rate used to update GPS data. REAL TIME POSITION ON A MAP GPS Connector for idaq allows you to view the real-time position of your GPS device. This can be useful to check correctness of acquired GPS data. To view a map with the real-time position of your GPS device, press Map button. The following window appears: FIGURE 7 - REAL TIME POSITION ON A MAP This map can be zoomed out, zoomed in and panned. You can also have access to map view, satellite view and map view with elevations. 11

12 GPS Connector for idaq User Guide HELP PALETTE The Help Palette gives some useful features. As reported in the following figure, to view the Help Palette, click on the Help palette button in the main interface. FIGURE 8 - HELP PALETTE Referring to the previous figure, Help Palette allows you to perform the following operations: 1. Edit communication parameters. 2. View License manager Window. It allows you to view the license status of any idaq product and to activate a license. 3. View User Guide. 4. View more details about the application. 5. Close. EDITING CO MMUNI CATI ON P ARAMETERS To edit communication parameters, press Credential button in the Help Palette. The following window appears: FIGURE 9 - WINDOW FOR THE EDITING OF COMMUNICATION PARAMETERS Every time communication parameters are edited, they are stored in Credential.SCCT file. When communication parameters change, GPS Connector for idaq must be restarted. In order to send GPS data to idaq, credential must match with idaq server credential 12

13 TOOLS for SMART MINDS GPS Connector for idaq idaq FIGURE 10 - IDAQ SERVICES CREDENTIALS WINDOW Default connection parameters for GPS Connector for idaq are: Server address: localhost Server port: 9000 Server password: idaq 13

14 GPS Connector for idaq User Guide APPENDIX A: ICON AND SYMBOL LEGEND OK Confirm Add GPS Close Close GPS Open GPS Edit GPS Map License Manager Info Help Help palette Settings 14

15 TOOLS for SMART MINDS USEFUL LINKS idaq product page: idaq ADD-ON Store Support: 15