u-blox EVK-M8L User Manual
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u-blox EVK-M8L User Manual

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EVK-M8L
Evaluation kit
User guide
Abstract
This document describes the structure and use of the EVK-M8L evaluation kit and provides
information for evaluating and testing u-blox M8 ADR positioning technology.
www.u-blox.com
UBX-20028627 - R01
C1-Public

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Summary of Contents for u-blox EVK-M8L

  • Page 1 EVK-M8L Evaluation kit User guide Abstract This document describes the structure and use of the EVK-M8L evaluation kit and provides information for evaluating and testing u-blox M8 ADR positioning technology. www.u-blox.com UBX-20028627 - R01 C1-Public...

  • Page 2: Document Information

    The information contained herein is provided “as is” and u-blox assumes no liability for its use. No warranty, either express or implied, is given, including but not limited to, with respect to the accuracy, correctness, reliability and fitness for a particular purpose of the information.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    4.1.2 OBD-II to VSS converter ........................13 4.1.3 Wheel speed sensor .........................13 4.2 EVK-M8L installation ..........................13 4.2.1 Mounting the GNSS antenna ......................13 4.2.2 Mounting the EVK-M8L ........................13 4.2.3 Connecting the cables ........................14 4.3 Recommended configuration .........................15 4.3.1 Serial port default configuration ....................15 4.3.2 ADR configuration ..........................15...
  • Page 4 EVK-M8L - User guide Schematic ............................. 27 10 Battery replacement ......................... 28 11 Troubleshooting ..........................29 12 Common evaluation pitfalls ......................31 Related documents ........................... 32 Revision history ............................32 Contact ................................33 UBX-20028627 - R01 Page 4 of 33...

  • Page 5: Product Description

    Product description 1.1 Overview The EVK-M8L evaluation kit simplifies the evaluation of the high performance u-blox M8 ADR positioning products. The built-in USB interface provides both power supply and high-speed data transfer, and eliminates the need for an external power supply. The u-blox evaluation kits are compact, and their user-friendly interface and power supply make them ideally suited for use in laboratories, vehicles and outdoor locations.

  • Page 6: Specifications

    Contact u-blox technical support for assistance if required. 2.1 Safety precautions EVK-M8L must be supplied by an external limited power source in compliance with clause 2.5 of the standard IEC 60950-1. In addition to an external limited power source, only separated or Safety Extra-Low Voltage (SELV) circuits are to be connected to the evaluation kit, including interfaces and antennas.

  • Page 7: Device Description

    Figure 1: Connecting the unit for power supply and communication 3.2 Active antenna The EVK-M8L evaluation kit includes a GPS / Galileo / GLONASS / BeiDou antenna with a 3-meter cable. It is possible to connect various active and passive GNSS antennas with SMA connectors to the evaluation unit.

  • Page 8: Usb

    RXD, GNSS Receive Data, serial data from DTE not connected not connected not connected Table 3: SUB-D9 connector pin description for EVK-M8L 3.3.4 RST button The RST button on the front panel resets the unit. To avoid an inadvertent reset, the button is recessed.

  • Page 9: Slide Switch

    EVK-M8L User Guide 3.3.6 Slide switch Use the slide switch on the front panel to choose between I2C (and UART) and SPI communication ports. You must reset the unit by pressing the RST button when the slide switch has been changed.

  • Page 10: Led

    Isolated ground pin to be connected with wheel tick and GNDA Forward/Reverse signals Table 4: Connector pin descriptions for EVK-M8L (pins numbered from right to left on the front panel) ⚠ THE EVK CASE-WORK IS CONNECTED TO THE COMMON SUPPLY/INTERFACE GROUND PIN.

  • Page 11: Gnss Configuration

    The EVK-M8L supports GPS, QZSS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou. The GNSS to be used can be configured in u-center (View > Messages View > UBX-CFG-GNSS). For more information, refer to the u-center User guide [6], and the u-blox 8 / u-blox M8 Receiver Description including Protocol Specification [5]...

  • Page 12: Setting Up

    WHEELTICK and FWD information instead of HW signals, a change in the configuration is required using UBX-CFG-ESFWT. ☞ More information on the SW interface can be found in the u-blox 8 / u-blox M8 Receiver Description including Protocol Specification [5], or contact u-blox technical support for further SW interfacing solutions.

  • Page 13: Obd-Ii To Vss Converter

    4.2.2 Mounting the EVK-M8L The EVK-M8L should be firmly attached to the car body so as to avoid any movement or vibration with respect to the car body. The EVK should not be attached to any ‘live’ (unsprung) part of the vehicle’s suspension.

  • Page 14: Connecting The Cables

    Figure 4: Example installation of the GNSS antenna and the EVK-M8L 4.2.3 Connecting the cables We recommend using the ACE-AM-0 mating connector (available from the u-blox web shop) because it locks securely to the front connector. You will need to solder the necessary I/O cables to signal sources (e.g.

  • Page 15: Recommended Configuration

    Polarity (FWD) correctly using message UBX-CFG-ESFWT or in u-center (see Figure 5 below). Usually there is no need to change other parameter values. For more information, refer to the u-blox 8 / u- blox M8 Receiver Description including Protocol Specification [5]. Click the Send button in u-center if you changed the default values.
  • Page 16 UBX-CFG-ESFWT: set “Use WT Pin for Speed Meas. (L- Modules)” bit to 0 and set all other parameters according to your setup. See the u-blox 8 / u-blox M8 Receiver Description including Protocol Specification [5] for details. In such a case, use UBX- CFG-CFG command (see Figure 7) to save the configuration permanently and make sure the EVK will always stay in this particular configuration.
  • Page 17 (yaw, pitch, roll) shall be issued again. For example, in the basic use case when the EVK-M8L is mounted flat (label side up) and X-axis on the label is pointing forward, the user should configure it in UBX-CFG-ESFALG as (yaw, pitch, roll) = (0,0,0).

  • Page 18: Configuration And Calibration Drive

    UBX-ESF-STATUS message.  Phase I. Stop the car, but keep the engine running. Power on the EVK-M8L, for example via USB to PC. The co-driver should open u-center and enable the messages and views shown in Figure 9.
  • Page 19 EVK-M8L User Guide Figure 8: Driving number 8 patterns with fast left and right turns Figure 9 and Figure 10 show the progress of sensor-mount configuration and calibration drive. Figure 9: Starting the drive sequence UBX-20028627 - R01 Setting up...
  • Page 20 EVK-M8L User Guide Figure 10: All sensors have reached Calibrated status. The setup is ready for test drives. UBX-20028627 - R01 Setting up Page 20 of 33 C1-Public...

  • Page 21: Test Drives

    EVK-M8L User Guide Test drives The EVK-M8L is now ready for actual test drives. We recommend recording and archiving the data of your test drives. You can enable additional debug messages by clicking the Debug button, and then clicking the Record button (see Figure 11). When prompted to poll for configuration, click Yes (see Figure 12).

  • Page 22: Measuring Tracking Current

    EVK-M8L User Guide Measuring tracking current To measure the tracking current with EVK-M8L, follow these steps: 1. Connect a mean-reading voltmeter across P1A (VCC) and P1B of the front connector (see Figure 13). 2. Wait 12 minutes to download all GNSS orbital data, or download all the Aiding Data via the AssistNow Online service.

  • Page 23: Block Diagram

    EVK-M8L User Guide Block diagram Figure 14: EVK-M8L block diagram UBX-20028627 - R01 Block diagram Page 23 of 33 C1-Public...

  • Page 24: Board Layout

    EVK-M8L User Guide Board layout Figure 15 shows the EVK-M8L board layout (PCB Version D). See Table 7 for the component list of the EVK. Figure 15: EVK-M8L layout UBX-20028627 - R01 Board layout Page 24 of 33 C1-Public...
  • Page 25 EVK-M8L User Guide Part Description GNSS RECEIVER -40/+85 °C BATTERY HOLDER RENATA CR2450N 3 V C1, C11, C13, C22 CAP CER X5R 0603 1U0 10% 6.3 V C10, C14, C16, C19, C2, C6 CAP CER X7R 0603 100N 10% 10 V...
  • Page 26 TINY LOGIC ULP-A 2-INPUT AND GATE 1.45 X1.0 6-LEAD MICROPAK -40/+85 °C U8, U10 OPTOCOUPLER LVTTL/LVCMOS COMPATIBLE AVAGO HCPL-070L-000E SO8 U11, U12 TINY LOGIC UHS INVERTER WITH SCHMITT TRIGGER FAIRCHILD NC7SZ14 SOT23-5 Table 7: EVK-M8L component list UBX-20028627 - R01 Board layout Page 26 of 33 C1-Public...

  • Page 27: Schematic

    EVK-M8L User Guide Schematic Figure 16: Schematic EVK-M8L: DNI=TRUE in the schematic means: Component not installed UBX-20028627 - R01 Schematic Page 27 of 33 C1-Public...

  • Page 28: Battery Replacement

    EVK-M8L User Guide 10 Battery replacement To replace the battery (number 5 in Figure 17), open the unit (unscrew four screws on the front panel). Figure 17: EVK-M8L battery location UBX-20028627 - R01 Battery replacement Page 28 of 33 C1-Public...

  • Page 29: Troubleshooting

    The position is inaccurate by a few dozen meters u-blox M8 GNSS technology starts up with the WGS84 standard GNSS datum. If your application expects a different datum, you will most likely find the positions to be off by a few dozen meters. Do not forget to check the calibration of u-center map files.
  • Page 30 The EVK-M8L does not preserve the configuration in case of reset The u-blox M8 GNSS technology uses a slightly different concept than most other GNSS receivers do. Settings are initially stored to volatile memory. In order to save them permanently, sending a second command is required.

  • Page 31: Common Evaluation Pitfalls

    DOP and less position drift.  When doing reacquisition tests, cover the antenna in order to block the sky view. Do not unplug the antenna since the u-blox M8 positioning technology continuously performs noise calibration on idle channels. UBX-20028627 - R01...

  • Page 32: Related Documents

    UBX-13003221 [6] u-center User guide, UBX-13005250 [7] Information technology equipment – Safety Standard IEC 60950-1 webstore.iec.ch/publication/4024 ☞ For regular updates to u-blox documentation and to receive product change notifications, register on our homepage (www.u-blox.com). Revision history Revision Date Name Status / Comments Updated firmware information to ADR 4.31...

  • Page 33: Contact

    EVK-M8L User Guide Contact For complete contact information, visit us at www.u-blox.com. u-blox Offices North, Central and South America Headquarters Asia, Australia, Pacific Europe, Middle East, Africa u-blox America, Inc. u-blox Singapore Pte. Ltd. u-blox AG Phone: +1 703 483 3180...

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