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Vision-RTK 2 Fixposition Positioning Sensor INTEGRATION MANUAL VERSION 2.2.2 Abstract: This document explains how to integrate the Vision-RTK 2 positioning sensor into a host system and provides comprehensive details on how to configure it to obtain the maximum positioning accuracy. www.fixposition.com precise global positioning everywhere support@fixposition.com...
Document information Title Fixposition Vision-RTK 2 Document type Integration manual Version number 2.2.2 Published Date February 23, 2024 Disclosure restriction Confidential/NDA Product status Production...
Real Time Kinematics Library RTCM Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services SubMiniature version A Transmission Control Protocol UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Universal Serial Bus Universal Time Coordinate Virtual Reference Station VRTK2 Vision-RTK 2 WGS-84 World Geodetic System 1984...
WEEE Notice If you purchased your Vision-RTK 2 product in Europe, please return it to your dealer or supplier at the end of its life. The objectives of Fixposition’s environment policy are, in particular, to preserve, protect and improve the quality of the environment, protect human health, and utilize natural resources prudently and rationally.
To maintain compliance with the limits of a Class B digital device, you must use shielded interface cables. The Vision-RTK 2 has been authorized for use in Mobile applications. At least 20 cm (8 in) of separation between the Vision-RTK 2 and the User must be maintained at all times.
1.4. Environmental certifications IP66 The Vision-RTK 2 is certified as IP66 (i.e., dust and water-resistant). This certification was granted after the sensor had been exposed to the following tests: Temperature cycling (IEC60068-2-14 Na): 200 cycles, -30 C to 85 C, hold time of 30 minutes per temperature.
HAPTER System description 2.1. Overview The Vision-RTK 2 is a high-end sensor fusion solution that provides real-time high-accuracy pose information in all scenarios, including GNSS degraded and denied environments. The system includes two multi-frequency Real-Time Kinematics (RTK) GNSS receivers for instant heading calculation after initialization, an embedded camera, and an Iner- tial Motion Unit (IMU) to provide continuous high-accuracy positioning even in extended GNSS outages.
GNSS outages. 2.3. Supported dynamics models Vision-RTK 2 supports several navigation modes to adjust to different platforms’ specific dynamics. These modes capture the data streams from the selected vehicle type and tune the sensor fusion algorithm to improve performance based on the platform restric- tions.
HAPTER Technical Information 3.1. System indicators The Vision-RTK 2 has three LEDs to indicate the current status of the sensor. Green: System running Amber: System activity (intermittent blinking) Red: Not in use 3.2. Physical connectors 3.2.1. Connectors overview Figure 3.1.: Vision-RTK 2 connectors overview Note: The Vision-RTK 2 exists in two variants.
This behavior applies to all sensors with version number 1B or later (Refer to the label on the sensor). For sensors with no version number or version number 1A, the pin must be high during operation ( 3V) and low to shut down the sensor. Vision-RTK 2 | Fixposition Positioning Sensor...
Main power input Table 3.3.: Power connector pin definition 3.2.6. GNSS connector The Vision-RTK 2 contains two GNSS receivers that can connect to an antenna via the female SMA connectors labeled GNSS 1 and GNSS 2. 3.2.7. Wi-Fi connector The Vision-RTK 2 can significantly increase its Wi-Fi range by connecting a Wi-Fi antenna to the female RP-SMA connector labeled Wi-Fi.
3.2.8. USB (Type-C) The Vision-RTK 2 contains a USB-C port to connect an external drive for data recording (see Section 5.9). After FW 2.63, the user can also use this port to access the recovery mode. (see Subsection 5.2.5). Note that the USB-C port must only be used as a service interface, not during operation.
Users can request a STEP file of the sensor’s housing to enhance the integration of the Vision-RTK 2 into their platform. This file provides a detailed and comprehensive representation of the sensor’s physical design, allowing for seamless integration.
Mount the Vision-RTK 2 firmly/rigidly to the vehicle’s body. Attach the GNSS antennas to the same rigid body as the Vision-RTK 2, their rel- ative positions must remain unchanged. Please carefully follow the antenna man- ufacturer’s installation guidelines and comply with their requirements to minimize...
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(> 25 km). In this case, please choose a different NTRIP mountpoint or re-connect to the VRS service. GNSS antenna placement with respect to the Vision-RTK 2 sensor can have various impacts on performance. We recommend always placing the sensor at any point between the two GNSS antennas to avoid any lever arms effects or within an ellipse, as shown in Figure 4.3.
The Vision-RTK 2 actively monitors antenna power consumption. To ensure the safety of both the Vision-RTK 2 and GNSS receivers, antenna power is turned off when a short circuit is detected. This detection mechanism functions by capping the current drawn by the antenna.
Ensure the voltage and current ratings are compatible with your GNSS antenna’s requirements. Connect Vision-RTK 2: Connect the RF input of the bias tee to the Vision-RTK 2’s GNSS1 or GNSS2 connector. Supply power: Turn on the DC power source to inject power into the RF line and feed the GNSS antenna.
Ensure the sensor and the GNSS antennas are firmly attached to the structure and rigid with respect to each other. Secure all unused connectors with protective caps (see Figure 4.4). Figure 4.4.: Vision-RTK 2’s connectors secured with protective caps Vision-RTK 2 | Fixposition Positioning Sensor...
Sensor Configuration 5.1. Web interface overview To configure the Vision-RTK 2 and visualize the current trajectory, the user can access the web interface through a browser using the IP 10.0.1.1 with a direct Wi-Fi connection or 10.0.2.1 with a direct Ethernet connection. Note that these IP addresses only apply when the sensor is configured as the DHCP server or using its access point directly.
Currently, we only support one band at a time, meaning the access point and the hotspot should operate at the same frequency. Figure 5.4.: Wi-Fi interface configuration options The table below summarizes all available network configurations for the Vision-RTK 2: Network Sensor IP...
Wi-Fi channels and uses only those valid in the region). Most Wi-Fi 6E access points are configured using 802.11ax by default, which the Vision-RTK 2 does not support. The user must change the configuration to one of our supported bands.
8.8.8.8 – Checking internet connectivity. While the remote support functionality is enabled: reflector.sensor.fixposition.com – Secure reflector server The web interface (i.e., the client browser, not the Vision-RTK 2 itself) connects to: api.mapbox.com - Map data used on the Fusion status page. Vision-RTK 2 |...
5.2.5. USB recovery network When connected to a PC, the USB port on the Vision-RTK 2 acts as a "USB Ethernet gadget." The PC sees a network interface similar to a USB-to-ethernet dongle. The PC should automatically detect the network interface and configure it. This way, the user can access the web interface via http://10.0.3.1 to change the configuration.
Vision-RTK 2’s built-in NTP server (port 123). Notes: The NTP server of the Vision-RTK 2 can provide a clock signal accurate up to the sub-millisecond using a direct Ethernet connection, as the time information provided will be based on GNSS data.
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BMCA is disabled so each device is statically assigned as master or slave. Tests have shown that the precision of the time synchronization with the Vision-RTK 2 using PTP is sub-microsecond. The time accuracy is based on the time provided by the GNSS receiver and is approximately 3us on the sensor with good GNSS reception.
20010. At most, the maximum time mark frequency is 5 Hz. To read the PPS signal from a Vision-RTK 2, the user must use a microcontroller or a similar device to read these signals. This process involves connecting the PPS output from the Vision-RTK 2 to a GPIO (General Purpose Input/Output) pin on the user’s mi-...
RTCM3 messages Figure 5.9.: Input/output system overview The Vision-RTK 2 provides multiple input and output data stream options. This section provides an overview of the I/O system. Note the distinction between: Port: Physical (e.g., UART) or logical (e.g., network socket) connection endpoint.
The user can input the wheelspeed sensor and RTCM3 correction data streams into the Vision-RTK 2 via UART (see Section 5.7 and Section 5.5, respectively). The Vision-RTK can stream the output messages (e.g., FP odometry) via UART (see Subsection 5.4.5).
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CAN FD: CAN frames of up to 64 bytes of payload. CAN FD BRS: Enable bitrate switching (BRS) when using CAN FD. Enabled: Use CAN FD BRS. Disabled: Do not use CAN FD BRS. Vision-RTK 2 | Fixposition Positioning Sensor...
5.4.3. Differences between CANSTR and CAN Interface CANSTR, as defined by Fixposition, is a specialized port built upon the standard CAN interface. It offers the flexibility to utilize the CAN protocol to stream input and output data, which the user can customize within the I/O configuration section of the web interface.
Note: With High-Precision enabled, the output is no longer NMEA compliant. See the comparison of the two modes in Table 5.5. If you are currently parsing standard NMEA formatted messages, you must update your parser to support the added digits for the "High-Precision" NMEA output provided. Vision-RTK 2 | Fixposition Positioning Sensor...
Note that the IMU output requires a lot of output bandwidth. For example, on a serial port, the baud rate must be set high enough for the necessary bandwidth. The exact number depends on what messages are enabled for the port. Available IMU messages: FP_A-RAWIMU FP_A-CORRIMU FP_A-TF_POIIMUH NOV_B-RAWIMU Vision-RTK 2 | Fixposition Positioning Sensor...
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The boot screen is as follows: $FP , TEXT ,1 , INFO , Fixposition AG - www . fixposition . com *09\ r \ n $FP , TEXT ,1 , INFO , SW = fp_release_vr2_2 .61.0 _191 *78\ r \ n $FP , TEXT ,1 , INFO , HW = nav - vr2 1.2 a 6 d9d18 *3 E \ r \ n...
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Fusion output frequency real output frequency theoretical output frequency output rate Output messages Fusion output UART1 UART2 TCP0 TCP1 TCP2 TCP3 TCP4 CANSTR FP_A-ODOMETRY Figure 5.15.: An example of setting up the output rate Vision-RTK 2 | Fixposition Positioning Sensor...
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TCP3 TCP4 CANSTR FP_A-GNSSANT UART1 UART2 TCP0 TCP1 TCP2 TCP3 TCP4 CANSTR FP_A-GNSSCORR UART1 UART2 TCP0 TCP1 TCP2 TCP3 TCP4 CANSTR Save and apply Revert to current Disable all Figure 5.16.: Output message configuration Vision-RTK 2 | Fixposition Positioning Sensor...
Upon receiving this data, the ROS network forwards it to the Fixposition driver. The driver then recognizes the data package and delivers the corresponding NOV-B_RAWDMI message to the Fusion engine. These methods are presented visually in Figure 5.17. Ensuring adequate configurations for seamless data integration and optimal system performance is imperative.
(see Subsection 5.5.1) at the appropriate rates over any of the I/O ports avail- able on the Vision-RTK 2. In this mode, the sensor does not send its location. If the host system requires a position message, the appropriate output message(s) can be configured (typically, NMEA-GP-GGA_NTRIP).
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Position Longitude in fractional degrees (-180.0…180.0), for example: 8.45036 Height in meters (-1'000.0…10'000.0), for example: 395 Save and apply Revert to current Restart client Figure 5.18.: RTK configuration page in the web interface Vision-RTK 2 | Fixposition Positioning Sensor...
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Secret Sauce L1/L2/L5 1094(1), GAL+ 0.0 km 1124(1), 1008(1) Figure 5.19.: NTRIP caster sourcetable Note: Many casters do not provide a complete or accurate source table, and some do not provide one at all. Vision-RTK 2 | Fixposition Positioning Sensor...
NTRIP service, retrieve RTCM3 data, and subse- quently relay this correction information to the Vision-RTK 2 via I/O (UART/TCP), can follow the steps below. These guidelines will cover RTKLIB installation, establishing a connection with the NTRIP service, and streaming data to a designated IP address and port.
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Given these circumstances, users also need to configure Vision-RTK 2 to output the NMEA-GP-GGA_GNSS data. For instance, a TCP port (like TCP4) can be set to exclusively output NMEA-GP-GGA_GNSS data at a rate of 10 or less, as depicted in Figure 5.20.
Figure 5.22.: An example of the image view’s cutout 5.6.1. Camera streaming The camera image streaming implementation on the Vision-RTK 2 employs the Real- time Transport Protocol (RTP), which is a well-established network protocol for delivering video over IP networks. It runs over the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). RTP is designed for end-to-end, real-time transfer of streaming media.
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The camera’s intrinsic data is available to users upon request. The reference cam- era model is based on the OpenCV documentation OpenCV Fish-eye Camera Calibration https://docs.opencv.org/3.4/db/d58/group__calib3d__fisheye. html#details. For examples on how to enable and read the camera stream, please refer to https: //docs.fixposition.com/fd/camera-image-streaming. Vision-RTK 2 | Fixposition Positioning Sensor...
fields: Enable – Enables the wheelspeed sensor. If unchecked, the Vision-RTK 2 will not use any other parameters. It can be left unchecked to keep the configuration saved.
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Keep this setting unchecked when mixing sensors with signed and unsigned values. We advise enabling the ’wheelspeed sign’ option if supported by the wheel odometry sensor, as it causes the Vision-RTK 2 to react faster to wheelspeed measurements after being stationary.
5.7.1. Fixposition CAN wheelspeed sensor The CAN message must be formatted as described in https://docs.fixposition.com/ fd/fixposition-can-frame for a generic speed input. The user should send the corre- sponding CAN frames at regular intervals, where the input rate must be at most 50 Hz.
CAN message. In the web interface, disable sensors 1 and 2 and set sensors 3 and 4 to RR and RL, respectively. 3. Activate the CAN interface on the Vision-RTK 2 system. It is crucial to ensure that the bitrate matches that of the host machine, facilitating seamless communication among all devices on the CAN bus.
Revert to current Figure 5.27.: Fixposition I/O message (vehicle speed, I/O port) preset configuration If your system employs ROS1 or ROS2, you can use our Fixposition ROS Driver to stream the wheelspeed measurements (https://github.com/fixposition/fixposition_driver). Note: If you have a ROS topic available with the wheelspeed information, you can use our "Fixposition Odometry Converter"...
Housing: Prototype (i.e., 3D-printed) or Standard (i.e., aluminum). Tuning mode: Expected platform dynamics (see Section 2.3). GNSS extrinsics: Position of the GNSS antennas with respect to the Vision-RTK 2 sensor frame in meters. These values should be accurate to the mm level.
(https://data.fixposition.com/customer/dashboard/). While users have ex- clusive access to their data, Fixposition will access it only with explicit user permission. Users can only see/use/delete their data and download the related KML data. If the user wants to use this service, please get in touch with the Fixposition team.
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772 of 5'888 MiB used (5'116 free) File Size 2023-03-10-16-51-19_maximal 424 MB Delete selected files Refresh Calibration sequences The calibration sequences can be found on the Camera configuration page. Figure 5.29.: Record data panel in the web interface Vision-RTK 2 | Fixposition Positioning Sensor...
5.10. IMU calibration The Vision-RTK 2 requires a start-up procedure before being fully operational. The user must ensure the following requirements are fulfilled to start the calibration procedure: Both receivers have an RTK-fixed status. The Fusion engine is initialized, and the extrinsics are correct.
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IMU signal quality Low IMU noise IMU signal quality (a) Drive backward and forwards (b) Drive eight figures Figure 5.31.: Example trajectory for the IMU calibration procedure Figure 5.32.: Gyroscope and accelerometer biases over time Vision-RTK 2 | Fixposition Positioning Sensor...
The Fixposition ROS driver operating as a ROS node can listen to any I/O port to get outputs from the Vision-RTK 2 and then publish them in the ROS network. The user can directly stream the wheelspeed information via CAN/TCP/UART into the Vision-RTK 2.
5.12. Point of interest configuration The default reference frame of the Vision-RTK 2 is located at the X shape on the sensor housing (see section 2.3). If the user requires the odometry output in a different refer- ence frame, the "Output translation" meaning "Translation from the sensor to output represented by x-y-z Cartesian coordinates"...
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State estimate Output StdDev 47° 24' 0.4042" N 0.015 m Position 8° 27' 2.2641" E 0.011 m 447.28m 0.006 m Figure 5.35.: Arrow pointing towards the positive X direction of the output’s body frame Vision-RTK 2 | Fixposition Positioning Sensor...
5.13. Web interface indicators The navigation bar of the web interface contains useful indicators to signal the status of the Vision-RTK 2 and its related processes. Figure 5.36 presents all the available indicators. ...
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(> 15 km). The sensor will experience degraded performance and difficulties computing an RTK-fixed solution if the basestation is excessively far away (> 25 km). In this case, please choose a different NTRIP mountpoint or re-connect to the VRS service. Vision-RTK 2 | Fixposition Positioning Sensor...
The Web interface presents several tools on its "System Tools" page to reset stored data and configuration of the Vision-RTK 2, configure the Web Interface password, map access token, enable advanced options, and request remote support. Figure 5.39 presents all the available tools.
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Each advanced feature string must be separated by a semicolon. For further information, please ask the Fixposition team directly. Remote support: By starting remote support, you allow Fixposition support to ac- cess your sensor remotely. For this to work, the sensor must have access to the In- ternet.
HAPTER Status Dashboard 6.1. GNSS solution types The following RTK/GNSS fix convention is used: Fix type Value Color code Description Unknown Dark The receiver has no satellite signals. No fix Blue The receiver has not enough satellite signals. Reserved Reserved Single 2D Autonomous GNSS fix with very few available satellite signals.
- Poor, Gray - No data. 4. Signal levels: histogram of the number of GNSS signals and their corresponding signal levels (measured as the carrier to noise ratio in dB Hz). The coloured bars Vision-RTK 2 | Fixposition Positioning Sensor...
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8. Update indicators: these indicators blink whenever the data is updated. a) For GNSS 1 and GNSS2, the indicator blinks at 1 Hz; more or less in sync. b) The NTRIP indicator blinks at 0.2 Hz (every 5 seconds). Vision-RTK 2 | Fixposition Positioning Sensor...
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Note: The ’Time and date’ fields display the current estimate using the solutions from each u-blox F9P GNSS receiver independently. The user should not trust these mea- surements when the values are in gray. Vision-RTK 2 | Fixposition Positioning Sensor...
1 ' 5 6 3 ' 3 9 1 ' 5 6 3 ' 3 9 C A N S n p t s s a g s r r o r s Figure 6.2.: Input/Output Status dashboard Vision-RTK 2 | Fixposition Positioning Sensor...
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1 is 2982 and among them, no error happened. The total data size of these messages is 309056. In CAN bus (CANSTR) port, 37573 messages are reported as error among the output 55299 messages. These data can be further analyzed if necessary for some troubleshooting. Vision-RTK 2 | Fixposition Positioning Sensor...
HAPTER Software Updates To update the software version of the Vision-RTK 2, head to the "System Update" panel in the web interface and either click into the marked area and select the SWU file or drag and drop the corresponding SWU file inside the marked area (see Figure A.1).
Earth. ECEF coordinates (Earth-Centered, Earth-Fixed) are part of a global Cartesian system in which the center of the Earth is placed at the origin <0,0,0>. The odometry output of the Vision-RTK 2 is given in ECEF coordinates.
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ENU plane. Let’s call this rotation matrix . As the orientation output enu ecef of the Vision-RTK 2 sensor is represented using a quaternion, we need to first convert the rotation matrix to a quaternion . Thus, the rotation of the Vision-RTK 2 sensor...
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NED (North-East-Down) coordinates and then extract the Roll-Pitch-Yaw angles with respect to NED, where yaw would be directly the heading in common sense. The function EcefPoseToEnuEul(), in the Fixposition GNSS Transformation Lib, receives the pose of the sensor in ECEF coordinates and returns the orientation of the robot in Yaw-Pitch-Roll angles using the equations described above.
D H V FOV Figure C.2.: A schematic of the Vision- RTK 2’s FOV The STEP file of the Vision-RTK 2 FOV model is available at: https://docs.fixposition. com/fd/step-model-and-camera-fov-data. The DFOV (see figure below) is the angle subtended by the diagonal of the camera...
HAPTER Antenna Selection The Vision-RTK 2’s GNSS receivers require signals located at the L1 and L2 bands for adequate operation. Based on our internal testing, we recommend using helical antennas with a gain of around 35 dB. For reference, our evaluation kit ships with two Hi-Target AH- 3232 antennas.
HAPTER ROS topic output rate accuracy The output rate of the ROS topics published by the Vision-RTK 2 is accurate. However, when looking at the recordings or plotting the received messages, the user might observe the following behavior: Figure E.1.: Delays in the time of arrival of ROS messages As observed in Figure E.1, the rate of the output messages is not constant when looking...