Difference between revisions of "AXIOM Beta/AXIOM Beta Manual"
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One idea to store camera relevant parameters inside the camera and provide access from most programming languages is to use a database like [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_DB http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley\DB] | One idea to store camera relevant parameters inside the camera and provide access from most programming languages is to use a database like [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_DB http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley\DB] | ||
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ToDo | ToDo | ||
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ToDo | ToDo | ||
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ToDo | ToDo | ||
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# Connect the ethernet port on the MicroZed to an ethernet port on your computer. You might have to use an ethernet adapter on newer, smaller machines which come without a native ethernet port. | # Connect the ethernet port on the MicroZed to an ethernet port on your computer. You might have to use an ethernet adapter on newer, smaller machines which come without a native ethernet port. | ||
# Connect the AC adapter to the camera's Power Board. (The power cord plugs into an adapter that connects to the Power Board; to power the camera off at a later point, you need not disconnect the adapter from the board but can just unplug the cord from the adapter.) | # Connect the AC adapter to the camera's Power Board. (The power cord plugs into an adapter that connects to the Power Board; to power the camera off at a later point, you need not disconnect the adapter from the board but can just unplug the cord from the adapter.) | ||
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Note that dollar signs <code>$</code> placed in front of commands are not meant to be typed in but denote the command line prompt (a signal indicating the computer is ready for user input). It is used in documentation to differentiate between commands and output resulting from commands. The prompt might look different on your machine (e.g. an angled bracket <code>></code>) and be preceded by your user name, computer name or the name of the directory which you are currently inside. | Note that dollar signs <code>$</code> placed in front of commands are not meant to be typed in but denote the command line prompt (a signal indicating the computer is ready for user input). It is used in documentation to differentiate between commands and output resulting from commands. The prompt might look different on your machine (e.g. an angled bracket <code>></code>) and be preceded by your user name, computer name or the name of the directory which you are currently inside. | ||
====USB to UART drivers==== | ====USB to UART drivers==== | ||
For the USB connection to work, you will need drivers for bridging USB to UART (USB to serial). (Under Linux this works out of the box in most distributions) for other operating systems they [https://www.silabs.com/products/mcu/Pages/USBtoUARTBridgeVCPDrivers.aspx can be downloaded] from e.g. Silicon Labs' website – pick the software provided for your OS and install it. | For the USB connection to work, you will need drivers for bridging USB to UART (USB to serial). (Under Linux this works out of the box in most distributions) for other operating systems they [https://www.silabs.com/products/mcu/Pages/USBtoUARTBridgeVCPDrivers.aspx can be downloaded] from e.g. Silicon Labs' website – pick the software provided for your OS and install it. | ||
====Serial console==== | ====Serial console==== | ||
The tool we recommend for connecting to the AXIOM Beta camera via serial port with Mac OS X or Linux is [http://linux.die.net/man/1/minicom minicom]; for connections from Windows machines, we have used [http://www.putty.org Putty]. | The tool we recommend for connecting to the AXIOM Beta camera via serial port with Mac OS X or Linux is [http://linux.die.net/man/1/minicom minicom]; for connections from Windows machines, we have used [http://www.putty.org Putty]. | ||
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or | or | ||
$ sudo apt-get install minicom | $ sudo apt-get install minicom | ||
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'''Note:''' You will not be able to use the terminal window you initiate the serial connection in for anything else (it needs to remain open while you access the camera), so it might make sense to open a separate window just for this purpose. | '''Note:''' You will not be able to use the terminal window you initiate the serial connection in for anything else (it needs to remain open while you access the camera), so it might make sense to open a separate window just for this purpose. | ||
===== Connect using minicom ===== | ===== Connect using minicom ===== | ||
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<pre>$ ls -al /dev | grep -i usb</pre> | <pre>$ ls -al /dev | grep -i usb</pre> | ||
to list all USB devices currently connected to your machine. | to list all USB devices currently connected to your machine. | ||
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<pre>user: root | <pre>user: root | ||
password: beta</pre> | password: beta</pre> | ||
=====Disconnect===== | =====Disconnect===== |
Revision as of 22:18, 4 November 2017
The AXIOM Beta Manual (ABM) can be downloaded in full, in various languages from AXIOM Beta/AXIOM Beta Manual/Versions
Note: In some instances the instructions we have prepared are written in a manor that can be followed by people without a deep technical knowledge. If you are an advanced user please keep this in mind.
Notes on Userspace: Arch Linux comes with systemd, which has one advantage that the boot process is incredibly fast. Standard tools such as sshd and dhcpcd have been preinstalled.
One idea to store camera relevant parameters inside the camera and provide access from most programming languages is to use a database like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley\DB
1 General Information
1.1 AXIOM Beta Connector Overview
ToDo
1.2 Mountpoints
ToDo
1.3 Accessories and Connected Devices
ToDo
2 Operating Basics
2.1 Getting Started
2.1.1 Prepare Your AXIOM Beta Camera for Use
- Use a micro-USB cable to connect the camera's MicroZed development board (USB UART) to a computer. The MicroZed board is the backmost, red PCB. (There is another micro-USB socket on the Power Board, but that is the JTAG Interface.)
- Connect the ethernet port on the MicroZed to an ethernet port on your computer. You might have to use an ethernet adapter on newer, smaller machines which come without a native ethernet port.
- Connect the AC adapter to the camera's Power Board. (The power cord plugs into an adapter that connects to the Power Board; to power the camera off at a later point, you need not disconnect the adapter from the board but can just unplug the cord from the adapter.)
2.1.2 Prep your computer for use with your camera
To communicate with your AXIOM Beta camera, you will send it instructions via your computer's command line.
In case you have not worked with a shell (console, terminal) much or ever before, we have prepared detailed instructions to help you get you set up. The steps which need to be taken to prepare your machine sometimes differ between operating systems, so pick the ones that are applicable to you(r system).
Note that dollar signs $
placed in front of commands are not meant to be typed in but denote the command line prompt (a signal indicating the computer is ready for user input). It is used in documentation to differentiate between commands and output resulting from commands. The prompt might look different on your machine (e.g. an angled bracket >
) and be preceded by your user name, computer name or the name of the directory which you are currently inside.
2.1.2.1 USB to UART drivers
For the USB connection to work, you will need drivers for bridging USB to UART (USB to serial). (Under Linux this works out of the box in most distributions) for other operating systems they can be downloaded from e.g. Silicon Labs' website – pick the software provided for your OS and install it.
2.1.2.2 Serial console
The tool we recommend for connecting to the AXIOM Beta camera via serial port with Mac OS X or Linux is minicom; for connections from Windows machines, we have used Putty.
2.1.2.2.1 Linux setup
Check if you already have minicom installed on your system by trying to run it:
$ minicom
Your system will respond with a message like bash: command not found: minicom
if it's not installed.
Install minicom
Install the minicom package like you'd install other software on your system – which could be via a GUI tool or using aptitude
or apt-get
(for wich you might need super user rights), e.g.:
$ apt-get install minicom
or
$ sudo apt-get install minicom
2.1.2.2.2 Mac OS X setup
You will want to have Homebrew installed on your system to use minicom
for serial communication as it is more convenient than using screen
.
Note: Homebrew is a package manager for Mac - a piece of software that helps you install other software on your Mac machine, particularly software which is readily available on Linux but which does not come in the form of Mac "applications", which you can download via your web browser and simply drop into your Applications folder.
Open Terminal.app (or your preferred terminal emulator if you have another installed). Terminal can be found via e.g. Spotlight search or via the Finder menu: Go > Utilities > Terminal.app
.
Check if you already have brew installed by entering the brew command:
$ brew
If you don't have Homebrew installed, your shell will reply with something like bash: command not found: brew
. Otherwise, it will spit out a list of brew
commands.
Installing Homebrew
To install Homebrew, go to the Homebrew website and follow the install instructions there. You can simply copy the command used for installing Homebrew from their website and paste it into your terminal.
Installing minicom
With brew installed, you want to install minicom:
$ brew install minicom
Homebrew will tell you if you already have minicom installed on your system (e.g. Warning: minicom-2.7 already installed
), otherwise it will install it for you.
2.1.2.2.3 minicom configuration
Once you have minicom installed, you need to configure it in order to talk to the camera. You can either use the configuration file we prepared or configure it yourself, following our step-by-step instructions.
Linux
Go to the minicom setup page:
$ minicom -s
In the "Serial port setup" subpage, check that "Serial Device" 's name is the good one (usually /dev/ttyUSB0 on Linux) and check the baud rate (115200).
Mac
Download the settings file for Mac, unzip it and place it in the etc
directory of your minicom install.
The minicom installation can be found in the standard directory used by homebrew, /usr/local/Cellar
, in a subdirectory based on the minicom version number, e.g. /usr/local/Cellar/minicom/2.7/etc
.
You can also use Homebrew's info
command to find minicom on your hard disk:
$ brew info minicom
which will output general information on the installed package, including its install directory e.g.:
minicom: stable 2.7 (bottled) Menu-driven communications program https://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/ /usr/local/Cellar/minicom/2.7 (17 files, 346.6K) * Poured from bottle on ...
2.1.2.3 Serial connection (via USB)
Note: You will not be able to use the terminal window you initiate the serial connection in for anything else (it needs to remain open while you access the camera), so it might make sense to open a separate window just for this purpose.
2.1.2.3.1 Connect using minicom
With minicom installed and properly configured, all you need to do is run the following command to start it with the correct settings:
$ minicom -8 USB0
On successful connection, you will be prompted to enter user credentials (which are needed to log into the camera).
If your terminal remains blank except for the minicom welcome screen/information about your connection settings, try pressing enter. If this still does not result in the prompt for user credentials – while testing, we discovered the initial connection with minicom does not always work – disconnect the camera from the power adapter, then reconnect it: in your minicom window you should now see the camera's operating system booting up, followed by the login prompt. (From then on, connecting with minicom should work smoothly and at most require you to press enter to make the login prompt appear.)
The default credentials are:
user: root password: beta
Alternatives
Before you can use any tool to initiate a serial connection with your Beta camera you need to know through which special device file it can be accessed.
Once the Beta is connected and powered on (and you installed the necessary drivers), it gets listed as a USB device in the /dev
directory of your file system, e.g.
/dev/ttyUSB0
(on Linux)
or
/dev/cu.SLAB_USBtoUART
/dev/tty.SLAB_USBtoUART
(on Mac).
You can use a command such as:
$ ls -al /dev | grep -i usb
to list all USB devices currently connected to your machine.
2.1.2.3.2 Connect using screen
To connect to the camera, use the command:
$ screen file_path 115200
where file_path
is the full path to the special device file (e.g. /dev/ttyUSB0
or /dev/cu.SLAB_USBtoUART
).
You might have to run the command with superuser rights, i.e.:
$ sudo screen file_path 115200
On successful connection, you will be prompted to enter user credentials needed for logging into the camera.
If your terminal remains blank, try pressing enter.
The default credentials are:
user: root password: beta
2.1.2.3.3 Disconnect
To exit the camera's operating system, use:
$ exit
The result will be a logout message followed by a new login prompt.
To suspend or quit your screen
session (and return to your regular terminal window) use one of the following commands:
CTRL+a CTRL+z
CTRL+a CTRL+\