Category Archives: Tutorial

Raspberry Pi Zero W Camera — Super Cool Portable Wireless streaming IP Camera

This is a super cool project where we build a concealable, portable, live streaming IP camera based on the Raspberry Pi Zero Model W, and the Raspberry Pi camera module. In order to do this lesson, you need to start with Lesson 1, where we show you how to get the IP address of your Pi zero, and how to get it booted. For this project, you need a Raspberry Pi Zero Model W. If you do not have one, you can get the ESSENTIAL HARDWARE HERE. In addition, you will need the Raspberry Pi Camera, which you can GET HERE. The Pi Zero needs a special Camera Cable, which you can get HERE.

That should be the equipment you need to this really fun project. When you are ready to go, the instructions are in the video below.

Raspberry Pi, Tutorial

Low Cost Raspberry Pi IP Camera

January 31, 2017 admin

In this lesson we give you a step by step tutorial on how to create a low cost IP camera from a Raspberry Pi and the Raspberry Pi camera module. (If you need to get a Raspberry Pi and Camera Module, we recommend this complete starter Kit, which you can order HERE. If you already have a Raspberry Pi, and just need a camera, you can get the camera module HERE.) We are going to assume you already have your Raspberry Pi up and running, and are able to make a connection to it via Putty or SSH. If you are completely new to the Raspberry Pi, you should probably start with the first two lessons on THIS PAGE.

This video will take you through the steps one at a time. In addition, the tutorial below has the commands that you can copy and paste. We recommend you both follow the video, and get the steps from the instructions below, so you do not have to manually type the commands. Be very careful . . . you must be precise in following these instructions for things to work.

OK, now assuming you have your Raspberry Pi up and running, and you can connect via Putty or SSH, These are the steps to get your dandy personal IP camera working. You will type or copy and paste these lines one at a time into the Raspberry Pi command line.

STEP 1: Get Your Raspberry Pi Up to Date:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

1 2	sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade

STEP 2: Install Lighttpd Web Server:

sudo apt-get install lighttpd lighttpd-doc php5-common php5-cgi php5 zip

1	sudo apt-get install lighttpd lighttpd-doc php5-common php5-cgi php5 zip

STEP 3: Enable Server to Process PHP Scripts

sudo lighty-enable-mod fastcgi-php
sudo lighty-enable-mod cgi
sudo lighttpd-enable-mod fastcgi

sudo lighty-enable-mod fastcgi-php

sudo lighty-enable-mod cgi

sudo lighttpd-enable-mod fastcgi

STEP 4: Create a PHP WEB Page:

sudo nano /var/www/html/php.php

1	sudo nano /var/www/html/php.php

Now you will want to type or paste this info into the nano window.

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

1	<?php phpinfo(); ?>

STEP 5: Save your nano file with these key strokes:

Ctrl O
Enter
Ctrl X

Ctrl O

Enter

Ctrl X

To be clear, you press the Control key and the letter “O” at the same time. Then press the enter key. Then press the Control and “X” key at the same time.

STEP 6: Restart the Webserver:

sudo /etc/init.d/lighttpd restart

1	sudo /etc/init.d/lighttpd restart

STEP 7: Check That the WEB Server is Working:

Go to a browser on a Windows computer on your network, and type:

http://10.1.15.94/

(NOTE: You would use your Pi’s IP address above. The number I use above is the IP address of our Pi. Your number will be different. You can find out your IP address on the pi by typing ifconfig into the terminal window.)

If you configured things correctly, you should get an Apache info page pop up.

Also, you should be able to see your php information page by entering:

http:/10.1.15.94/php.php

Again, you should use your IP address. If you did things correctly you should have a page come up with lots of tables describing php configuration

STEP 8: Reboot Your Computer

sudo reboot

1	sudo reboot

STEP 9: Install the crtmpserver

sudo aptitude install crtmpserver

1	sudo aptitude install crtmpserver

STEP 10: Backup default crtmpserver file

sudo cp /etc/crtmpserver/applications/flvplayback.lua /etc/crtmpserver/applications/flvplayback.lua.bakORIGINAL

1	sudo cp /etc/crtmpserver/applications/flvplayback.lua /etc/crtmpserver/applications/flvplayback.lua.bakORIGINAL

STEP 11: Edit flvplayback.lua file

Open the file in nano editor:

sudo nano /etc/crtmpserver/applications/flvplayback.lua

1	sudo nano /etc/crtmpserver/applications/flvplayback.lua

Now edit your file to these values:

validateHandshake=false,
keyframeSeek=false,
seekGranularity=0.1,
clientSideBuffer=30,

validateHandshake=false,

keyframeSeek=false,

seekGranularity=0.1,

clientSideBuffer=30,

STEP 12: Save and Exit

Ctrl O
Enter
Ctrl X

Ctrl O

Enter

Ctrl X

To be clear, you press the Control key and the letter “O” at the same time. Then press the enter key. Then press the Control and “X” key at the same time.

STEP 13: Restart crtmpserver

sudo /etc/init.d/crtmpserver restart

1	sudo /etc/init.d/crtmpserver restart

STEP 14: Remove ffmpeg

We need to make sure we have a clean copy of ffmpeg, so safest thing to do is un-install it in case an old version is on your pi.

sudo aptitude remove ffmpeg

1	sudo aptitude remove ffmpeg

STEP 15: Intall Latest git-core and ffmpeg software

sudo apt-get install git-core

1	sudo apt-get install git-core

and then:

cd /usr/src

1	cd /usr/src

and then:

sudo mkdir ffmpeg

1	sudo mkdir ffmpeg

and then:

sudo chown `whoami`:users ffmpeg

1	sudo chown `whoami`:users ffmpeg

and then:

sudo git clone git://source.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg.git ffmpeg

1	sudo git clone git://source.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg.git ffmpeg

and then:

cd ffmpeg

cd ffmpeg

and then:

sudo ./configure

1	sudo ./configure

STEP 16: Now Make and Install the software:

These two commands will take a while. After inputting the commands go and get some coffee.

sudo make

sudo make

sudo make install

1	sudo make install

STEP 17: Install Samba:

cd /

cd /

We will want Samba to easily exchange files to and from windows.

sudo apt-get install samba samba-common-bin

1	sudo apt-get install samba samba-common-bin

STEP 18: Edit Samba File:

cd /etc/samba

1	cd /etc/samba

sudo nano smb.conf

1	sudo nano smb.conf

Now you need to add these lines to the smb.conf file. You should add them into the SHARE DEFINITIONS section, after the netlogin part.

[home]
path= /
public= yes
read only = no
writeable = yes
browseable = yes
create mask = 0777
directory mask = 0777

[home]

path= /

public= yes

read only = no

writeable = yes

browseable = yes

create mask = 0777

directory mask = 0777

After adding this code, my SHARE DEFINITIONS section looks like this:

#======================= Share Definitions =======================

[homes]
   comment = Home Directories
   browseable = no

# By default, the home directories are exported read-only. Change the
# next parameter to 'no' if you want to be able to write to them.
   read only = yes

# File creation mask is set to 0700 for security reasons. If you want to
# create files with group=rw permissions, set next parameter to 0775.
   create mask = 0700

# Directory creation mask is set to 0700 for security reasons. If you want to
# create dirs. with group=rw permissions, set next parameter to 0775.
   directory mask = 0700

# By default, \\server\username shares can be connected to by anyone
# with access to the samba server.
# The following parameter makes sure that only "username" can connect
# to \\server\username
# This might need tweaking when using external authentication schemes
   valid users = %S

# Un-comment the following and create the netlogon directory for Domain Logons
# (you need to configure Samba to act as a domain controller too.)
;[netlogon]
;   comment = Network Logon Service
;   path = /home/samba/netlogon
;   guest ok = yes
;   read only = yes

[home]
path= /
public= yes
read only = no
writeable = yes
browseable = yes
create mask = 0777
directory mask = 0777


# Un-comment the following and create the profiles directory to store
# users profiles (see the "logon path" option above)
# (you need to configure Samba to act as a domain controller too.)
# The path below should be writable by all users so that their
# profile directory may be created the first time they log on
;[profiles]
;   comment = Users profiles
;   path = /home/samba/profiles
;   guest ok = no
;   browseable = no
;   create mask = 0600
;   directory mask = 0700

#======================= Share Definitions =======================

[homes]

comment = Home Directories

browseable = no

# By default, the home directories are exported read-only. Change the

# next parameter to 'no' if you want to be able to write to them.

read only = yes

# File creation mask is set to 0700 for security reasons. If you want to

# create files with group=rw permissions, set next parameter to 0775.

create mask = 0700

# Directory creation mask is set to 0700 for security reasons. If you want to

# create dirs. with group=rw permissions, set next parameter to 0775.

directory mask = 0700

# By default, \\server\username shares can be connected to by anyone

# with access to the samba server.

# The following parameter makes sure that only "username" can connect

# to \\server\username

# This might need tweaking when using external authentication schemes

valid users = %S

# Un-comment the following and create the netlogon directory for Domain Logons

# (you need to configure Samba to act as a domain controller too.)

;[netlogon]

; comment = Network Logon Service

; path = /home/samba/netlogon

; guest ok = yes

; read only = yes

[home]

path= /

public= yes

read only = no

writeable = yes

browseable = yes

create mask = 0777

directory mask = 0777

# Un-comment the following and create the profiles directory to store

# users profiles (see the "logon path" option above)

# (you need to configure Samba to act as a domain controller too.)

# The path below should be writable by all users so that their

# profile directory may be created the first time they log on

;[profiles]

; comment = Users profiles

; path = /home/samba/profiles

; guest ok = no

; browseable = no

; create mask = 0600

; directory mask = 0700

Now save and exit the nano editor with:

Ctrl O
Enter
Ctrl X

At this point, your Raspberry Pi should show up on your Windows computer network on your windows machine. On your windows machine, open a folder, click on “network” on the left, and you should see your raspberry pi show up. Now you can move files to and from your Raspberry Pi from Windows.

STEP 19: Install Strobe Software and WEB Page:

We will want to be able to view the live video stream in a browser, so we need to install the Strobe software. These next steps will install and enable the strobe feature.

cd /var/www/html

1	cd /var/www/html

sudo mkdir strobe

1	sudo mkdir strobe

sudo chmod -R 777 strobe

1	sudo chmod -R 777 strobe

Now the easiest way to get the strobe software is to download it on a windows computer. You can get the software by going to:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/smp.adobe/files/

and downloading the latest version of strobe media playback.

Now open the zipped folder and drag and drop the folder “for Flash Player 10.1” to your desktop.

Now move the CONTENTS of the unzipped “for Flash Player 10.1” folder onto your Raspberry Pi. You will want to move the CONTENTS of “for Flash Player 10.1” folder into the /home/var/www/html/strobe folder on your Raspberry Pi. If you installed Samba correctly, the Raspberry Pi should show up when you open a folder in Windows and click on “Network”.

Now you have the strobe software installed and you need to create a Strobe WEB page to display your live video.

First, make sure you are in the html folder by typing:

cd /var/www/html

1	cd /var/www/html

On your raspberry pi, now issue the command:

sudo nano index.html

1	sudo nano index.html

Now paste this code into your Nano window. You can paste by copying the code below, and then going to your Raspberry Pi command Window, and right mouse clicking.

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
  <head>
    <title>My Spy PiCam</title>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="strobe/lib/swfobject.js"></script>
   <script type="text/javascript">        
          
       // Create a StrobeMediaPlayback configuration 
      var parameters = {  
                     src: "rtmp://" + window.location.hostname + "/flvplayback/myStream",  
                              autoPlay: true,  
                     controlBarAutoHide: false,  
                     playButtonOverlay: true,  
                     showVideoInfoOverlayOnStartUp: false,  
                              optimizeBuffering : false,  
                              initialBufferTime : 0.1,  
                              expandedBufferTime : 0.1,  
                              minContinuousPlayback : 0.1,  
                     poster: "strobe/images/poster.png"  
                   };  
          
      // Embed the player SWF:          
      swfobject.embedSWF
         ( "strobe/StrobeMediaPlayback.swf"
         , "strobeMediaPlayback"
         , 1080
         , 720
         , "10.1.0"
         , {}
         , parameters
         , { allowFullScreen: "true"}
         , { name: "strobeMediaPlayback" }
         );
      
    </script>     
  </head>
  <body>
   
   <div id="strobeMediaPlayback">
      <p>Alternative content</p>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">

<head>

<title>My Spy PiCam</title>

// Create a StrobeMediaPlayback configuration

var parameters = {

src: "rtmp://" + window.location.hostname + "/flvplayback/myStream",

autoPlay: true,

controlBarAutoHide: false,

playButtonOverlay: true,

showVideoInfoOverlayOnStartUp: false,

optimizeBuffering : false,

initialBufferTime : 0.1,

expandedBufferTime : 0.1,

minContinuousPlayback : 0.1,

poster: "strobe/images/poster.png"

};

// Embed the player SWF:

swfobject.embedSWF

( "strobe/StrobeMediaPlayback.swf"

, "strobeMediaPlayback"

, 1080

, 720

, "10.1.0"

, {}

, parameters

, { allowFullScreen: "true"}

, { name: "strobeMediaPlayback" }

);

</script>

</head>

<body>

<p>Alternative content</p>

</div>

</body>

</html>

Now you should save and exit nano with these commands:

Ctrl O
Enter
Ctrl X

Ctrl O

Enter

Ctrl X

To be clear, you press the Control key and the letter “O” at the same time. Then press the enter key. Then press the Control and “X” key at the same time.

STEP 20: Enable Raspbery Pi Camera Module:

At the command line enter:

sudo raspi-config

1	sudo raspi-config

Scroll down and enable the camera.

STEP 21: Start the Camera:

You are now ready to fire up the camera. You can start the camera by issuing this command in the Raspberry Pi command window.

raspivid  -t -0 -w 1080 -h 720 -awb auto -fps 30 -rot 90 -b 1200000 -o - |ffmpeg -loglevel quiet -i - -vcodec copy -an -f flv -metadata streamName=myStream tcp://0.0.0.0:6666&

1	raspivid -t -0 -w 1080 -h 720 -awb auto -fps 30 -rot 90 -b 1200000 -o - \|ffmpeg -loglevel quiet -i - -vcodec copy -an -f flv -metadata streamName=myStream tcp://0.0.0.0:6666&

STEP 22: View the Live Stream

Now to view the live stream just open a browser on a computer on your network and type in the IP address of your pi:

http://10.1.15.94

(Use your ip address. The one above is my IP address.

This has been a long project, but I hope well worth it. If you follow the instructions EXACTLY, it should work. Enjoy!

Beaglevone Black Rev. C, Tutorial

Beaglebone Black GPS Tracker LESSON 4: Easily Transfer Files Between Beaglebone and PC

June 16, 2015 admin

One of the things that surprised me about the Beaglebone Black is that it does not come with any simple, direct way to transfer files back and forth with a PC. For our GPS project, we will need to transfer our logged GPS data from the Beaglebone Black to the PC. What I have found is the easiest way to transfer files is using WINscp. You can download this software at:

http://winscp.net/eng/download.php

Download and install the software, which takes just a few minutes. One downloaded, launch the program. You will see a window like this:

Under host name, you will want to put the IP address of your Beaglebone Black. If you do not know the IP address, we explain how to get it in LESSON 2.

For the default Beaglebone Black configuration, the username is root, and there is no password. Fill in these blanks, and then click “Login”.

That should take you to this screen:

At this point the right panel is a view of your Beaglebone Black files. You can navigate by clicking on the folders. An the left is your PC files. You can drag and drop files between the two panels to transfer them to and from the PC and Beaglebone Black.

Beaglevone Black Rev. C, Tutorial

Beaglebone Black GPS Tracker LESSON 3: Parsing the NMEA Sentences in Python

June 15, 2015 admin

Beaglebone GPS — Beaglebone Black connected to the Adafruit Ultimate GPS

In the first two lessons in this series, you learned how to hook the Beaglebone Black to the Adafruit Ultimate GPS breakout board. We then learned to read NMEA sentences from the GPS, and how to control the data the GPS spits out. In this lesson we will learn to parse the NMEA sentences into useful data. You need to make sure you go back and review the first two lessons, as this one draws heavily on those. Also, you need to start with the code we had developed in LESSON 2. (If you need the gear we are using, you can get the Beaglebone Black HERE, and you can get the Adafruit GPS HERE.)

In this code we move most of the work up into our GPS class. That makes the main part of the program simple and intuitive to use.

import serial
import Adafruit_BBIO.UART as UART
from time import sleep
UART.setup("UART1")
ser=serial.Serial('/dev/ttyO1',9600)
class GPS:
        def __init__(self):
                #This sets up variables for useful commands.
                #This set is used to set the rate the GPS reports
                UPDATE_10_sec=  "$PMTK220,10000*2F\r\n" #Update Every 10 Seconds
                UPDATE_5_sec=  "$PMTK220,5000*1B\r\n"   #Update Every 5 Seconds  
                UPDATE_1_sec=  "$PMTK220,1000*1F\r\n"   #Update Every One Second
                UPDATE_200_msec=  "$PMTK220,200*2C\r\n" #Update Every 200 Milliseconds
                #This set is used to set the rate the GPS takes measurements
                MEAS_10_sec = "$PMTK300,10000,0,0,0,0*2C\r\n" #Measure every 10 seconds
                MEAS_5_sec = "$PMTK300,5000,0,0,0,0*18\r\n"   #Measure every 5 seconds
                MEAS_1_sec = "$PMTK300,1000,0,0,0,0*1C\r\n"   #Measure once a second
                MEAS_200_msec= "$PMTK300,200,0,0,0,0*2F\r\n"  #Meaure 5 times a second
                #Set the Baud Rate of GPS
                BAUD_57600 = "$PMTK251,57600*2C\r\n"          #Set Baud Rate at 57600
                BAUD_9600 ="$PMTK251,9600*17\r\n"             #Set 9600 Baud Rate
                #Commands for which NMEA Sentences are sent
                ser.write(BAUD_57600)
                sleep(1)
                ser.baudrate=57600
                GPRMC_ONLY= "$PMTK314,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0*29\r\n" #Send only the GPRMC Sentence
                GPRMC_GPGGA="$PMTK314,0,1,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0*28\r\n"#Send GPRMC AND GPGGA Sentences
                SEND_ALL ="$PMTK314,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0*28\r\n" #Send All Sentences
                SEND_NOTHING="$PMTK314,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0*28\r\n" #Send Nothing
                ser.write(UPDATE_200_msec)
                sleep(1)
                ser.write(MEAS_200_msec)
                sleep(1)
                ser.write(GPRMC_GPGGA)
                sleep(1)
                ser.flushInput()
                ser.flushInput()
                print "GPS Initialized"
        def read(self):
                ser.flushInput()
                ser.flushInput()
                while ser.inWaiting()==0:
                        pass
                self.NMEA1=ser.readline()
                while ser.inWaiting()==0:
                        pass
                self.NMEA2=ser.readline()
                NMEA1_array=self.NMEA1.split(',')
                NMEA2_array=self.NMEA2.split(',')
                if NMEA1_array[0]=='$GPRMC':
                        self.timeUTC=NMEA1_array[1][:-8]+':'+NMEA1_array[1][-8:-6]+':'+NMEA1_array[1][-6:-4]
                        self.latDeg=NMEA1_array[3][:-7]
                        self.latMin=NMEA1_array[3][-7:]
                        self.latHem=NMEA1_array[4]
                        self.lonDeg=NMEA1_array[5][:-7]
                        self.lonMin=NMEA1_array[5][-7:]
                        self.lonHem=NMEA1_array[6]
                        self.knots=NMEA1_array[7]
                if NMEA1_array[0]=='$GPGGA':
                        self.fix=NMEA1_array[6]
                        self.altitude=NMEA1_array[9]
                        self.sats=NMEA1_array[7]
                if NMEA2_array[0]=='$GPRMC':
                        self.timeUTC=NMEA2_array[1][:-8]+':'+NMEA1_array[1][-8:-6]+':'+NMEA1_array[1][-6:-4]
                        self.latDeg=NMEA2_array[3][:-7]
                        self.latMin=NMEA2_array[3][-7:]
                        self.latHem=NMEA2_array[4]
                        self.lonDeg=NMEA2_array[5][:-7]
                        self.lonMin=NMEA2_array[5][-7:]
                        self.lonHem=NMEA2_array[6]
                        self.knots=NMEA2_array[7]

                if NMEA2_array[0]=='$GPGGA':
                        self.fix=NMEA2_array[6]
                        self.altitude=NMEA2_array[9]
                        self.sats=NMEA2_array[7]
myGPS=GPS()
while(1):
        myGPS.read()
        print myGPS.NMEA1
        print myGPS.NMEA2
        if myGPS.fix!=0:
                print 'Universal Time: ',myGPS.timeUTC
                print 'You are Tracking: ',myGPS.sats,' satellites'
                print 'My Latitude: ',myGPS.latDeg, 'Degrees ', myGPS.latMin,' minutes ', myGPS.latHem
                print 'My Longitude: ',myGPS.lonDeg, 'Degrees ', myGPS.lonMin,' minutes ', myGPS.lonHem
                print 'My Speed: ', myGPS.knots
                print 'My Altitude: ',myGPS.altitude

import serial

import Adafruit_BBIO.UART as UART

from time import sleep

UART.setup("UART1")

ser=serial.Serial('/dev/ttyO1',9600)

class GPS:

def __init__(self):

#This sets up variables for useful commands.

#This set is used to set the rate the GPS reports

UPDATE_10_sec= "$PMTK220,10000*2F\r\n" #Update Every 10 Seconds

UPDATE_5_sec= "$PMTK220,5000*1B\r\n" #Update Every 5 Seconds

UPDATE_1_sec= "$PMTK220,1000*1F\r\n" #Update Every One Second

UPDATE_200_msec= "$PMTK220,200*2C\r\n" #Update Every 200 Milliseconds

#This set is used to set the rate the GPS takes measurements

MEAS_10_sec = "$PMTK300,10000,0,0,0,0*2C\r\n" #Measure every 10 seconds

MEAS_5_sec = "$PMTK300,5000,0,0,0,0*18\r\n" #Measure every 5 seconds

MEAS_1_sec = "$PMTK300,1000,0,0,0,0*1C\r\n" #Measure once a second

MEAS_200_msec= "$PMTK300,200,0,0,0,0*2F\r\n" #Meaure 5 times a second

#Set the Baud Rate of GPS

BAUD_57600 = "$PMTK251,57600*2C\r\n" #Set Baud Rate at 57600

BAUD_9600 ="$PMTK251,9600*17\r\n" #Set 9600 Baud Rate

#Commands for which NMEA Sentences are sent

ser.write(BAUD_57600)

sleep(1)

ser.baudrate=57600

GPRMC_ONLY= "$PMTK314,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0*29\r\n" #Send only the GPRMC Sentence

GPRMC_GPGGA="$PMTK314,0,1,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0*28\r\n"#Send GPRMC AND GPGGA Sentences

SEND_ALL ="$PMTK314,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0*28\r\n" #Send All Sentences

SEND_NOTHING="$PMTK314,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0*28\r\n" #Send Nothing

ser.write(UPDATE_200_msec)

sleep(1)

ser.write(MEAS_200_msec)

sleep(1)

ser.write(GPRMC_GPGGA)

sleep(1)

ser.flushInput()

print "GPS Initialized"

def read(self):

ser.flushInput()

while ser.inWaiting()==0:

pass

self.NMEA1=ser.readline()

while ser.inWaiting()==0:

pass

self.NMEA2=ser.readline()

NMEA1_array=self.NMEA1.split(',')

NMEA2_array=self.NMEA2.split(',')

if NMEA1_array[0]=='$GPRMC':

self.timeUTC=NMEA1_array[1][:-8]+':'+NMEA1_array[1][-8:-6]+':'+NMEA1_array[1][-6:-4]

self.latDeg=NMEA1_array[3][:-7]

self.latMin=NMEA1_array[3][-7:]

self.latHem=NMEA1_array[4]

self.lonDeg=NMEA1_array[5][:-7]

self.lonMin=NMEA1_array[5][-7:]

self.lonHem=NMEA1_array[6]

self.knots=NMEA1_array[7]

if NMEA1_array[0]=='$GPGGA':

self.fix=NMEA1_array[6]

self.altitude=NMEA1_array[9]

self.sats=NMEA1_array[7]

if NMEA2_array[0]=='$GPRMC':

self.timeUTC=NMEA2_array[1][:-8]+':'+NMEA1_array[1][-8:-6]+':'+NMEA1_array[1][-6:-4]

self.latDeg=NMEA2_array[3][:-7]

self.latMin=NMEA2_array[3][-7:]

self.latHem=NMEA2_array[4]

self.lonDeg=NMEA2_array[5][:-7]

self.lonMin=NMEA2_array[5][-7:]

self.lonHem=NMEA2_array[6]

self.knots=NMEA2_array[7]

if NMEA2_array[0]=='$GPGGA':

self.fix=NMEA2_array[6]

self.altitude=NMEA2_array[9]

self.sats=NMEA2_array[7]

myGPS=GPS()

while(1):

myGPS.read()

print myGPS.NMEA1

print myGPS.NMEA2

if myGPS.fix!=0:

print 'Universal Time: ',myGPS.timeUTC

print 'You are Tracking: ',myGPS.sats,' satellites'

print 'My Latitude: ',myGPS.latDeg, 'Degrees ', myGPS.latMin,' minutes ', myGPS.latHem

print 'My Longitude: ',myGPS.lonDeg, 'Degrees ', myGPS.lonMin,' minutes ', myGPS.lonHem

print 'My Speed: ', myGPS.knots

print 'My Altitude: ',myGPS.altitude

Beaglevone Black Rev. C, Tutorial

Beaglebone Black GPS LESSON 2: Sending Commands to the Adafruit GPS Module

June 15, 2015 admin

In lesson 1 we showed you how to connect the Adafruit Ultimate GPS breakout board to the Beaglebone Black and how to read the NMEA sentences streaming off the GPS over the UART pins. In this lesson we will show you how to send commands to the GPS to better tailor its operation for our needs. There are a number of commands that can be sent to it. Some of the things we we can control are the baud rate it communicates at, and the rate that it takes and sends data. We can also influence which NMEA sentences it sends. In this video we will go over the different commands we can use.

To review, you should connect the GPS as follows:

The video explains the code step-by-step, but here it is for your reference.

import serial #import pyserial library
import Adafruit_BBIO.UART as UART #import UART Library
UART.setup("UART1")  #Initialize UART1
ser=serial.Serial('/dev/ttyO1',9600) #Initialize Serial Port
from time import sleep #import sleep library
class GPS:                      #Create GPS class
        def __init__(self):     #This init will run when you create a GPS object.
                #This sets up variables for useful commands.
                #This set is used to set the rate the GPS reports
                UPDATE_10_sec=  "$PMTK220,10000*2F\r\n" #Update Every 10 Seconds
                UPDATE_5_sec=  "$PMTK220,5000*1B\r\n"   #Update Every 5 Seconds  
                UPDATE_1_sec=  "$PMTK220,1000*1F\r\n"   #Update Every One Second
                UPDATE_200_msec=  "$PMTK220,200*2C\r\n" #Update Every 200 Milliseconds
                #This set is used to set the rate the GPS takes measurements
                MEAS_10_sec = "$PMTK300,10000,0,0,0,0*2C\r\n" #Measure every 10 seconds
                MEAS_5_sec = "$PMTK300,5000,0,0,0,0*18\r\n"   #Measure every 5 seconds
                MEAS_1_sec = "$PMTK300,1000,0,0,0,0*1C\r\n"   #Measure once a second
                MEAS_200_msec= "$PMTK300,200,0,0,0,0*2F\r\n"  #Meaure 5 times a second
                #Set the Baud Rate of GPS
                BAUD_57600 = "$PMTK251,57600*2C\r\n"          #Set Baud Rate at 57600
                BAUD_9600 ="$PMTK251,9600*17\r\n"             #Set 9600 Baud Rate
                #Commands for which NMEA Sentences are sent
                GPRMC_ONLY= "$PMTK314,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0*29\r\n" #Send only the GPRMC Sentence
                GPRMC_GPGGA="$PMTK314,0,1,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0*28\r\n"#Send GPRMC AND GPGGA Sentences
                SEND_ALL ="$PMTK314,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0*28\r\n" #Send All Sentences
                SEND_NOTHING="$PMTK314,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0*28\r\n" #Send Nothing
                ser.write(BAUD_57600)   #Set Baud Rate to 57600
                sleep(1)                #Paulse
                ser.baudrate=57600      #IMPORTANT Since change ser baudrate to match GPS
                ser.write(UPDATE_200_msec) #Set update rate
                sleep(1)
                ser.write(MEAS_200_msec)  #Set measurement rate
                sleep(1)
                ser.write(GPRMC_GPGGA)    #Ask for only GPRMC and GPGGA Sentences
                sleep(1)
                ser.flushInput()          #clear buffers
                ser.flushOutput()
                print "GPS is Initialized" #Print message

myGPS=GPS()
while(1):
        ser.flushInput() #Clear Buffers
        ser.flushInput()
        while ser.inWaiting()==0: #Wait for input
                pass
        NMEA1=ser.readline()      #Read NMEA1
        while ser.inWaiting()==0:
                pass
        NMEA2=ser.readline()
        print NMEA1
        print NMEA2

import serial #import pyserial library

import Adafruit_BBIO.UART as UART #import UART Library

UART.setup("UART1") #Initialize UART1

ser=serial.Serial('/dev/ttyO1',9600) #Initialize Serial Port

from time import sleep #import sleep library

class GPS: #Create GPS class

def __init__(self): #This init will run when you create a GPS object.