User`s manual
AscTec Hummingbird with AutoPilot User’s Manual
A Installing firmware upgrades
A.1 Updating firmware on the
LowLevel(LL)-processor
The LL-processor is the heart of the vehicle running
all critical functions as sensing and filtering, attitude
estimation and flight control. The code on this pro-
cessor is protected and cannot be accessed using a
JTAG interface nor be read through the serial inter-
face. Software running on the LL-processor can only
be changed by Ascending Technologies.
A.1.1 Tools required for the update
You will need the following items and software tools
to perform a firmware upgrade on the LL-processor:
• Ascending Technologies Bootloader PC-
Software
• AscTec USB-adapter with four wires and a grey
6-pin connector
• Bootloader Jumper cable or small screw driver
or pincers
• New firmware file provided by Ascending Tech-
nologies (*.atp)
A.1.2 Uploading firmware to the
LL-processor
The following photograph shows the connectors in-
volved in the LL update process.
LL serial 0
LL bootloader
jumper
Please follow these steps to upload new code to the
LL-processor:
• Connect the USB-adapter to your computer (in-
stall the FTDI virtual comport driver if this
wasn’t done before), then connect the USB-
adapter to the
”
LL-serial 0“ connector of the Au-
toPilot.
• Turn on the vehicle while shorting (connecting)
the LL-bootloader activation pins using a jumper
or if not available using pincers (the two black
cables in the above photograph are connecting
the LL-bootloader activation pins). The green
and the red LED on the right hand side of the
AutoPilot board must be solid now. If not, there
was no connection between the bootloader ac-
tivation pins during start-up. Please make sure
your pincers are conductive and try again.
• Start
”
AutoPilotUpdater.exe“, select the COM-
port assigned to the USB-adapter, click on
”
Connect“ and select the new firmware file
(*.atp).
• Click on
”
Start programming“.
• When programming is finished turn off the ve-
hicle, disconnect the USB-adapter from the Au-
toPilot and turn the vehicle back on. Now, the
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