HEX Cube - Advanced Connectivity; Hardware Connection (GPS); Setup through the Ground Station

Hardware Connection
Connect the 8-pin DF13 connector on GPS module to GPS1 port. Then, connect the second GPS module to
GPS2 .
GPS can also be connected to other ports with supported protocols. GPS blending supports up to 2
GPS modules. For Here GPS, all LEDs use the same I2C address so LED on GPS2 will not light up.
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Setup through the Ground Station
Change the following parameters in ArduPilot firmware to enable GPS blending mode.
SERIAL4_PROTOCOL = 5 /“GPS”。Alternatively TELEM1 or TELEM2 can be used by setting
SERIAL1_PROTOCOL or SERIAL2_PROTOCOL to 5.
GPS_TYPE2 = 1 /“AUTO” or the specific number corresponding to the type of GPS
GPS_AUTO_SWITCH = 2 / “Blend”. Alternatively set to 1 / “UseBest” to only use the better GPS. The better
GPS is decided based on the GPS’s self reported accuracy.
ADS-B Receiver
ADS-B (aka Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast) is an air traffic surveillance technology that
enables aircraft to be accurately tracked by air traffic controllers and other pilots without the need for
conventional radar.
The ADSB receiver comes with a DF13 serial cable that can be plugged directly into serial port on The Cube.
The Ping sensor should be mounted so that the antenna is oriented vertically.
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Setup through the ground station
Set the ADSB_ENABLE parameter to “1” to enable receiving data from the ADSB sensor
If you are using one of the UARTs on your board which defaults to MAVLink (i.e. TELEM1 , TELEM2 on The
Cube) then the default settings will work fine for the PingRx. Alternatively you can connect the Ping to one of
the other UARTs, such as the GPS UART (if it is unused) or the serial4/5 UART. In that case you will need to
configure the UART as MAVLink at a baudrate of 57600.
For example, if you plugged the Ping into “serial4/5” on The Cube you would set:
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SERIAL4_PROTOCOL =1 (meaning MAVLink) SERIAL4_BAUD =57 (meaning 57600)
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For the Ping2020 you will need to set the SERIAL4_PROTOCOL value to 2. For example, when connected to
TELEM2 you would set:
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SERIAL2_PROTOCOL = 2 (meaning MAVLink2.1.0)