Category Archives: How-To

How to repair broken USB connector on the GoPro Hero3

Posted by on September 4, 2015 No comments

During my vacation in Greece last month I took my FPV Racer and my GoPro Hero3 camera with me. I mount the GoPro on the front and use it for filming as well for Live-Video-Out for my FatShark goggles (FPV or first person view). Everything was great until I gave the goggles to my young friend Eli, lost control of the quadcopter and got it stuck on one tree. In the process of getting it down I broke the USB connector of the GoPro because of the attached Live-Out cable.

Back at home, I decided to open the camera and repair the USB connector. Opening was pretty easy and done in a few minutes (there are a lot of videos on YouTube how do it). The USB connector was completely detached from the main board and it fell down. Here is how it looked like without it:

_SCF1662_SCF1662 (2)

As you can see on the second picture the signal traces are almost completely broken. So just soldering a new USB connector wont help. I didn’t have the time and the needed skill with the solder iron to repair it, so my father helped me. Thanks dad!

Here are some of his notes and pictures. First get one new USB Mini-B 10pin connector. It is not a normal one, as it has 10pins. You can find these also in some old mobile phones, as my dad have done it.

This is how it should look like and the drawing of the USB Mini connector. The Pins on the front side on above and below. On the back side of the connector these are only below.

GoPro.Hero3.Broken.USBGoPro.Hero3.Broken.USB.Pinout

What are the pins for? Here is the pinout schematics of what he thought:

1 GND (Ground)
2 Audio-Out
3 ID
4 Video-Out
5 DATA +
6 Video-GND
7 DATA –
8 MicIn
9 VCC +
10 MicIn

He achieved to recover some of the traces and replaces the the tiny component on Pin5 and Pin7, which I think is called choke. Please pay attention while soldering the USB connector, that its inner part have plastic, so do not overheat.

_SCF1686 (2)

After all my GoPro is working again (except for the Live-Video as this trace was not repaired). I have already ordered one cheaper camera (Xiaomi Yi) for mounting it on my Quadcopter, so I don’t need the Live-Video-Out anymore. So big big thanks to my dad again! Thank you!

Flash CC3D with Cleanflight using OpenPilot GCS

Posted by on July 16, 2015 20 comments

In one of my previous post, I described how to flash the Cleanflight firmware on the CC3D flight controller and why I prefer the CC3D over Naze32 at the moment. I used my Arduino Nano as FTDI adapter to do this, but Bill posted a video in the comments, how the board can be flashed only through the USB-Port. I have tried it yesterday and will show you, how to do this if you don’t want to watch the video.

First download the OpenPilot GCS 15.02.02 (the newest 15.05 does not support the CC3D board) and install it on your computer. Here is a manual how to install it, if you have some problems with that.

We also need the STM32 Virtual Com Port driver. Download it from the official ST-webpage and install it.

Install the Cleanflight Configurator from the Chrome Web Store and download the latest Cleanflight firmware for the CC3D board. Download the “cleanflight_CC3D.bin” from GitHub.

Open the OpenPilot GCS software, connect the CC3D board through the USB-Port, go to the “Firmware”-Tab and click the “Halt” button.

OpenPilot.GCS.Pic1

Now you can open the downloaded cleanflight_CC3D.bin. Check the “I know what I’m doing!” box and then “Flash” button. That’s it, now you have the Cleanflight firmware on your CC3D board.

Important: To use the board through the UBS-Port, you need to power it with external battery. Then you can connect it to the Cleanflight Configurator.

OpenPilot.GCS.Pic2

If for some reason you want to go back to the OpenPilot firmware, go to this page and follow the exact instructions “How to Upgrade the Bootloader and Erase Settings”.

Thanks to Bill, who told me about the video and to FranzArians for sharing his way to install the firmware!

Flashing SimonK with Arduino through the signal wire (1-wire)

Posted by on June 22, 2015 No comments

In this article I will show you how to flash the SimonK firmware with your Arduino through the ESC´s signal wire without removing the shrink tube and using an ISP Programmer.

Important: to flash the firmware through the signal wire, the bootloader of the ESC must be enabled. This is the case if you have bought a SimonK preflashed ESC (like the Afro Series ESC) or you have already flashed the ESC with an ISP Programmer and have enabled the bootloader by yourself.

Needed parts:

  • Arduino board
  • ESC with enabled bootloader

Making ArduinoUSBLinker:

First we need to flash the ArduinoUSBLinker code on the Arduino. If you want to upload it through the Arduino Software, download the source code from github. Open the ArduinoUSBLinker.ino file in the Arduino Software, select the right COM port and upload it to the Arduino board.

ArduinoUSB.Linker.Pic3

You can also use the KKmulticopter Flash Tool for making the ArduinoUSBLinker. Go to the “Tools”-menu and click on “Upload Arduino USB Linker” and select your Arduino board. Wait for the message, that you should connect the Arduino to the PC. Then plug it in and click “Ok”. The Arduino should be detected by the system. If the flashing is successful, the Arduino board is ready.

ArduinoUSB.Linker.Pic1

How-To connect:

Connect the orange wire (signal wire) from the ESC to Digital Pin2 on the Arduino and the brown wire (ground) to the GND Pin on the Arduino. Connect the ESC to an external power.

Flashing the firmware:

Flashing the SimonK firmware through the signal wire is almost like flashing the firmware with an ISP Programmer. The only difference is, you choose as an Programmer the ArduinoUSBLinker. Choose the right controller (without bootloader, as it is already enabled), the right firmware and firmware version and click on the green button on the right to flash it.

ArduinoUSB.Linker.Pic2

If you wish to enable the comp_pwm (aka damped light) function, check how to do it in the article mentioned above.

You can also flash the SimonK firmware using the RapidFlash App for Google Chrome. It looks very similar to the Baseflight/Cleanflight Configurator for the Naze32/CC3D boards. Select the Programmer, COM Port, Firmware and the Firmware version and click flash. On the ”Advanced”-Tab you can enable the comp_pwm function much easier than with KKmulticopter Flash Tool.

RapidFlash.Pic1

If you have any problems, feel free to comment.