roboticsai / vmu931

C library for Variense VMU931 IMU

vmu931

This is C library for communication with Variense VMU931 inertial measurment unit.

Platforms

Library works on Unix platforms (e.g. Linux).

Hardware & Firmware

Library was written for VMU931 and tested with firmware 1.0.1

Scope

Library implements full functionality as defined in VMU931 User Guide 1.3 for firmware 1.0.1.

Functionality	Library functions
init and cleanup	vmu_init, vmu_close
enabling/disabling sensor streams	vmu_stream
setting resolutions	vmu_resolution
reading data from the device	vmu_accel, vmu_gyro, vmu_mag, vmu_euler, vmu_quat, vmu_head, vmu_read_all
selftest and calibration routines	vmu_selftest, vmu_calibrate
device status	vmu_status

Library was designed to retrieve readings history (not only the latest reading).

Library documentation.

Building Instructions

# compilers, make and git
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential git

# clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/bmegli/vmu931.git

# build the examples
cd vmu931
make all

Testing

Run vmu931-euler with your device, e.g.:

./vmu931-euler /dev/ttyACM0

Run vmu931-read-all with your device, e.g.:

./vmu931-read-all /dev/ttyACM0

Run vmu931-estimate-bias with your device and number of seconds, e.g.:

./vmu931-estimate-bias /dev/ttyACM0 10

Calibration

There are two calibration procedures:

• the one triggered with the calibration command (X and Y axes)
• magnetometer calibration (essential for Z axis)

To trigger calibration command you can use vmu931-calibrate example:

./vmu931-calibrate /dev/ttyACM0

Magnetometer calibration is not documented in the VMU931 User Guide 1.3.

While powering up the sensor move it around in multiple orientations until the Euler angles indicates 0 degrees while the sensor has its Y axis pointing North. As of firmware 1.01 this has to be repeated every time you power on the sensor.

More details on wiki.

Using

See examples directory for more complete examples with error handling.

Library documentation.

Calibration command

struct vmu *vmu = NULL;
struct vmu_text text;

vmu = vmu_init("/dev/ttyACM0");
vmu_calibrate(vmu, &text);
vmu_close(vmu);

Single stream (e.g. euler)

int ret;
struct vmu *vmu = NULL;
struct vmu_txyz euler_data[10];

vmu = vmu_init("/dev/ttyACM0");
vmu_stream(vmu, VMU_STREAM_EULER);

while( (ret = vmu_euler(vmu, euler_data, EULER_DATA_SIZE) ) != VMU_ERROR )
{
   for(int i=0; i<10 && i<ret;++i)
      printf("t=%u x=%f y=%f z=%f\n",
         euler_data[i].timestamp_ms,
         euler_data[i].x,
         euler_data[i].y,
         euler_data[i].z);
}

vmu_close(vmu);

Multiple streams (e.g. euler, magnetometer, accelerometer)

struct vmu *vmu=NULL;
struct vmu_txyz euler_data[10];
struct vmu_txyz mag_data[10];
struct vmu_txyz accel_data[10];

struct vmu_data data={0};
struct vmu_size size={0};

size.accel = size.mag = size.euler = 10;	

data.euler = euler_data;
data.mag = mag_data;
data.accel = accel_data;
data.size = size;

vmu = vmu_init("/dev/ttyACM0");
vmu_stream(vmu, VMU_STREAM_EULER | VMU_STREAM_MAG | VMU_STREAM_ACCEL);

while( vmu_read_all(vmu, &data) != VMU_ERROR )
{
   for(int i=0;i<data.size.euler;++i)
      printf("[euler] t=%u x=%f y=%f z=%f\n", data.euler[i].timestamp_ms,
                                              data.euler[i].x,
                                              data.euler[i].y,
                                              data.euler[i].z);

   for(int i=0;i<data.size.mag;++i)
      printf("[mag] t=%u x=%f y=%f z=%f\n", data.mag[i].timestamp_ms,
                                            data.mag[i].x,
                                            data.mag[i].y,
                                            data.mag[i].z);

   for(int i=0;i<data.size.accel;++i)
      printf("[accel] t=%u x=%f y=%f z=%f\n", data.accel[i].timestamp_ms,
                                              data.accel[i].x,
                                              data.accel[i].y,
                                              data.accel[i].z);
			
   data.size=size;
}

vmu_close(vmu);

Compiling your code

C

gcc vmu931.c your_program.c -o your-program

C++

gcc -c vmu931.c
g++ -c your_program.cpp
g++ vmu931.o your_program.o -o your-program

License

Library is licensed under Mozilla Public License, v. 2.0

This is similiar to LGPL but more permissive:

• you can use it as LGPL in prioprietrary software
• unlike LGPL you may compile it statically with your code

Like in LGPL, if you modify this library, you have to make your changes available. Making a github fork of the library with your changes satisfies those requirements perfectly.

Additional information

Building with CMake

Alternatively build examples and library with CMake

sudo apt-get install cmake
cd vmu931
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make