Signal Strength Logging Repository

Overview

Logs the LTE signal strength of the drone to a file.

Repository:

GitHub - UWARG/signal-strength-logging: Logs signal strength.

Software

Setup

Clone the repo to the user directory:

  • cd ~/

  • git clone https://github.com/UWARG/signal-strength-logging.git

  • cd signal-strength-logging

Setup the virtual environment:

Install requirements: pip install -r requirements.txt.

Usage

Prerequisites:

Copy the contents of rc.local.copyme to /etc/rc.local.

  • Modifying /etc/rc.local requires superuser access (e.g. sudo)

  • Line 3 may be edited to specify the path where the venv lies if it is not the same.

  • Line 5 may be edited to specify the path where the script lies if it is not the same.

Set SERIAL_PORT to the correct device path of the modem. (It is usually /dev/ttyUSBx where x is a number)

Set BAUDRATE to the modem’s serial baud rate. (It is normally 115200 by default, but it is good to double check)

Use an external drive (e.g. USB flash drive) as the output file path because the RPi is write-protected (nothing will save).

The code should now automatically begin running when the Raspberry Pi boots up.

Hardware

  • Raspberry Pi.

    • The Raspberry Pi on the drone has been configured to wait 20 seconds for things to connect before booting up. There is a 20 second delay for the RPi to connect to the LTE network and other such setup things, but rc.local will run before this 20 second delay has finished. Hence, there is a 20 second delay in the script at the beginning (mainly because the USB drive has not been mounted yet).

  • LTE hat/modem (SIM7600G-H). See LTE Documentation for more details.

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