How to connect Reach, Radio, Navio, 3G Dongle

Reach Module / M+ / M2 Hardware integration
1

Hello,

I have two questions that occurred to me:

  1. The Navio 2 has one UART connectors, the Reach seems to have two UART connectors.
    So when connecting the Reach module to the Navio 2, the UART is already occupied.
    Where could I connect the Radio therefore? Would it go to the second UART on the Reach?

Would this setup work: Radio < UART1 > Reach < UART2 > NAVIO 2 <> Raspberry Pi 3

  1. The reach can be connected to an OTG USB Dongle.

2.a) Anyhow, can this be a 3/4G Dongle?

2.b) Once the raspberry pi compatible 3 g dongle is connected to the USB of the Reach,
and a pin free sim card inserted , is the internet traffic automatically passed on the Raspberry
pi Via Reach and Via the Navio - so does the rasberry pi have 3g internet when the 3g dongle is actually connected to the Reach?

Going by the documentation the USB OTG port was intended for Telemetry radios, not 3G Dongles.

2.c) Is it possible, to jointly connect a Radio to the Reach and a 3G dongle?

3.a) ) Of course the question vice versa is, does a compatible unlocked, pin free 3g stick connected to the raspberry pi provide internet to the Reach in the chain of the Reach being connected to the Navio on the RPI.

3.b) or would I have to set up / configer the rasberry pi connected to the 3g dongle to be a 3g wifi hotspot and then the internet would not only be available to the raspberry pi but also the Reach as it could connect via WIFI. This is of course only intended if the configurations above do not work.

Thanks

2

You can create a network between Reach and Raspberry Pi by using Ethernet over USB (CDC), that will allow you to set up bridge internet sharing from the Raspberry. If you plug Reach in RPi using a micro USB cable you will see a new network interface. I will not be able to provide you with full setup details, but it is widely available on the internet.

Reach has one UART connection. USB OTG can be used for radios.

3

Thanks for the reply. To Clarify:

A 3G dongle can not be connected to the USB OTG plug on the Reach, only radios can be connected?

So what is the proper way to connect the Reach to the Navio 2 with The Rasberry pi?
does the Reach go onto the RPi via USB or does the Reach go to the RPi via the UART plug?

Going by your response I would think this is the correct wireing / setup:

Radio < UART 1 > Reach < UART 2 > NAVIO 2 < Pins > RPi 3

I thought there was 2 UART pin headers on the Reach.

and then in addition:

Reach < USB > RPi 3 < USB > 3G Dongle

So the 3 g dongle can not be connected to the Reach, but the 3 G dongle has to go on the RPi as well does the Reach via USB. This way I assume it is possible to provide 3G internet both to the RPi and the Reach.

I see a conflict here: the Reach shall not draw power from the Navio UART as well as USB.

Can you clarify what wireing / connection is actually true? I did not find it in the docs for the reach.

4

If you are connecting Reach via USB you can skip the UART. You will have a network interface and ability to move data over TCP.

Your specific requirement is to have internet both on RPi3 and Reach and USB Ethernet is a solution.

5

Ok, so this leads to

Radio < UART > Navio 2 < Pins > RPi 3 < USB > 3 G Dongle

RPi 3 < USB > Reach

I assume the radio would then go most preferably onto the Navio 2, not onto the Reach?

6

Correct.

7

thanks for the help.

is it possible to send /channel the correction data of reach over 3 G instead of Wifi too or would that be quite slow / delayed and the drone would navigate all of a sudden navigate inaccurately?

So i assume ordinarily, the gps correction data is sent either over Wifi or the Radio.

once the Reach is set up and running, will GPS.py provide me iwth the GPS data of the reach or the onboard GPS data of the Navio 2? I did not find a seperate command to run on the RPi which would provide me with the position data from a Reach connected to the RPi via USB.

https://docs.emlid.com/navio2/Navio-dev/gps-ublox/