Cyclops GCS messages

Cyclops send several informational messages to the GCS during startup and while running in-flight. It is important to know what each message means in order to understand how the system is operating.

Startup messages

We send multiple messages over MAVLink to GCS software so that determining the status and performance of Cyclops is easy. The main messages to look for are: SRC=1/191:CYCLOPS: TS/CLK 1:1 SYNCING

SRC=1/191:CYCLOPS: HOME POSITION LOADED

SRC=1/191:CYCLOPS: TS/CLK 1:1 SYNCED

After these messages appear, you can run EKF spoof or your preferred bootstrapping method.

Initialization conditions

Cyclops will initialize and begin sending position updates shortly after takeoff. By default, the initialization conditions are:

• Altitude: 20m AGL

• Velocity: 12m/s forward flight for fixed wing, 3m/s climb for multirotor

Both of these can be configured in the Vozilla Lab.

In-flight messages

When Cyclops in running in the air, you will see the following messages:

SRC=1/191:CYCLOPS: READY FOR ARMING

SRC=1/191:CYCLOPS: VISUAL NAVIGATION ONLINE

SRC=1/191:CYCLOPS: MAP MATCH CONV (x), NEXT FIX IN (x)M

These messages will appear periodically, with map match messages appearing every 5 seconds. Over the course of the flight, you will see the following message:

SRC=1/191:CYCLOPS: MAP MATCH APPLIED +(x)M CONV (x)

This message indicates that a map match has been sent to the flight controller and corrected the position. By default Cyclops will apply a map match when the following two conditions are met:

1. Convergence metric is below 50

2. The distance since the previous map match is greater than 500m

Occasionally, you may see EKF LANE SWITCH, DCM ACTIVE, EKF3 ACTIVE messages. This occurs when a map match corrects the position over a large distance. This is healthy and means that the position has been corrected.