IO Controller

Hardware

The AutomatePro is equipped with comprehensive onboard current and voltage monitoring systems. This reduces the need for external sensors and enables effective downstream monitoring, facilitating early detection of potential issues. The monitored power supply diagram is shown below.

ROS API

Node: io_controller

The IO controller topics and services use the default reliable QoS.

Publishers

Topic	Type	Description
/diagnostic/io_controller_hw	automatepro_interfaces /msg/IOControllerDiagnostic	Hardware and board diagnostics, including rail voltages and currents, power-good states, digital-drive faults, and board temperature. Published every second; the values are smoothed with an exponential moving average (factor 0.8).
/diagnostic/io_controller_fw	automatepro_interfaces /msg/IOFirmwareDiagnostic	Firmware diagnostics, including controller uptime and fault codes.

IOControllerDiagnostic publishes these fields:

Field	Type	Description
header	std_msgs/Header	Message timestamp; the frame ID is io.
vbatt_voltage_monitor	float32	Battery voltage in V.
v12_io_smps_current_monitor	float32	12V IO SMPS current in A.
v12_io_smps_voltage_monitor	float32	12V IO SMPS voltage in V.
main_sbc_smps_current_monitor	float32	Main SBC SMPS current in A.
main_sbc_smps_voltage_monitor	float32	Main SBC SMPS voltage in V.
v5_io_smps_voltage_monitor	float32	5V IO SMPS voltage in V.
v5_io_smps_current_monitor	float32	5V IO SMPS current in A.
amp_total_power_monitor	float32	Main SBC power (main SBC SMPS voltage times current) in W.
v12_io_power_good	bool	12V IO rail power-good state.
v5_io_power_good	bool	5V IO rail power-good state.
v3_3_io_power_good	bool	3.3V IO rail power-good state.
main_sbc_power_good	bool	Main SBC rail power-good state.
v5_sbc_power_good	bool	5V SBC rail power-good state.
v3_3_sbc_power_good	bool	3.3V SBC rail power-good state.
v1_8_sbc_power_good	bool	1.8V SBC rail power-good state.
digital_drive_fault_1	bool	Digital-drive fault 1 state.
digital_drive_fault_2	bool	Digital-drive fault 2 state.
digital_drive_fault_3	bool	Digital-drive fault 3 state.
digital_drive_fault_4	bool	Digital-drive fault 4 state.
board_temp	int8	Board temperature in degrees Celsius.

IOFirmwareDiagnostic publishes these fields:

Field	Type	Description
header	std_msgs/Header	Message timestamp; the frame ID is io.
uptime	uint32	IO controller firmware uptime in seconds.
fault_code	uint8[10]	Firmware fault-code array.

Parameters

All parameters are read-only and report the hardware and firmware of the IO controller.

Parameter	Type	Description
hardware.version.major	int	Hardware major version.
hardware.version.minor	int	Hardware minor version.
hardware.uuid_1 to hardware.uuid_4	int	Hardware unique ID, in four parts.
hardware.config	int	Hardware configuration.
firmware.version.major	int	Firmware major version.
firmware.version.minor	int	Firmware minor version.
firmware.version.patch	int	Firmware patch version.

Developer Notes: IO controller CLI

The installer provides /usr/local/bin/io_controller, which controls the IO controller MCU from the compute module:

Command	Action
io_controller reset	Resets the IO controller MCU. automatepro-io-agent.service runs it before each start.
io_controller normal_mode	Sets the MCU to normal mode and resets it.
io_controller flashing_mode	Sets the MCU to flashing mode.
io_controller flash <path/to/hex> [options]	Sets flashing mode, writes the firmware hex file over UART, and returns the MCU to normal mode.
io_controller install <path/to/tgz>	Installs the Renesas flash programmer CLI from a .tgz archive into /opt/automatepro/bin.

Example

This example prints diagnostic information about the IO controller by subscribing to the /diagnostic/io_controller_hw topic. The tutorial package is available in the AutomatePro tutorials repository, and its README explains how to build and run the examples.

Python

Source: io_controller.py

import rclpy
from rclpy.executors import ExternalShutdownException
from rclpy.node import Node
from automatepro_interfaces.msg import IOControllerDiagnostic


class IOControllerDiagnosticSubscriber(Node):

    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__('io_controller_diagnostic_subscriber')
        self.subscription = self.create_subscription(
            IOControllerDiagnostic,
            '/diagnostic/io_controller_hw',
            self.listener_callback,
            10)

    def listener_callback(self, msg):
        self.get_logger().info('Received IOControllerDiagnostic message:')
        self.get_logger().info(f'Battery Voltage: {msg.vbatt_voltage_monitor:.3f} V')
        self.get_logger().info(f'12V IO SMPS Current: {msg.v12_io_smps_current_monitor:.3f} A')
        self.get_logger().info(f'12V IO SMPS Voltage: {msg.v12_io_smps_voltage_monitor:.3f} V')
        self.get_logger().info(f'Main SBC SMPS Current: {msg.main_sbc_smps_current_monitor:.3f} A')
        self.get_logger().info(f'Main SBC SMPS Voltage: {msg.main_sbc_smps_voltage_monitor:.3f} V')
        self.get_logger().info(f'5V IO SMPS Voltage: {msg.v5_io_smps_voltage_monitor:.3f} V')
        self.get_logger().info(f'5V IO SMPS Current: {msg.v5_io_smps_current_monitor:.3f} A')
        self.get_logger().info(f'Main SBC Power: {msg.amp_total_power_monitor:.3f} W')
        self.get_logger().info(f'12V IO Power Good: {msg.v12_io_power_good}')
        self.get_logger().info(f'5V IO Power Good: {msg.v5_io_power_good}')
        self.get_logger().info(f'3.3V IO Power Good: {msg.v3_3_io_power_good}')
        self.get_logger().info(f'Main SBC Power Good: {msg.main_sbc_power_good}')
        self.get_logger().info(f'5V SBC Power Good: {msg.v5_sbc_power_good}')
        self.get_logger().info(f'3.3V SBC Power Good: {msg.v3_3_sbc_power_good}')
        self.get_logger().info(f'1.8V SBC Power Good: {msg.v1_8_sbc_power_good}')
        self.get_logger().info(f'Motor Drive Fault 1: {msg.digital_drive_fault_1}')
        self.get_logger().info(f'Motor Drive Fault 2: {msg.digital_drive_fault_2}')
        self.get_logger().info(f'Motor Drive Fault 3: {msg.digital_drive_fault_3}')
        self.get_logger().info(f'Motor Drive Fault 4: {msg.digital_drive_fault_4}')
        self.get_logger().info(f'Board Temperature: {msg.board_temp} °C')


def main(args=None):
    rclpy.init(args=args)
    node = IOControllerDiagnosticSubscriber()
    try:
        rclpy.spin(node)
    except (KeyboardInterrupt, ExternalShutdownException):
        pass
    finally:
        node.destroy_node()
        rclpy.try_shutdown()


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

Run the node using the following command:

ros2 run automatepro_python_tutorials io_controller_diagnostic_node

C++

Source: io_controller.cpp

#include <rclcpp/rclcpp.hpp>
#include <automatepro_interfaces/msg/io_controller_diagnostic.hpp>

class IOControllerDiagnosticSubscriber : public rclcpp::Node
{
public:
  IOControllerDiagnosticSubscriber()
  : Node("io_controller_diagnostic_subscriber")
  {
    subscription_ = this->create_subscription<automatepro_interfaces::msg::IOControllerDiagnostic>(
      "/diagnostic/io_controller_hw", 10,
      std::bind(&IOControllerDiagnosticSubscriber::listener_callback, this, std::placeholders::_1));
  }

private:
  void listener_callback(const automatepro_interfaces::msg::IOControllerDiagnostic::SharedPtr msg)
  const
  {
    RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "Received IOControllerDiagnostic message");
    RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "Battery Voltage: %.3f V", msg->vbatt_voltage_monitor);
    RCLCPP_INFO(
      this->get_logger(), "12V IO SMPS Current: %.3f A",
      msg->v12_io_smps_current_monitor);
    RCLCPP_INFO(
      this->get_logger(), "12V IO SMPS Voltage: %.3f V",
      msg->v12_io_smps_voltage_monitor);
    RCLCPP_INFO(
      this->get_logger(), "Main SBC SMPS Current: %.3f A", msg->main_sbc_smps_current_monitor);
    RCLCPP_INFO(
      this->get_logger(), "Main SBC SMPS Voltage: %.3f V", msg->main_sbc_smps_voltage_monitor);
    RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "5V IO SMPS Voltage: %.3f V", msg->v5_io_smps_voltage_monitor);
    RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "5V IO SMPS Current: %.3f A", msg->v5_io_smps_current_monitor);
    RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "Main SBC Power: %.3f W", msg->amp_total_power_monitor);
    RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "12V IO Power Good: %d", msg->v12_io_power_good);
    RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "5V IO Power Good: %d", msg->v5_io_power_good);
    RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "3.3V IO Power Good: %d", msg->v3_3_io_power_good);
    RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "Main SBC Power Good: %d", msg->main_sbc_power_good);
    RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "5V SBC Power Good: %d", msg->v5_sbc_power_good);
    RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "3.3V SBC Power Good: %d", msg->v3_3_sbc_power_good);
    RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "1.8V SBC Power Good: %d", msg->v1_8_sbc_power_good);
    RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "Motor Drive Fault 1: %d", msg->digital_drive_fault_1);
    RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "Motor Drive Fault 2: %d", msg->digital_drive_fault_2);
    RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "Motor Drive Fault 3: %d", msg->digital_drive_fault_3);
    RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "Motor Drive Fault 4: %d", msg->digital_drive_fault_4);
    RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "Board Temperature: %d °C", msg->board_temp);
  }

  rclcpp::Subscription<automatepro_interfaces::msg::IOControllerDiagnostic>::SharedPtr
    subscription_;
};

int main(int argc, char * argv[])
{
  rclcpp::init(argc, argv);
  auto node = std::make_shared<IOControllerDiagnosticSubscriber>();
  rclcpp::spin(node);
  rclcpp::shutdown();
  return 0;
}

Run the node using the following command:

ros2 run automatepro_cpp_tutorials io_controller_diagnostic_node