Network - SBG Systems (R-P-H) (UTC) (TCP) - 03

The Ekinox units support multiple interface types (serial, network, CAN, Logic I/O).

Qinsy supports the following interfaces:

• Serial

• Network 

  • TCP

  • UDP

Time Synchronization

Testing has shown that the TCP interface type is not suitable for the Time Synchronization system as there is too much "jitter" on this interface.

The IP address can be found either on the SBG unit or in the sbgCenter.

The first screen which will appear can be seen below. Here you can still see the system interfacing, make sure that you select the correct view which applies to your type of survey.

Status information can be found on the front page as well including:

• System connection

• Alignment

• Timing/clock

• GNSS mode

• and various other types of information

Manuals can be found on their website https://support.sbg-systems.com/

Orientation and offsets

Select the Motion profile: Marine Plane Ground	Select the correct Alignment: In this case you can clearly see that the alignment is upside down
Enter the Lever arms, by keeping the alignments in mind (X, posititive forward/Y, positive starboard/Z, positive downwards)	Make sure that you enter the location of the Antennas as well. You can also select if the Position, Velocity and True should be used.
3D environment to check your setup

In order to use either of these interfaces, they must be enabled through the embedded web server.

Here interface parameters (e.g. port number, IP-address, baud rate, etc.) can be set:

The user must also configure which messages the unit should send out on each interface. Also select the correct Output Monitoring Point.

The status message is a special message because it contains status information of many of the other message types. As such, it is vital for Qinsy to determine the quality of the data from the unit and must always be enabled.
The UTC message is another special message that is mandatory when the message time stamp is decoded from the message (see DM-0378#Driver Selection). Which Qinsy systems use which messages is described in detail in the remainder of this document. 

The table below summarizes all the logs that this driver can decode. 

Output Rate

The Ekinox units are capable of outputting data at high frequencies (up to 200Hz). Due to limited buffer space, it is advised to not select an output rate higher than 50Hz this is preset by QPS (see preset selection).

Note

The Ellipse Series and Ellipse 2 Series do not support the online interfacing. Please refer to the sbgCenter.

SBG Center

Please connect the SBG unit to the computer via Ethernet or serial.

Open the sbgCenter (downloaded app):

• Check in the Settings to which kind of unit you are connecting:

  • Serial for the Ellips

  • Ethernet for the Ekinox unit

• Connect your system via the Connect icon:

  • The 'Select and connect a device windows' opens

  • Click on Refresh to find the unit connected to the computer

  • In case an Ethernet is connected, the IP location can be found here as well (this will help to connect via the web browser)

  • Select the device and connect.

SBG information

Device information

Device information displayed: Type of unit & serial number Connection: IP Address In/output port Speed Version	Device UTC time and Date for Ekinox D To check for valid clock and timing. Position view for Ekinox D Can compare the INS position to the GPS position.

Device status

General: Is the system correctly powered. Do we receive all the data. Solution: Quality of the system. Aiding Inputs: Is the GNSS information received. In case of a second GNSS system (GNSS 2, not another receiver), do we also receive this kind of information. Interfaces: Which port is being used. Sensors: Are all the sensors calculating.

Once all the above is checked and correctly received, the following information can be displayed as well:

Equipment Information Position: Solution mode. Position and sd's. Velocity: Solution mode. Velocity, course and sd's. True Heading: Heading, if two GPS receivers are connected. Pitch, if two GPS receivers are connected. GNSS information: GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/Bidou. Number of Satellites. Base station Id. 3D view Orientation of the SBG system.	Various kinds of graphs can be displayed

Note

Please note that the sbgCenter can be used for troubleshooting, however the sbgCenter should be closed when using Qinsy, as it occupies the SBG unit.

When a heading is decoded from the Ekinox:

• Add a "Time synchronization" system to your template and select the appropriate Ekinox driver

Warning

Do not use the TCP driver for a Time synchronization system. During testing we found out that there is too much "jitter" on this interface to decode the UTC time properly.

• Select the port and/or IP address of the Ekinox unit

• On the next page enable the use of your Time Synchronization adapter, or leave it disabled if you do not have a Time Synchronization pulse interfaced to Qinsy.
  Normally the use of a Time Synchronization adapter is highly recommended, but note that in a setup where all other systems are already UTC time-tagged from an external time source (GNSS receiver), there is no need for Qinsy to use a Time Synchronization adapter.

Info

Ekinox units with an internal GPS provide the possibility to output the Time Synchronization (PPS) pulse on an output port. Please refer to https://support.sbg-systems.com/ for additional information.

Warning

If a Time synchronization system is used, the unit must be configured to output a UTC_TIME log. For the best performance, set the output rate to 1Hz.

In order to decode a position from the Ekinox:

• Add a Position Navigation System to your template and select the appropriate Driver Selection Ekinox driver

• Select the port and/or IP address of the Ekinox unit

• Select for Horizontal and Vertical datum the datum of your GNSS receiver (depends on your correction source)

• Position information can be decoded from EKF_NAV, GPS1_POS or GPS2_POS log. 
  Which log is used, is based on the selected receiver number in Database Setup:

  

Position set up before 9.7

Changes in the set up have been made since 9.7.1. In case the user is using an older version then this, the set up is still the same but the receiver number must be set as an integer:

• 

Where:

• 

Old receiver numbers are still compatible but when inside the configuration of the driver the receiver number field needs to be updated.

Quality (Qinsy 9.7 and newer)

The possible values of the quality indicator (displayed as "solution mode" in the Positioning System Display) depend on which log is used for the system.
If the position is decoded from the NAV log, the status is decoded from the POSITION_VALID bit in the STATUS log.
If either GPS1 or GPS2 is used to decode the position, the quality is decoded from the GPS_POS_STATUS field in the LOG_GPSx_POS log in the following way:

• If SBG_ECOM_GPS_POS_STATUS is equal to SBG_ECOM_POS_SOL_COMPUTED (a valid position has been computed), the variable SBG_ECOM_GPS_POS_TYPE is returned.

• If SBG_ECOM_GPS_POS_STATUS is not equal to SBG_ECOM_POS_SOL_COMPUTED, SBG_ECOM_GPS_POS_STATUS  multiplied by -1 is returned.
  This leads to the following possible values for the position quality:

Quality flag for the NAV is a combination of the NAV and GPS1 values:

Quality flag values based on the combination of NAV and GPS solution values.

Quality flag for GPS1/GPS2

In order to decode a heading from the Ekinox:

• Add a Gyro Compass System to your template and select the appropriate Ekinox driver

• Select the port and/or IP address of the Ekinox unit

• Select Type: bearing, Unit: degrees

• Heading data can be decoded from EKF_EULER, GPS1_HDT or GPS2_HDT log. 
  Which log is used is based on the slot value in Database Setup:

Quality

The possible values of the quality indicator (displayed as "solution mode" in the Positioning System Display) depend on which log is used for the system:

• If the EULER log is used to decode heading, the quality of the data is decoded from the SBG_ECOM_SOL_HEADING_VALID bit in the SOLUTION_STATUS field of the LOG_STATUS log.

• If either of the GPSx_HDT logs is used to decode the heading, the quality is decoded from the GPS_HDT_STATUS field in the log.
  This leads to the following possible values for the heading quality:

In order to decode a heading from the Ekinox:

• Add a "Time Synchronization" system to your template and select the appropriate Ekinox driver

Warning

Do not use the TCP driver for a Time Synchronization system. During testing we found out that there is too much "jitter" on this interface to decode the UTC time properly.

• Select the port and/or IP address of the Ekinox unit

• On the next page enable the use of your Time Synchronization adapter, or leave it disabled if you do not have a Time Synchronization pulse interfaced to Qinsy.
  Normally the use of a Time Synchronization adapter is highly recommended, but notice that in a setup where all other systems are already UTC time-tagged from an external time source (GNSS receiver), there is no need for Qinsy to use a Time Synchronization adapter.

Info

Ekinox units with an internal GPS provide the possibility to output the Time Synchronization (PPS) pulse on an output port.
Please refer to the Ekinox user manual for additional information.

Warning

If a time synchronization system is used, the unit must be configured to output a UTC_TIME log.
For the best performance, set the output rate to 1Hz.

• Add a "Pitch Roll Heave sensor" system to your template and select the appropriate Ekinox driver 

• Select the port and/or IP address of the Ekinox unit

• Rotation measurements

  • Unit: degrees

• Rotation conventions

  • Roll convention: Positive heeling to starboard

  • Pitch convention: Positive bow up

• Heave measurements

  • sign: Positive downwards

  • unit: Meters

• Combining the data of both messages into a single Pitch Roll Heave sensor can be done by selecting slot value: R/P/H
  Pitch and Roll from EKF_EULER message and Heave from SHIP_MOTION message.

Old Slot IDs are still compatible but when inside the configuration of the driver the Slot field needs to be updated.

• Add a "Pitch Roll Heave sensor" system to your template for pitch and roll. Select the appropriate Ekinox driver 

• Select the port and/or IP address of the Ekinox unit

• Rotation measurements

  • Unit: degrees

• Rotation conventions

  • Roll convention: Positive heeling to starboard

  • Pitch convention: Positive bow up

• Select slot value: R/P
  To only decode the Pitch and Roll from EKF_EULER message

• Add a second "Pitch Roll Heave sensor" system to your template for the heave. Select the appropriate Ekinox driver 

• Select the port and/or IP address of the Ekinox unit

• Rotation measurements

  • Unit: degrees

• Rotation conventions

  • Roll convention: Positive heeling to starboard

  • Pitch convention: Positive bow up

• Heave measurements

  • sign: Positive downwards

  • unit: Meters

• Select slot value: HEAVE
  To only decode the Pitch and Roll from SHIP_MOTION message

Old Slot IDs are still compatible but when inside the configuration of the driver the Slot field needs to be updated.

Warning

Make sure that both Pitch, Roll and Heave systems are included in the Computation.

In order to decode acceleration, velocity and rotation from the Ekinox:

• Add an "Acceleration, Velocity & Rotation Rate" system to your template and select the appropriate Ekinox driver 

• Select the port and/or IP address of the Ekinox unit

• Slots

  • Velocity can be decoded from inertial data. GPS1 data, GPS2 data and Odometer data.

  • Acceleration can be decoded from IMU data and ship motion data.

  • Rotation can only be decoded from IMU data

  • The table below shows which slot value should be used to decode the data from the various log types:

Quality

The table below describes from which messages the quality numbers for the different observations are decoded and what the values mean:

Note that the EKF_EULER (motion and heading) and EKF_NAV (velocity and position) messages do contain a value representing the solution status. This solution status defines whether the corresponding observations (e.g. roll & pitch) should be used or not.
Observations from these messages will be decoded but the quality indicator depends on the decoded solution status and can be -1 (not good, do not use) or 1 (okay).

You can monitor the solution status value as a generic observation:

Database Setup

• Add a "Miscellaneous" system to your template and select the appropriate Ekinox driver: "SBG Systems (Metadata)" or "SBG Systems (Metadata) UTC".

• Select the port and/or IP address of the Ekinox unit

• On the second wizard page add a generic observation using slot id: "SOL_STATUS".

Online

• Use an Observation Physics display the see the (decimal representation) of the last decoded solution status.

• Use a Generic Display to monitor the individual bit flags of the decimal value by using a MASK operator. The meaning for each individual bit is described in the SBG's manual.

Ekinox units are able to output a delayed heave message which contains a delayed computation, which provides a better heave value, but is delayed.
As such, it cannot be used in online computations, but the data can be used in post processing. The delayed heave can be viewed by adding a miscellaneous observation.

Database Setup

• Add a "Miscellaneous" system to your template and select the appropriate Ekinox driver 

• Select the port and/or IP address of the Ekinox unit

• Select the desired delayed heave value through the slot id: "DEL_HEAVE" 

Online

As soon as you go on-line and delayed heave messages are being sent by the Ekinox unit (independent of whether or not a miscellaneous system for delayed heave has been configured), the delayed heave messages will be logged to two files:

• Binary file
  A binary file will be created in your project's Import folder, containing all incoming SHIP_MOTION_HP_x logs.
  The binary file contains the raw log data (e.g. TIME_STAMP, HEAVE_PERIOD, SURGE, SWAY, HEAVE, ACCEL_X, ACCEL_Y, ACCEL_Z, VEL_X, VEL_Y, VEL_Z and STATUS).
  File name convention will be "Ekinox delayed heave MOTION_HP_<monitoring point index> - <System Name> (dd-mm-yyyy).bin".

• ASCII file
  At the same time an ASCII file is created in the same folder with the same file name, but with extension *.txt.
  This file contains a readable representation of the delayed heave.
  In order to keep this file compatible with other drivers that log delayed heave variants the ASCII file will contain the following comma separated values::

  • UTC date and time,

  • Difference between Real and Delayed heave,

  • Delayed heave,

  • Delayed heave RMS,

  • Real heave,

  • Real heave RMS

Warning

The Ekinox unit does not output "real heave" along with the delayed heave. As a result we will only log the delayed heave with the corresponding time stamp to file. The real heave will always be zero.
As a result, the difference between Real and Delayed heave will always be equal to the delayed heave multiplied by -1.

All RMS values will be zero as well.

True Heave logging

Warning

If Delayed Heave data is to be used, it is important to remain Online for at least 3 - 5 minutes after logging has stopped in order for the stored file to cover all of the logged data.

Offline / Replay

• Binary file

  • The delayed heave recorded in the binary file can be imported into the recorded DB files and needs to be replayed after the data is imported.

    Note that the delayed heave only imports the heave value and no Heading, Pitch and Roll.
    When replaying the data make sure to set the following priorities for the delayed heave observations in the Computation Setup :

    • Heading

      • Heading Real Heave - Primary

      • Heading Delayed Heave - Secondary or less

    • Pitch and Roll

      • Motion Real Heave - Primary

      • Motion Delayed Heave - Secondary or less

    • Heave

      • Delayed Heave - Primary

      • Real Heave - Secondary

    The above settings could also be used when recording data online, as the Heave will automatically fall through to the secondary device because the True Heave is not decoded online by the Pitch Roll and Heave Sensor : POS-MV - True Heave.

Processing  

Please refer to driver manual  POS MV V5 (Binary Group 111 - True Heave  for more information about importing this ASCII or binary file into your QPD files. 

True Heave logging

The old Validator method of applying delayed heave is not available for the delayed heave logged by the Ekinox since we do not log the difference between the delayed and the real heave.

The possible values of the quality indicator (displayed as "solution mode" in the Positioning System Display) depend on which log is used for the system.
If the position is decoded from the NAV log, the status is decoded from the POSITION_VALID bit in the STATUS log. If either GPS1 or GPS2 is used to decode the position, the quality is decoded from the GPS_POS_STATUS field in the LOG_GPSx_POS log in the following way:

• If SBG_ECOM_GPS_POS_STATUS is equal to SBG_ECOM_POS_SOL_COMPUTED (a valid position has been computed), the variable SBG_ECOM_GPS_POS_TYPE is returned.

• If SBG_ECOM_GPS_POS_STATUS is not equal to SBG_ECOM_POS_SOL_COMPUTED, SBG_ECOM_GPS_POS_STATUS  multiplied by -1 is returned. This leads to the following possible values for the position quality:

To display which Solution mode you are in an Alert display can be created to add the solution mode for the Positioning.

Change the Alert Setup to the Solution mode you are expecting and system you are using.

The possible values of the quality indicator (displayed as "solution mode" in the Positioning System Display) depend on which log is used for the system:

• If the EULER log is used to decode heading, the quality of the data is decoded from the SBG_ECOM_SOL_HEADING_VALID bit in the SOLUTION_STATUS field of the LOG_STATUS log.

• If either of the GPSx_HDT logs is used to decode the heading, the quality is decoded from the GPS_HDT_STATUS field in the log. This leads to the following possible values for the heading quality.

Select the Quality indicator outside limit.

If the value remains 1 a reliable heading is computed, if not see above what might be going on.

The quality of the pitch and roll is decoded from the SBG_ECOM_SOL_ATTITUDE_VALID bit in the SOLUTION_STATUS field of the STATUS log. 

The quality of the heave is decoded from the SBG_ECOM_HEAVE_VALID bit in the status field of the SHIP_MOTION_X log.

This leads to the following possible quality values: 

Select the Quality indicator outside limit.

If the value remains 1 a reliable motion is computed.

Add a Generic Display and open this .xml :

• SBG quality control.xml
  (Only accessible when an internet connection is available)

To view the following information: