Adafruit Ultimate GPS (Breakout version) - riplaboratory/Kanaloa GitHub Wiki

Adafruit Ultimate GPS (Breakout version)

This is a quick tutorial for interacting with the Adafruit Ultimate GPS. This tutorial is for the breakout version. There is another version of the GPS in the form of an Arduino shield. The instructions for its use is subtly different.

Original tutorial from here: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ultimate-gps?view=all

Prerequisites

  1. Ubuntu 18.04 (for this tutorial)
  2. Arduino IDE (or some kind of serial monitor, the Arduino one is convenient because you probably already have it, but there are certainly lighterweight options out there).
  3. An FTDI breakout board, and USB cable compatible with it (usually microUSB or miniUSB).

Instructions

  1. Connect the GPS to the FTDI as instructed here (https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ultimate-gps?view=all). Connect VCC (from FTDI) to VIN (to GPS); connect GND (from FTDI) to GND (to GPS); connect TXD (from FTDI) to RX (to GPS); connect RXD (from FTDI) to TX (to GPS).

  2. Connect FTDI breakout to computer USB port. Then type:

ls /dev

This will bring up the list of connected devices in Linux. If you have no other USB devices plugged in, this will probably be listed in ttyUSB0. If you're having trouble figuring it out, unplug the device, type ls /dev, then plug it in, type ls /dev again, and look at the difference.

  1. Open the Arduino IDE (or whichever serial monitor software you want). Open the port you found in the previous step. You may also have to set the baud rate.

  2. For a list of commands you can send via serial, see this document: https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/datasheets/PMTK_A11.pdf

  3. The GPS is now ready to integrate with a ROS package like nmea_navsat_driver