Defining a custom sensor
You will find many supported sensor formats in the Protocol drop-down list found on the Sensors Setup page in the System Configuration dialog box. However, if a particular third-party sensor format is not listed there, you can create it (using the third-party sensor specification as your guide).
Context
The Define Custom Sensor dialog box allows you to import sensor strings from third-party sensors or ROV systems. The configuration wizard in this dialog box will guide you through the process.
This dialog box is opened from the Setup menu.
Procedure
1 Click SetupDefine Custom Sensor.
Observe that the Define Custom Sensor dialog box opens.
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2 Enter in the Message ID.
The start (prefix) of the sensor sentence. Refer to the manufacturer's sensor specification to determine what to use. For example, “:” or “$GPRMC”.
3 Select one or more delimiters.
The character used to separate each string in the sentence. You can select more than one if necessary - each character will be treated as one delimiter. Refer to the manufacturer's sensor specification to determine what to use.
4 Select the correct termination character.
The ASCII character that tells the software where the sensor string ends. Options include a carriage return (CR), line feed (LF), or both. Refer to the manufacturer's sensor specification to determine what to use.
5 Enter in the sensor format.
For example: “: ALT DEP HDG ROL PIT” defines a sensor sentence with the Message ID “:” and five fields for Altitude, Depth, Heading, Roll, and Pitch separated by space delimiters.
a Enter the Message ID, followed by the chosen delimiter.
b Enter in one or more of the three-letter definition strings from the list on the right side of the dialog box.
Match each three-letter string with the data type in the sensor specification. For example, enter "ALT" for the part of the sensor sentence corresponding to Altitude, and so on.
c Separate each string with the chosen delimiters.
d If you can't find any part of the sensor sentence on the right-side list, then enter the "Ignored field" string (III).
This will tell the software to skip over this part of the sensor sentence when parsing the string.
6 Select Next to continue.
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7 Provide specifications for each three-letter definition string you entered into the Sensor Format field.
a If applicable, select a data type.
If the data type in the sensor sentence is an integer (for example, 1002), then select Whole number. If the data type in the sensor sentence is a float (for example, 10.02), then select Decimal number. Refer to the manufacturer's sensor specification to determine what to use.
b If applicable, select a Latitude/Longitude Format.
Choose whether to display the latitude/longitude format in degrees, degrees and minutes, or degrees, minutes, and seconds.
c If necessary, enter in a unit scale factor.
The dialog box will tell you what unit scale the software expects (meters, degrees, meters per second, and so on). If the data type in the specification does not match the required unit scale, you must enter an appropriate scaling factor. For example, if the Depth data type is in feet, then you must enter 0.3048 to scale the depth value to meters.
8 Select Next to continue.
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9 Enter in a unique name for your custom sensor.
This name will appear in the Protocol drop-down list found on the Sensors Setup page in the System Configuration dialog box.
10 Select Finish to close the wizard.
11 Set up the custom sensor in the software to start using it.
a Click SetupSystem ConfigurationDevicesSensors Setup.
b Click Add Device.
c Give the sensor a name, then select the custom sensor from the Protocol drop-down list.
d Select the DeploymentMaster Reference tab.
e Select the sensor that you set up earlier from the drop-down list beside the appropriate Master Reference parameter.
Tip
To change or remove the custom sensor, edit or delete the custom sensor XML file. You can find the custom sensor XML file in C:\KML\M3_V0253\BIN\DefinedSensors.