Alexander Gloger

Physics 295/NASA HAB Fellowship

March 10, 2017
Arduino Uno
+
Adafruit Ultimate GPS Breakout
Tutorial

Overview
An Arduino Uno is a microcontroller that can be programed to carry out tasks
such as performing calculations, controlling the flow of a current (used in matrixes for
LED displays), or even operating various instruments. Unlike a RaspberryPi, an
Arduino Uno is NOT a computer and cannot operate like one. Programming requires
the use of an additional computer to enter commands in the form of code through an
Integrated Development Environment to instruct the Arduino unit to execute such
commands.

A Global Positioning System (GPS), according to Garmin, Ltd., is a device that

communicates with satellites in space to pinpoint the users location based on their
orientation. Furthermore, a GPS sends signals to multiple satellites in orbits, times how
long the return of each signal is from each satellite, and then calculates the users
geographic location using this data. Adafruit Industries, LLC. is a maker electronics
company that manufactures the Ultimate GPS Breakout V3, a compact and Arduino-
compatible GPS unit, that will be the premise of this tutorial.

The entire unit complete and ready for use consists of an Arduino Uno, a USB
Cable Type A/B, four male-male wires, an Adafruit Ultimate GPS Breakout v3, a
breadboard, and an antenna.

Connecting to the Arduino

The Arduino-GPS wiring
configuration consists of a total
of five wires: four for the
Arduino-Adafruit connection
and one additional wire to
connect the antenna as shown in
the picture.

The GPS unit MUST be

mounted on a breadboard.
Where the pins on the GPS unit are situated on the breadboard does not matter, for each
horizontal line on the breadboard is attuned with the same connection with every port
on that horizontal line. In other words, every port within line number 1 on the
breadboard is interconnected to relay the same signal for that particular port and wire
designation.

The antenna connects through a single connector on the GPS unit whereas a
breadboard and four male-male wires are needed to connect the Arduino Uno to the
GPS. The male-male wires connect as such:

Arduino Uno Port Adafruit Ultimate GPS Breakout Port

5V VIN
GND GND
2 RX
~3 TX

Again, be sure your pins and wires are within the same line on the breadboard.
For instance, if your GND pin on the GPS is in line 18, then the proper male-male wire
connection to the Arduino Uno must be made by inserting a wire into line 18 and then
into the GND port of the Arduino.
 Once everything is wired properly, plug the USB Cable Type A/B into the
Arduino at the appropriate port and then into your USB port on your computer. Keep
in mind, if you are using a later version of Mac products, you will need a Thunderbolt 3
adapter to make the connection.

Supporting Programs
The Arduino Uno and connected Ultimate GPS Breakout uses the Arduino
Integrated Development Environment (IDE) which can be downloaded from the
Arduino website for free under their Software tab. It will be downloaded in a zip
folder and extracted automatically if downloaded through the Safari browser. If you
download it through the Google Chrome browser, the IDE must be extracted manually.

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: Make sure you save the Arduino folder (the one that
comes with the Zip download that has all the preloaded software for the IDE but
separate from the Arduino IDE) in your My Documents folder. I dont know why but
for some reason, Arduino will not be able to communicate with your GPS and you will
get several Board Errors if it is not in your My Documents folder. This My
Documents folder should be on your main computer drive, not stored on My
Desktop or any other place. It must be saved this this specific place or you will not be
able to upload any GPS codes/commands to your GPS unit and your life will suck
forever. So just do it.

Secondly, you must download the Adafruit GPS Library from GitHub onto your
Arduinos library. To do this, go to:

https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_GPS

and download the zip folder. After this, things become a little complicated.

Your Zip folder,

once extracted, will be
titled Adafruit_GPS-
master move that folder
to your Desktop so that
it appears as a desktop
icon. Keep in mind that the
Arduino folder is racist
against anything with -
master in the file name so
you will need to change it
to exactly Adafruit_GPS
and nothing more. Once
that name is changed, open your explorer or finder and go to the My Documents
folder where you stored the Arduino folder and open it. From there, you should have
your included libraries folder and any other previous sketches you might have if
youve used Arduino before.

If you cannot access your Arduino_GPS folder easily like shown in this picture,
check to make sure its named properly and that its in the right place!!!

Functional Programs

This Adafruit_GPS folder is all the Arduino coding for the GPS unit to run by.
Its already written and stored in your Arduino libraries in case you ever need to access
it for certain tasks that the GPS unit can execute!

Open the libraries

folder and then move the
newly-named Arduino_GPS
folder into the libraries
folder. Wait for the files to be
moved and then open
Arduinos IDE. If you already
have the IDE opened when
you moved these files around,
close it and then reopen it.

Once the installation

and allocation of all the
software has been completed, restart the Arduino IDE and then upload a blank sketch
onto the device and then open the serial monitor. Data should be displayed on the data
interface like the one shown in this screenshot.

Now that youve

confirmed that your GPS unit
is working, its time to get
some actual readings from it
that can tell you where on
Earth you are. To do this, you
will need to go to your
Arduino_GPS folder through
libraries and select the
parsing sketch. It will open
another IDE window. Next hit
upload to upload this
command onto the Arduino device and then open the serial monitor. Your GPS data
will be displayed and should look like the picture on the right.

Lastly, youll want to log your data so you can come back to it after your usage.
To do this, access the locust_start sketch from your Arduino_GPS folder and upload
it.
IMPORTANT: Make sure you have already uploaded the parsing sketch prior to
running the locust_start sketch or it will not log GPS data.

Have fun!