Clearpath Base Station
The Base Station is comprised of three main systems: A Power System, a GPS Receiver, and a Cellular + Wifi Router. These components are housed in a waterproof enclosure for operation in nearly all weather. An integrated surveyor tripod mount allows the base station to be deployed anywhere.
Power System
The power system includes a 12V 10Ah LiFePO4 battery, an internal intelligent charger, and power distribution. An integrated high-accuracy power meter displays the state of charge of the battery even when the power is off. The components in the Base Station typically only consume 7-10W, so the battery lasts about 12 hours on a full charge. When connected to its DC power source, the base station can charge in about 3 hours and may run indefinitely when plugged in.
The charger status can be accessed wirelessly using Bluetooth. While the settings generally do not need to be changed, the status of the charger may still be monitored.
Output from the power system is unregulated VBat (generally 10-13.5V depending on state of charge).
GNSS
A built-in u-blox 9-Series based GPS receiver allows the Base Station to serve RTK corrections to any connected robot(s). After a few minutes of survey time, the RTK data is available for use. The generated data is in the industry-standard RTCMv3 format.
Peplink BR1 Cellular Modem + Wifi6 Router
Integrated into the Base Station is one of the most current mobile-ready cellular + Wifi routers available. Featuring high-bandwidth Wifi6 plus a 5G-capable cellular modem, the Peplink BR1 Pro 5G radio is ready to support modern data rates.
The BR1 is configured for dual-band 2.4GHz + 5GHz operation. It will issue IP addresses by DHCP to any connected computer. Note that it features a sub-divided subnet structure, where the bottom half of IP addresses are reserved for the Base Station BR1 and any connected BR1 radios installed on robots. The upper IP ranges are intended to be used by connected user computer, robots, and sensors. In a multi- robot system with robot-mounted BR1s, care should be put into reserving DHCP ranges to avoid overlap.
The built-in cellular modem is capable of connecting to nearly any LTE or 5G network when an activated SIM card is installed in one of the SIM card slots.
Connecting to the Base Station
It is possible to connect to the Base Station via Wifi or its built-in LAN port. In general, the LAN connection will provide faster and more reliable data rates to the Base Station.
Connection via Wifi
Unless otherwise configured, the Base Station will broadcast the SSID CPR-Base-Station. The password will
be clearpath. The IP address of the BR1 in the Base Station will be 192.168.130.1. Use this address
to access its Web UI. Your delivered Base Station may have different values from these defaults; please
see the last page for customer-specific configurations.
| Parameter | |
|---|---|
| SSID | CPR-Base-Station |
| Password | clearpath |
It is recommended to change the default password for the broadcasted SSID of the Base Station. To do so, log in to the
Peplink BR1's Web UI, navigate to AP, click the name of the access point and change the password.
Use caution when changing any default values in the Base Station BR1. Robot-mounted BR1 units that are configured to connect to the Base Station rely on these known parameters, so changes could cause their connection to be severed.
By default, any devices connecting to the Base Station by Wifi will be given an IP address by DHCP. The
address will be in the 192.168.130.2 to 192.168.130.126 range.
Connection via LAN
Connection via the LAN port is simple! Connect an ethernet cable between the LAN port on the side of the Base Station and your computer. Your computer will be given an IP address via DHCP.
Communicating with Robots on the Network
In order to access a robot computer that is connected to the Base Station (either directly with built-in
Wifi, or via a “client” BR1 installed on the robot), its IP address needs to be known. It is good practice to
set a DHCP Reservation for the robot computer so that it is always connected via a known IP address. In
the case where a robot is connecting to the Base Station directly using a built-in Wifi card, the DHCP
address may be permanently reserved by logging in to the Base Station BR1. Navigate to Status, then to
Client List. A list of connected clients will appear. In the row matching the robot computer, click the small
"tag" icon to reserve the currently assigned address.
If the robot computer is connected via an On-Board BR1, then the DHCP reservation must be done in a
similar fashion on the on-board BR1, and not the Base Station. A robot given an IP address by an
onboard BR1 will have an address in the 192.168.130.130 to 192.168.130.254 range.
Connecting the Base Station to the Internet
There are two ways to add an Internet connection to the Base Station. Using a cellular connection, or by connecting the Base Station’s WAN port to a live Internet connection.
Connecting via Cellular
To enable cellular data on the Base Station, first power down the Base Station. Remove the small SIM slot cover from the SIM ports, located next to the array of four cellular antennas. Insert a data-enabled SIM card into one the of the SIM card slots. Power on the Base Station. After a number of minutes the BR1 will eventually achieve a connection to the cellular network. The status can be checked via the Base Station’s web UI, on the Dashboard tab.
Connecting via WAN
On the side of the Base Station are two Ethernet ports, labeled “LAN” and “WAN”. Simply connect the WAN port to a live Internet connection, and the Base Station should be granted an IP address via DHCP. If the Base Station is not able to connect to the Internet, or is not granted a WAN IP address, contact your network administrator in case additional login credentials are needed.
GNSS RTK Corrections
The Base Station features a built-in Ardusimple RTK2B GPS receiver, configured to broadcast RTK corrections in RTCM format. The receiver is connected to the Peplink BR1 via ethernet. Its IP address is statically assigned as 192.168.130.30. The device publishes RTCMv3 messages to TCP port 28785. Therefore, any robot on the same network can access the GPS receiver. When configuring a GPS receiver on a robot to receive corrections, make sure it is set to receive corrections in the RTCMv3 format.
The GPS receiver is remotely accessible via is IP address, using the u-blox “u-center” application. When doing so, simply enter the address "tcp://192.168.130.30:28784" into the communications menu drop- down. The u-center application may be downloaded from the u-blox website: https://www.u-blox.com/en/product/u-center.
Setting the Surveyed Position
The Base Station is configured to automatically survey its position on power-up. If the Base Station is moved to a new location, even just a meter, you will need to power cycle the Base Station so that it surveys the new position.
A full survey takes 20 minutes. During this time, the base station continually logs GPS data from all visible satellites to refine its position. Once survey is complete, the Base Station position in the world frame should be accurate to about 0.5m. Note that for the survey to be accurate, the Base Station should have a clear view of the sky, free from obstructions such as buildings and trees.
Battery & Power System
The Base Station is designed around a Dakota Lithium 12V, 10Ah LiFePO4 battery. The battery itself has some built-in protections, including over-voltage, under-voltage, and short circuit. But most of the intelligence comes from a Victron charge controller. This device takes in a range of voltages, from about 16V to 75V, and is able to simultaneously charge the battery and control a load output. It is configurable via Bluetooth to set various parameters including charge voltage, charge current, load on/off thresholds, and more. We do not recommend changing these parameters.
A resettable 10A fuse is connected in-line with the battery's positive terminal. For shipping or for storage, this fuse should be switched to the "off" position to prevent the battery from discharging. Prior to using the Base Station, you must turn this switch to the “RESET” position.
Separate from the SmartSolar charger is a precision shunt-style battery capacity display. It will indicate when the battery is being charged or discharged, in addition to displaying the current battery capacity.
The Base Station will automatically shut itself off when the battery voltage reaches 10V in order to protect the battery. If this happens, plug in the battery charger, cycle the resettable fuse, and allow the battery to fully charge.
The Base Station is shipped with a 24VDC, 3.75A AC-DC power supply. Please only use this power supply for charging your Base Station.
Technical Specifications
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Mass (with Antennas) | 7.9kg |
| DC Input Range | 16VDC-75VDC, minimum 3A |
| Battery | 12V, 10Ah LiFePO4 |
| Battery Certifications | UN38, UL1642 certified. Tested per IEC62133. |
| External DC Charger (Supplied) | Meanwell 24V, 3.75A output. Universal AC input. |
| Battery Charge Controller | Victron Energy MPPT 75/10 Smart Solar |
| Fuse | 10A (resettable) |
| Runtime (Battery Only) | 12 hours |
| Runtime (With Charger) | Indefinite |
| Charge Time (With Included Charger) | 3 hours from 0% to 100% while powered on |
| Battery Charge Level Display | Backlit LCD |
| GPS Receiver | Ardusimple RTK2B (u-blox 9 series) |
| GPS RTK Acquisition time | 20 minutes |
| Wifi/Cellular Router | Peplink MAX BR1 Pro 5G |
| Wifi Maximum Power Output | 19.9 dBm @ 2.4 GHz, 23 dBm @ 5.8 GHz |
| Wifi Antenna Gain | 4.5 dBi @ 2.4 GHz, 7 dBi @ 5.8 GHz |
| Storage Temperature Range | -30C to +60C (ambient, shade) |
| Operating Temperature Range | -20C to +45C (ambient, shade) |
| Charging Temperature Range | 0C to +45C (ambient, shade) |