Arduino_MKR GPS Shield library bug?

Official Hardware MKR Family MKR Shields
1

I am trying to connect MKR GPS shield to Arduino by using I2C interface. The instruction is on the link below :

but when I compiled the code, there are some errors from the Arduino_MKRGPS library:

C:\Users\....\Documents\Arduino\libraries\Arduino_MKRGPS\src/GPS.h:88:19: error: field '_ts' has incomplete type 'timespec'

   struct timespec _ts;

I tried #include <time.h> but it did not work.

Could you guys help me with this?

2

Hello Ventcy,

Thank you for sharing your problem with the Arduino community.

Could you please provide the following additional information so we can look into this issue properly?

  • Arduino IDE version
  • Operating system (Windows version)
  • The complete sketch that you uploaded
  • The Arduino board you are using

Some general checks:

  • Make sure you installed Arduino_MKRGPS library from Arduino IDE top menu > Sketch > Include Library > Manage Libraries: search for MKR_GPS and install.

  • Make sure the library is included at the beginning of the sketch: #include <Arduino_MKRGPS.h>

If after these check you keep having issues I recommend you contact Arduino Technical Support here

3

Hello,

I bought an Arduino MKR Zero and want to run a MKR GPS device as a shield on top of the zero.

When I read the serial port without any library, I get the NMEA code.
It looks like there are missing some numbers but anyway I get a response from the GPS.
Example:

void setup()
{
 // Open serial communications and wait for port to open:
 Serial.begin(9600); 
 Serial1.begin(9600);
}

void loop() // run over and over
{
  if (Serial1.available()>0)
  {
   Serial.write(Serial1.read());
 }
}

To interpret the NMEA data I want to use the Arduino_MKRGPS.h library.
But if I try to use GPS.available(), GPS.altitude() oder any other function, there is nothing happening.
A simple code demonstration looks like this:

#include <Arduino_MKRGPS.h>

void setup()
{
 // Open serial communications and wait for port to open:
 Serial.begin(9600); 

 //Start connection to GPS
 GPS.begin(GPS_MODE_UART);
 
}

void loop() // run over and over
 {
 // read GPS data
 if (!GPS.begin()){
    Serial.println("GPS Failed");
  while(1); 
 }
  if (!GPS.available()){
   Serial.println("No data");
  }
  else
  {
   int satellites = GPS.satellites();
   Serial.print("Number of Satellites:");
   Serial.println(satellites);
  }
}

Can anyone help me?
Could there be a problem in the library itself?

4

Hello guys,

just a little update in case anyone has the same problem.

It seems like there was a problem with the MKRGPS-library.
We switched to the TinyGPS++-Library and now it works flawlessly.

5

Everything works fine. It is amusing to read gentlemen:)

6

There is a common thread that there are issues with using the MKRGPS shield. My experience is thus:

  • MKR GSM 1400, all example sketches and additional code on Arduino site work.
  • MKRGPS, used as a shield, both example sketches work.

Put the 2 together, i.e. to send an SMS with the location from the GPS - mysteriously goes into a hole. Stops printing debug to Serial, claims to not acquire a location from the GPS.

I'll try the TinyGPS++ library instead as recommended above. I suspect bugs in the MKRGPS library and/or interactions with other serial-using libraries such as GSM.

Writing "everything is fine" is not helpful, IMHO.

7

I have successfully used the TinyGPS+ library

http://arduiniana.org/libraries/tinygpsplus/

instead of the MKRGPS. Just set the baud rate to 9600 and swap the SoftwareSerial references for Serial1 (the hardware serial port that the GPS communicates on when used as a shield).

8

Wait really? I'm also having issues with this module over I2C. I'm using the examples included in the Arduino_MKRGPS library. None of them work.

I haven't found an answer glossing over the forum, and it seems its been more than a year since the last commit in the library's repo.

Is the library just dead?

9

paulwhitby:
I have successfully used the TinyGPS+ library

http://arduiniana.org/libraries/tinygpsplus/

instead of the MKRGPS. Just set the baud rate to 9600 and swap the SoftwareSerial references for Serial1 (the hardware serial port that the GPS communicates on when used as a shield).

I have tried this with the MKR GSM 1400 + MKR GPS Shield and only print 0s when trying to read position.

#include "TinyGPS++.h"
TinyGPSPlus gps;

void setup() {
  // initialize serial communications and wait for port to open:
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial1.begin(9600);
  while (!Serial) {
    ; // wait for serial port to connect. Needed for native USB port only
  }
}

void loop() {
  
  while (Serial1.available() > 0){
    gps.encode(Serial1.read());
  }
  
  //if (GPS.altitude.isUpdated()){
  Serial.println(gps.location.lat(), 6);
  //}
  delay(1000);
  
}
10

I'm having this issue as well. I tried the TinyGPS example, and I too am getting 0.0000. Has anyone found a solution? I'm using a MKR 1010 Board and the MKR GPS Shield connected via the I2C.