Discussions

PixRacer with Ardupilot

Posted by Randy on February 9, 2016 at 4:47pm

This is a discussion to focus the feedback and support of ardupilot on the PixRacer board from AUAV.co.

We believe that all teething problems encountered are now resolved and so we recommend people load Copter-3.3.4 which is available for all multicopters through the Mission Planner's (and other GCS's) Install Firmware screens. Note that because regular Pixhawks are still on Copter-3.3.3 the install icon may show Copter-3.3.3 but rest assured, Copter-3.3.4 will be installed (you can check the version by looking at the very top of the Mission Planner).

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apm:copter, arducopter, ardupilot, pixracer

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Replies

Cala April 11, 2018 at 2:17pm

Nice option, another one is a X 2.1 f board if fit.
Mark Whitehorn April 11, 2018 at 6:08am

In the blog post on the Convergence, I measured 168Hz for the FrSky converter.

That was independent of the value for parameter SERIAL_SBUS_RATE, which defaults to 50Hz.

If you have an oscilloscope or logic analyzer you should check what you're actually getting. Yours might behave differently due to firmware changes. Here's the point in the PR log where someone else thought he was seeing 50Hz: https://github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot/pull/7270#issuecomment-34734...

add library AP_SBusOut by kd0aij · Pull Request #7270 · ArduPilot/ardupilot

supersedes #6794 Adds support for SBUS serial output in AP_HAL for all vehicle types. This PR implements the UARTDriver configure_parity and set_st…
Anthony Webber April 11, 2018 at 3:06am

Hi Mark,

Ah gotcha regarding the frame rate. I just purchased the FrSky 4 channel one you suggested, so we'll see how we go with that. Any idea of its frame rate?
Mark Whitehorn April 10, 2018 at 5:09pm

That looks good, too. Beware that some sbus to pwm converters will output frame rates > 50Hz, which might be a problem with analog servos. If you're using ESCs or digital servos, that's OK.
Anthony Webber April 10, 2018 at 4:27pm

Also this: https://hobbyking.com/en_us/sbd4-4-channel-s-bus-decoder.html

SBD4 4-Channel S.BUS Decoder

SBD4 4-Channel S.BUS Decoder
Mark Whitehorn April 10, 2018 at 11:50am

Glad you like it. I just noticed that there's now a very tiny single channel converter from FrSky: https://alofthobbies.com/frsky-sd1-sbus-converter.html

Of course, without the pins and wrapper, the 4 channel one is also pretty small.

FrSky SD1 SBUS Converter

A compact and easy to use SBUS decoder to convert any conventional servo to an SBUS compatible servo. This decoder converts a single SBUS channel to…
Anthony Webber April 10, 2018 at 4:44am

Wow, that's fantastic, Mark!

Thanks so much. I only need two extra channels, and space is so limited. I need to get a very tiny converter, but this is great :)
Mark Whitehorn April 9, 2018 at 8:18pm

you could use Sbus and a PWM converter as described here: https://discuss.ardupilot.org/t/e-flite-convergence-with-pixracer-a...

Sbus supports up to 16 channels, and there are both 4 and 8 channel sbus to PWM converters on the market. So using one 8 channel converter would give you a total of 14 servo outputs.

E-Flite Convergence with PixRacer and SBUS output

Previous conversions of the Convergence to ArduPilot have used the Pixhawk1 flight controller (E-flight converge default file, E-flight Convergence d…
Anthony Webber April 9, 2018 at 6:18pm

Is there any way at all that the PixRacer could be miraculously transformed such that it'll handle 8 ESC signals? I need something small for a coax octocopter that will a) run ArduCopter and b) fit the 30.5mm x 30.5mm (hole centres) board format.

I'd be most grateful for any suggestions / advice etc.

Thanks :)
Mark Whitehorn December 10, 2017 at 8:32am

The PixRacer does not have an analog input pin dedicated to airspeed input. I use the MS4525 and MS5525 digital sensors on I2C instead.

Juan C Ricardo said:

Hi guys:

Anyone knows here if I can wire an analog speed sensor to pixracer ?

regards and thanks in advance !

jc