First draft of 3DR avionic plate for GPS mast and Arduino Uno

Posted by Francis Chan on June 17, 2014 at 12:37pm

Slowly moving along this project and thought other Iris owners may be of interest.

http://nwind21.github.io/ardupilot/2014/06/14/Avionics-Plate/

This is a photo of it "mounted" but I didn't screw it down.  Nylon posts go down to the Iris' top plate through the outer shell.  I'm making a drill template for both the upper Iris avionics plate and the curved shell.

I'm in the process of wiring in a dedicated 12v -> 5v regulator for the avionics and lighting system so my Iris is completely in pieces atm.  Plan is eventually to drive Neopixels from the Uno with the Pixhawk sending commands via I2C for events.  E.G.  mode changes flash different patterns, etc.

I'll post more updates if people are interested when I put humpty dumpty back together again.

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  • Francis Chan June 22, 2014 at 11:32pm

    Well, here's the update:

    • Programmed a really basic navigation light setup.  It slowly pulses for now.
    • Was able to fit all the wires inside the case (took a while to negotiate the wires.  Wished there was better cable management)
    • Routed all the connectors through a hole in the top shell.
    • The power lines seen outside are the power to the LEDS and the Arduino through a step-down converter mounted on the back (similar to the position on aforsynth below).
    • 4 pixels below each arm, 1 pixel on the leg.

    3701764935?profile=originalThis is what is looks like at night.

    3701765106?profile=originalCheers!

    • Dan Ortiz > Francis Chan July 12, 2014 at 4:19pm

      I am wondering if any of this equipment with mess with the IRIS at all.

  • aforsyth June 18, 2014 at 10:09am

    We use a 12V -> 5V UBEC to provide 5V on the Iris Pixhawk rail for our CHDK triggers - when you say you're "wiring one in" - does that mean you're building one or off the shelf? :)

    The 3DR Y6 now comes with 5V applied to the Pixhawk rail out of the box, but we haven't torn our RTF unit down to see where they're regulating that 5V separately from the 3.3V going to the Pixhawk.

    Below is what we use:

    http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__15212__HobbyKing_Micro_U...

    • Francis Chan > aforsyth June 18, 2014 at 10:26am

      Nope, not building one.  I already ordered another 3.5A switch step-down regulator but this one looks way easier to get hook up and way cheaper.  Darn.  I'll probably order this one instead and put the one I ordered in my bin of parts.

      I was thinking I could tap into the pixhawk power but I'm unsure the max current from the Iris power distribution board. The Iris has a TI regulator which I believe feed the 5v power rail to the pixhawk but it's max current is 2.5A (I think) and my LEDs may draw up to 1.2A.  I decided probably best to just wire in an avionics specific power tap so I don't overload parts that weren't designed for what I want.  I _think_ I can tap into the gimbal JST connector which is already a 12v rail and I think it is a direct tap from the battery.

    • aforsyth > Francis Chan June 18, 2014 at 11:34am

      We soldered a JST connector onto the UBEC leads to connect to the the JST connector provided for the Tarot, to keep the system modular while we did migration testing from the APM to Pixhawk.

      The UBEC velcros onto the top of the Iris shell, and the 5V goes to the Pixhawk rail.

      ubec.jpg

  • Todd June 18, 2014 at 8:19am

    Nice!  I wondered how to get LEDS on my Iris.

This reply was deleted.