Hi guys,
Here I want to show you my new autopilot hardware which I worked on the past weeks.
The layout and the connections of the boards are chosen for my own convenience.
So airspeed sensor, receiver input, GPS, LEDs and I2C connections are at the front of the autopilot.
Servo output, serial ports, ADC and open drain outputs are at the back.
I also belief in the modularity, having two boards it is easy to replace the main board in the future when I need more performance and using the "expensive" IMU board again. It's still a small system with a height of 12mm and board dimensions of 62mm x 40mm, the weight is 35grams (mainly due to the stiff 1.6mm thick boards).
It's almost APM code compatible, only difference is the gyro+acc. sensor connected directly via SPI and the airspeed sensor which is connected to I2C via a one channel 16bit ADC.
It has all sensor "needed" on the IMU board, which are:
Compass: HMC5883L
3 axis Gyro+Acc.: SD746 (or MPU6000 if it is coming available and prove to be better that the SD746)
Baro: BMP085
Airspeed: MPXV7002 (via ADS1100 16bit ADC)
Three open drain outputs
Three ADC inputs
Three Serial ports
I2C port (5volt)
GPS (Serial port, EM406 pinout)
Status LEDs
Main board:
ATmega2560
ATmega328
TRACO regulator (max 36 volt input to 5volt output)
Eight channel receiver input at the front of the board
Ten channel servo output at the back of the board
Below are some picture of my work, now I have to test and do......some more testing :-)
Please let me know what you think of this solution......
Wish you all the best,
Alexander
