AUAV is proud to announce our latest high quality PixHawk derivative - The XRacer V1. This project was developed in cooperation with Lorenz Meier, David Sidrane, Leonard Hall and many others. This board combines the latest IMU offerings from InvenSense and a large number of capabilities in a micro 36mmx36mm form factor.
Below are some pictures to peak your interest.
XRacer V1 specifications:
- MCU - STM32F427VIT6 rev.3
- FRAM - FM25V02-G
- Ultra low noise LDOs for sensors and FMU
- Sensors used - MPU9250, HMC5983 ( optional ), ICM20608 ( optional ), baro MS5611
- Connectors - GPS+I2C, RC-IN, PPM-IN, RSSI, SBus-IN, Spektrum-IN, USART3 ( TxD, RxD, CTS, RTS ), USART2 ( TxD, RxD, CTS, RTS ), FRSky-IN, FRSky-OUT, CAN, USART8 ( TxD, RxD ), ESP8266 ( full set ), SERVO1-SERVO6, USART7 ( TxD, RxD ), JTAG ( SWDIO, SWCLK ), POWER-BRICK ( VDD, Voltage, Current, GND ), BUZZER-LED_BUTTON
- MicroSD card reader
- RGB LED
- Micro USB
- ESP8266 802.11bgn ( optional )
- Dimensions - 36 x 36mm with 30.5 x 30.5mm hole grid with 3.2mm holes
- Molex Clik-Mate ( JST GH series ) connectors for easy peripheral connect.
- Full set of ready made cables for almost any peripheral module.
- Power supply - 5-5.5VDC from USB or PowerBrick connector. Soon the ACSP4 ( 36 x 36mm power distribution, current, voltage sensor with 5V/2.5A ultra low noise buck and 12V/2A ultra low noise buck ) companion will be announced.
The price and availability will be announced within a few weeks.
Thank you again for your support.
Phil and Nick
Comments
Hi Rob,
Yes, the footprints are almost the same and this is possible.
What about the "racer"......please do not take it as a specialized controller...this is just the name of our new controller. It is a very new approach for a simple small FC with plenty of useful functions. Anybody can use it for almost everything....from fixed wings, copters, etc.
Look at the components used....Although we could use 0402 and QFN/DFNs, we preferred 0603 and TSSOPs for simplicity and robustness. Now the design looks more clean and repairable.
Any chance the board could be fitted with connectors pointing upwards instead of outwards? Then it would fit helicopter frames better. Not asking for a design change. Just wondering if it's possible to have a variant. Maybe connector shells are available that are top entry that fit on the same footprint?
I agree with Leonard. I think the desire for simple, rate-only control for FPV racing exists only because you've never had access to anything else. I'm currently flying a 250 Racer quad with Arducopter, and the benefits of full autopilot functions is clear. Flying in Alt Hold makes learning to fly FPV far, far easier. Being able to use Stop mode, or RTL if you lose orientation is also a huge benefit.
I think the current zeitgeist of "Rate Mode Ninja" is just an attempt by these other flight control groups to distract from the fact they've only been able to figure out the most basic of control systems.
At the end of the day, what matters is what gets you around the track faster. Particularly beginners. To propose that beginners should have to suffer crashes constantly as they learn to fly a Rate-only system, is just elitism at it's worst.
It will be interesting to see in the future, what happens when the superiority of advanced flight control brings to the sport. I expect to see a move by the old-guard to ban the technology, just as has happened throughout the years of motor racing. Banning AWD in Touring Cars in the 80's, banning Traction Control in F1, banning any technology more advanced than a donkey cart in NASCAR, etc.
There's similar product (35x35 mm) with sbus in/out and 8 pwm output called "PX4 Mini / MINIHAWK", 59$.
However Nick great layout!
http://www.readytoflyquads.com/rtf-px4miniaio-v1-3
Hi Mark,
Don't worry, I am not having a go at you. I just don't agree with your perspective on what the fpv top of the line FPV racer will want once the sport and controllers mature. Or it may be more accurate to say while you believe "FPV racers are bare bone go carts" I see them as the new F1's of the quad world. I believe that the advantages offered by a full sensor suite will provide a significant advantage for the pilot. A lot of this comes down to the performance the EKF can achieve with and without those additional sensors. There are also a number of things we can do with additional measurements made by the power module.
These airframes are my primary development platform for Arducopter as I believe they represent the pointy end of control. FPV was my whole reason for getting into Arducopter 3+ years ago and been my motivation for the development of the controllers from the beginning.
http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/fpv-racing-using-arducopter
Love the form factor. It's about time...
Um did I miss one important factor somewhere? What's the price? ;-)
Hi Mark,
I don't agree with some of your points. This board isn't to compete with a clean flight board, this board enables a fully fledged autopilot capable of fitting in a 180 sized quad. The only weight penalty is that of the GPS. This board also represents the next step in Pixhawk sensors and form factor that is equally relevant for much larger aircraft.
So your first point of keeping all unnecessary sensors off the board. The only sensors that are not necessary are the redundant ones and the board can be made without them. Sensors like the baro are fundamental to running Arducopter and without them Arducopter becomes an Acro and Stabilize only controller. Why not just use Clean flight.
I think you are exaggerating the plastic plug issue. From a reliability perspective soldering wires is a serious cause of problems as the solder makes the wire inflexible and wires tend to break where the solder stops. I solder all high current connections but all light wires are crimped unless I can't avoid it.
Hi G crashes haven't caused any problems with my standard pixhawk so I don't expect to see problems here.
Faster chipset is better and loop times need to match the gyro frequency are very broad statements. The simple fact of the matter is that the chipset is more than fast enough and faster chipsets won't add significantly to the fpv market. Arducopter will run two independent EKF's on this board with plenty of room left for control. Control loops should be synced to the gyro reads and directly output to the esc's, however the frequency does not need to be the same.
I am personally really excited about this board and I am looking forward to putting this into a 1+ kW 180 sized quad :)
That is really tiny! Great to see this and Tridge's comment above about how we should be able to support it on the software side.
I should mention, we are making some minor design improvements to this board.
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