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ArduPilot Shield Demo

Posted by Jordi Muñoz on April 23, 2009 at 12:30pm
I few days ago i received the first prototypes of the Ardupilot Shield. Right now they don't have silkscreen to reduce the prototyping costs, but the commercial version will do..Main goals:-On board 3.3V power regulator.-Disable the GPS before uploading new firmware automatically.-A lot of pins headers to easily attach sensors with power supply included.-Special connector for 3.3V GPS modules (including the TTL conversion).-Pressure sensor, with low pass filtering, for AirSpeed...-External reset button.-Mirrored status LED,s...-Optional power divider (analog 5) to measure battery level.

[Infrared connector at the bottom]The cost without the sensor will be around $20 dlls at beginning, soon if i order bigger batch's i can reduce the price.My ideas is to make 100 units without the pressure sensor, and another 100's with the pressure sensor (around $30 dlls price tag)... Stay tuned for more news..You can give a look to the diagram here:

[UPDATE]: Auto turnoff is not working properly on 3.3Volts GPS, so i will need to make some changes.
Tags: ardupilot, shield
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Comments

  • Developer
    Jordi Muñoz May 20, 2009 at 6:39pm
    Yes the transistor let you shutdown the GPS when you are uploading code ;-) So you don't have to disconnect it.
  • Admin
    Thomas J Coyle III May 20, 2009 at 6:34pm
    Jordi,

    Thanks for the quick response. Much appreciated.

    I can see where the +3vdc regulator and the GPS/Radio Modem header receive +5vdc from the IR header through a transistor switch that is controlled by D7.

    Regards,
    TCIII
  • Developer
    Jordi Muñoz May 20, 2009 at 6:20pm
    You can upload this code to ardupilot to check the Board:

    Ardu_Shield_test.zip

    If you apply pressure in the sensor they will blink faster.... And is printing the Pressure sensor values in the serial port...
    https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3691937077?profile=original
  • Developer
    Jordi Muñoz May 20, 2009 at 6:16pm
    Yes, you need to declare the pin 7 as output, and LOW
    pinMode(7,OUTPUT);
    digitalWrite(7,LOW);
  • Admin
    Thomas J Coyle III May 20, 2009 at 6:00pm
    Jordi,

    I got my Ardupilot Shield board put together and attached it to the blue version of the Ardupilot.

    The good: the status and lock led blink in the correct pattern (I have not programmed the Atmega yet). The power led on the Ardupilot board is on.

    The bad: The Shield board power led is not on. There isn't any +5 vdc on the GPS/Radio Modem header pins.

    I do have +5vdc and ground on the Shield board FTDI/Extra +5v header. I do have continuity between the GPS/Radio Modem header ground and the FTDI/Extra +5v header ground. I also have continuity between the FTDI/Extra +5v header +5vdc/gnd and the Optional +5vdc/gnd header.

    I do not have the 406 GPS attached to the Shield board at this time.

    Are you controlling the +5vdc and the +3vdc on the Shield board that requires a jumper?

    Comments?

    Regards,
    TCIII
  • Hessel May 16, 2009 at 1:22am
    I would like to order two with sensor.
  • Nick Sargeant May 16, 2009 at 12:13am
    If you are taking pre-orders I would be happy to buy one (with sensor).
    Cheers,
    Nick
  • Developer
    Mark Colwell May 15, 2009 at 5:11pm
    I will need 2 also!
  • Torin Segstro May 15, 2009 at 5:02pm
    Likewise, I would like to pre-order two!
  • Michal May 15, 2009 at 10:07am
    Jordi - I would be happy to preorder one with sensor.
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