Hi everyone! I'm very happy to announce our new u-blox based GPS board. The development teams and 3D Robotics have been working on this GPS unit for some time, and we have seen very good results on ArduPlane, ArduCopter and ArduRover. The Sparkfun AVC and the Quadcopter Rodeo were excellent opportunities to observe this GPS in action, and it helped Team Overhead win first place at AVC.
The device is pretty straight-forward. It has active circuitry for the ceramic patch antenna, rechargeable backup battery for warm starts, and I2C EEPROM for configuration storage. The units will ship pre-configured for ArduPilot Mega use, and the configuration file is available in the repository if needed.
Features and Specifications:
- ublox LEA-6H module
- 5Hz max. update rate, configured for 4Hz for APM
- 25 x 25 x 4 mm ceramic patch antenna
- LNA and SAW filter
- rechargeable 3V lithium backup battery
- low noise 3.3V regulator
- I2C EEPROM for configuration storage
- power and fix indicator LEDs
- ArduPilot Mega compatible 6-pin JST connector
- exposed RX, TX, 5V and GND pads
- 38 x 38 x 8.5 mm total size
- 16.8 g weight
It's on sale now, price is $75.99 USD. It starts shipping on Monday, July 9th.
Design files and links to the board's main component data sheets can be found in the product listing.
We look forward to hearing your feedback!
Comments
Pbreed, the regulator on this board isa very low noise LDO for RF applications, it's rated for 5.5V maximum input. You can probably get away with powering it with 3.3V as the ublox module itself is rated for 3V typical, but the regulator might be at or near dropout.
Pbreed: the refresh rate is up to 5Hz. We run them at 4Hz in the ArduCopter/Plane code.
Martin, I believe the data sheet is outdated, as our 6H modules are configured for 4Hz update rate, and can do 5Hz maximum. See here: http://www.u-blox.com/lea-6h.html
Several questions...
1)Where can I find the firmware/ interfacing info for this version?
2)Looking at the schematic It looks like 5V is not used anywhere on the board, how much headroom does the regulator have to go over 5V? All of my recent systems have 2S lipo and 3.3V, but no 5V,
3)Teh ublox says the -H version is just 2Hz, can you confirm that this is a -H version AND that it is better than 2Hz?
Are those special version 10Hz receivers? The u-blox data sheet (page 6)
http://www.ublox.com/images/downloads/Product_Docs/LEA-6_DataSheet_...
talks about 2Hz for the flash (e.g. LEA-6H) or 5Hz for the ROM (e.g. LEA-6S) version. As far as I understood that is the reason why Mikrokopter uses the ROM version.
https://www.mikrocontroller.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&am...
This is the same GPS unit that the new Autoquad AP is using with great results. Granted, they have a bit more processing power than us, but hopefully, it brings the APMs to a new level. Can't wait to see people's results :)
Koen: yes, it's 100% compatible with APM1. 5hz update rate.
Hi Sam, is it also completely compatible with the APM1?
What is the refresh rate? > 10Hz?
Thx Koen
I try this module using Mikrokopter GPS module that mount same GPS and try Fastrack U501 thatn use MTK 3329 . My impression is that is better MTK 3329 in reacquisition and also the quality of position is similar.
So could be interesting doing a comparative test .
I don't check the 3DR module with MTK 3329 , but i know that don't use backup battery that could be the main problem that you have on 3329.
Best Roberto
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