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New 3D Robotics product: u-blox LEA-6H GPS

Posted by Sam Kelly on July 3, 2012 at 3:30pm

3689466555?profile=originalHi 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!

Tags: 3d robotics, 3dr, arducopter, ardupilot mega, arduplane, ardurover, gps
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Comments

  • Jason Willis July 13, 2012 at 6:49pm

    I'm in south Florida and got mine today.

  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson July 13, 2012 at 5:48pm

    Greg: uBlox shipments have already arrived to the first customers; the ones I'm aware of here in San Francisco arrived today. 

  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson July 13, 2012 at 3:02pm

    Greg: The MTK doesn't actually sample at 10Hz (nor do any others in this price category). They typically sample at a lower rate--typically 4Hz or 5Hz--and interpolate that to spit out values at a faster apparent data rate. It's not real data, so it doesn't lead to better performance than real data at 5hz. (You can interpolate data on the autopilot side, too, if you want. )

    And the first uBlox GPSs did start shipping on Monday, as promised.  When anybody's particular order went out depends on how earlier they ordered -- first in, first out. 

  • Greg July 13, 2012 at 2:20pm
    Chris: In fairness to Zachary's comment, the release announcement stated it starts shipping on Monday, July 9th" and the store policy notice on the main page says same day shipping for in stock items". Dont't get me wrong this is not a dig, we are all friends here and love the work the team are doing on the products being rolled out. Perhaps just say there has been a higher than expected demand and shipping has been delayed if that is the case:-)

    Zachary: Has your gps shipped now?

    I see good news in that the 3DR LEA-6H GPS is back in stock again :-).

    I am also wondering about the comments on 5Hz versus 10Hz sampling rate. Is there a trade off here? Tighter on station control with more frequent lat/long data versus lock reliability. I see the data Chris posted on 200ms sampling does not show number of locked satalites. Using the MTK 3329 you can see this satalite count data and it was not visible in the logs with the old Ublox GPS with APM. Looks to be the same with the newer LEA-6H with APM2?
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson July 12, 2012 at 1:35pm

    Zachary: Ship date was always given as the week of July 9 (this week)

  • Zachary Eldridge July 12, 2012 at 1:27pm

    I ordered mine the before the day of release when they where in stock and still hasn't shipped.

  • Greg July 12, 2012 at 9:34am
    Mike all the best with your new GPS. Your lucky it shipped so fast. Unfortunately for me the new 3DR LEA-6 GPS is currently unavailable to order in the store now. However I might just grab another ublox5 from another supplier for now and add the battery backup. I will be interested to see if you see any improvement over the old ublox5.
  • Greg July 11, 2012 at 6:27pm
    Mike,

    Again great advice. By the way I too had the old uBlox5 But killed due to a bad crash early in its life. While it was working I had very good sat lock. I think I am convinced and will get the LEA-6 GPS.
  • Moderator
    Michael Pursifull July 11, 2012 at 3:07pm
    Looks pretty definitive to me; I was going to silently test myself, but you saved me the trouble. I didn't want him caught unawares if it later turned out to be an issue for him. I ran the ublox5 at 5hz and for my purposes it was better than the mtk at 10hz. I expect most people will be the same, although there is a tendency for people to always thing of more as better, if your aircraft is not benefited by 10hz, it becomes a meaningless distinction, and a non-factor for selecting between the two gps devices. As I think it is here.
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson July 11, 2012 at 2:52pm

    We're running it at 5Hz in ArduCopter/ArduPlane without trouble. Here's a log (note the 200ms timestamps):

    GPS UBLOX library test
    gps: Lat:20.0683021545 Lon:-143.2358856201 Alt:2517.2199707031 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255195600
    gps: Lat:20.0682430267 Lon:-143.2349243164 Alt:2517.2099609375 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255195800
    gps: Lat:20.0681858062 Lon:-143.2339782714 Alt:2517.1899414062 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255196000
    gps: Lat:21.4725379943 Lon:-143.7488250732 Alt:2862.6599121093 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255196199
    gps: Lat:21.4724311828 Lon:-143.7478485107 Alt:2862.6398925781 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255196399
    gps: Lat:21.4723224639 Lon:-143.7468872070 Alt:2862.6101074218 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255196600
    gps: Lat:21.4722156524 Lon:-143.7458953857 Alt:2862.5900878906 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255196800
    gps: Lat:21.4721088409 Lon:-143.7449188232 Alt:2862.5600585937 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255197000
    gps: Lat:20.0678310394 Lon:-143.2282257080 Alt:2517.1201171875 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255197201
    gps: Lat:20.0677719116 Lon:-143.2272644042 Alt:2517.1101074218 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255197400
    gps: Lat:21.4717884063 Lon:-143.7420043945 Alt:2862.4899902343 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255197599
    gps: Lat:21.4716835021 Lon:-143.7410278320 Alt:2862.4599609375 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255197799
    gps: Lat:21.4715747833 Lon:-143.7400512695 Alt:2862.4299316406 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255198000
    gps: Lat:21.4714679718 Lon:-143.7390747070 Alt:2862.4099121093 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255198200
    gps: Lat:20.0674743652 Lon:-143.2224578857 Alt:2517.0400390625 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255198398
    gps: Lat:21.4712543487 Lon:-143.7371215820 Alt:2862.3601074218 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255198598
    gps: Lat:21.4711456298 Lon:-143.7361450195 Alt:2862.3300781250 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255198800
    gps: Lat:21.4710388183 Lon:-143.7351684570 Alt:2862.3100585937 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255199000
    gps: Lat:21.4709320068 Lon:-143.7341918945 Alt:2862.2800292968 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255199200
    gps: Lat:21.4708251953 Lon:-143.7332153320 Alt:2862.2500000000 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255199400
    gps: Lat:21.4707183837 Lon:-143.7322387695 Alt:2862.2299804687 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255199600
    gps: Lat:21.4706115722 Lon:-143.7312622070 Alt:2862.1999511718 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255199800
    gps: Lat:21.4705047607 Lon:-143.7302856445 Alt:2862.1799316406 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255200000
    gps: Lat:21.4703960418 Lon:-143.7293243408 Alt:2862.1499023437 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255200200
    gps: Lat:21.4702892303 Lon:-143.7283477783 Alt:2862.1298828125 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255200400
    gps: Lat:21.4701824188 Lon:-143.7273712158 Alt:2862.1000976562 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255200600
    gps: Lat:21.4700756072 Lon:-143.7263946533 Alt:2862.0800781250 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255200800
    gps: Lat:21.4699687957 Lon:-143.7254333496 Alt:2862.0500488281 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255201000
    gps: Lat:21.4698600769 Lon:-143.7244415283 Alt:2862.0200195312 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255201200
    gps: Lat:22.9252567291 Lon:-144.2693176269 Alt:3239.8701171875 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255201402
    gps: Lat:21.4696483612 Lon:-143.7225036621 Alt:2861.9699707031 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0 TIM:255201600
    gps: Lat:21.4695415496 Lon:-143.7215423583 Alt:2861.9499511718 GSP:0.00 COG:0.0000000000 SAT:0 FIX:0

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