Almost exactly one year after the first PX4 announcement, we would like to introduce our newest member of the family, Pixhawk! For those familiar with the existing PX4 electronics, it is the all-in-one board combining PX4FMU + PX4IO, combined with a processor and sensor update and a number of new features. The current board revisions will however remain in full service and active development and are fully compatible. Pixhawk is designed for improved ease of use and reliability while offering unprecedented safety features compared to existing solutions.
Pixhawk is designed by the PX4 open hardware project and manufactured by 3D Robotics. It features the latest processor and sensor technology from ST Microelectronics which delivers incredible performance and reliability at low price points.
The flexible PX4 middleware running on the NuttX Real-Time Operating System brings multithreading and the convenience of a Unix / Linux like programming environment to the open source autopilot domain, while the custom PX4 driver layer ensures tight timing. These facilities and additional headroom on RAM and flash will allow Pixhawk the addition of completely new functionalities like programmatic scripting of autopilot operations.
The PX4 project offers its own complete flight control stack, and projects such as APM:Copter and APM:Plane have ported their software to run as flight control applications. This allows existing APM users to seamlessly transition to the new Pixhawk hardware and lowers the barriers to entry for new users to participate in the exciting world of autonomous vehicles.
The flagship Pixhawk module will be accompanied by new peripheral options, including a digital airspeed sensor, support for an external multi-color LED indicator and an external magnetometer. All peripherals are automatically detected and configured.
Features
32 bit ARM Cortex M4 Processor running NuttX RTOS
14 PWM / Servo outputs (8 with failsafe and manual override, 6 auxiliary,
high-power compatible)
Abundant connectivity options for additional peripherals (UART, I2C, CAN)
Integrated backup system for in-flight recovery and manual override with
dedicated processor and stand-alone power supply
Backup system integrates mixing, providing consistent autopilot and manual
override mixing modes
Redundant power supply inputs and automatic failover
External safety switch
Multicolor LED main visual indicator
High-power, multi-tone piezo audio indicator
microSD card for long-time high-rate logging
32bit STM32F427 Cortex M4 core with FPU
168 MHz
256 KB RAM
2 MB Flash
32 bit STM32F103 failsafe co-processor
ST Micro L3GD20H 16 bit gyroscope
ST Micro LSM303D 14 bit accelerometer / magnetometer
MEAS MS5611 barometer
5x UART (serial ports), one high-power capable, 2x with HW flow control
2xCAN
Spektrum DSM / DSM2 / DSM-X® Satellite compatible input
Futaba S.BUS® compatible input and output
PPM sum signal
RSSI (PWM or voltage) input
I2C®
SPI
3.3 and 6.6V ADC inputs
External microUSB port
Power System and Protection
Ideal diode controller with automatic failover
Servo rail high-power (up to 10V) and high-current ready (10A +)
All peripheral outputs over-current protected, all inputs ESD protected
- Monitoring of system and servo rails, over current status monitoring of peripherals
Dimensions
Weight: 38g (1.31oz)
Width: 50mm (1.96")
Thickness: 15.5mm (.613")
Length: 81.5mm (3.21")
Availability
This announcement is a service to our users and developers to allow them to plan their hardware roadmaps in time, and to show what we're currently working on. The board will not be immediately available, but 3D Robotics is taking pre-orders for Pixhawk now, and will begin shipping in late October [Update 11/11: the current expected ship date is late Nov]. The price is $199.99.
Comments
Hi all,
The PX4 (and APM) team has been working quite hard to feed back the experience from the Iris developer order into the production version of Pixhawk, and as others have pointed out this will ensure you get a better product than if it would be rushed out. I think the communicated new date is with some safety margin, and so you should not assume that it will be pushed out further.
I'm personally not a big fan of pre-announcements with lead-times in the months scale for that matter, since it is very hard to estimate in the engineering process if something is going to take 8 or 10 weeks.
Can anyone tell me? I have a 3DR X8 on the same order as the PixHawk and IRIS, goes that mean that I have to wait for endo of November on my X8 as well??
They indicate as separate shippments,
But no indication that anything has gone out.
I am the distributor mentioned above.
I have asked yesterday 3DR about the estimated released date - and got the answer that it is expected to start shipping in late November.
Please bear in mind that this is a new product and that all shipping dates are only estimations and might change. There might be some bugs that need to be sorted out before it can be shipped to the end user.
Change of estimated delivery date of the Pixhawk autopilot system
We have been informed by 3D Robotics that the release of the new Pixhawk autopilot will be delayed. According to 3DR the system's estimated release date lies in the end of November. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.
We have ordered the Pixhawk - all pre-orders will be shipped as soon as the units arrive at UAV store."
@Florian,
Even if they start shipping early Nov, the backlog may cause some of us to get them a week or two later than the expected shipping date. Perhaps the reseller is adding a cushion, and maybe a bit of "safe pessimism" from his side.
Every day of delay means another bug or two gets ironed out meantime. I know the techs are working overtime to smooth put the flaws.
Got an email from my local reseller, who told me that the Pixhawk will be shipped in late november! I already sold my multiwii flightboard. Can somebody tell me when the Pixhawk will be shipped and why the delivery date was moved?
Please more informations!
With more CPU processing power, energy can be spent on function correctness, than needless optimizations.
The current devs have been focused recently on improving performance on APM2.5. They are very skilled and diligent. They do it for the glory, and not a marketing feature sheet. They are not slapping any half baked features in. I come from 15yrs industry experience, and the devs for APM use all the current best practices. It's really impressive.
And as all devs know, aim for correctness first, and optimize later, if needed. The problem with optimized code is that it can be harder to read, which impacts maintainability due to it being more obscure.
Your comment fits a generalized practice with in software, but not here.
The baro is shielded from the led and prop wash by a piece of foam AND a partial plastic wall. There is no issue with light or airflow.
Hi AKcopter and all others trying to figure out which flight controller to use,
The Pixhawk Overview wiki page now provides enhanced comparison data between itself, the APM and the PX4.
http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/common-pixhawk-overview/
Also found on the Build Your Own Multicopter page.
http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/build-your-own-multicopter/
These pages should help with such decisions.
In fact, for almost all cases, the correct answer now as to which controller to use is the Pixhawk.
Clearly the PX4 and Pixhawk are both very superior to the APM and have a lot in common, but as DIYDrones and 3DR go forward, the primary emphasis is going to be to make the Pixhawk work properly with our firmware and the PX4 is very likely to receive less emphasis so PX4 deficiencies in functionality are likely to crop up.
Best Regards,
Gary
No relays on Pixhawk, but there is support for external indicator LEDs. If you want higher-powered LED strips, you can also use a small external LED driver board for that. That's what we do.
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