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PXFmini, an open autopilot shield for the Raspberry Pi Zero

Posted by Víctor Mayoral on December 28, 2015 at 8:30am

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Following up with the PixHawk Fire Cape (PXF) series that was started a while ago, I'm happy to announce the PXFmini, an open autopilot shield for the Raspberry Pi. This autopilot shield allows anyone to create ready-to-fly autopilots with support for Dronecode’s APM flight stack priced at only 69 €. The shield has been designed with low cost in mind and specially for the Raspbery Pi Zero (it is also compatible with other Raspberry Pi boards). Find below some of its features:

 

A tiny yet powerful design

The PXFmini shield weighs only 15 grams and on it’s 31mm x 71 mm embeds all the power electronics necessary to comply with most of the existing components for drones using its 2xI2C and UART ports.

The design is based on previous iterations with proper APM upstream support and provides 8 PWM output channels as well as a PPMSUM input.

 

A shield for sensing

PXFmini includes a 9 axes IMU (MPU9250), a digital barometer (MS5611) and an ADC for voltage measurements.

 

An improved experience

Forget about breaking those DF13 connectors. We’ve decided to bet on the new JST GH connectors (adopted by the Dronecode Foundation) to provide an amazing new experience. We’ve also partnered with manufacturers to provide DF13 to JST GH converters.

 

Open design

All the schematics are open for you to hack around. They’ll be released as soon as the boards start shipping. Shipping will start in early February 2016.

 

We made a short clip closing the year where we show the board:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXZb2gN9SEg

 

Thanks everyone and merry christmas!

Tags: erle, pxf, pxfmini, robotics, drones, robot
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Comments

  • Distributor
    UnmannedTechShop.co.uk December 29, 2015 at 10:10am

    If anyone is looking, we already sell 6 pin JST GH connectors at our shop, but if anyone needs 4 pin (or x pin) just let us know and we can get them for you.

  • Jerry Giant December 29, 2015 at 8:26am

    @bill thanks. i seems only schematic available. so time to roll up sleeves. 

  • Developer
    Bill Bonney December 29, 2015 at 8:04am
    @Jerry. They will be available when it starts shipping ( see post )
  • Jerry Giant December 29, 2015 at 7:59am

    where's the hardware design files please.. i want to make my own.

  • Andrew Rabbitt December 29, 2015 at 4:12am
    So we're back to shields again. If I wait a year or so will this new oilpan disappear in a puff obsolescence and I will be able to buy ArduPilot Giga 2.5 or does my desk drawer need another autopilot to assist navigating open and close...?
  • Jason Wise December 29, 2015 at 3:19am

    Ok so what does this mean from me? is this my new pixhawk for drones?

  • Bjorn Nellerson December 28, 2015 at 7:53pm

    Is there any way this could work with the Next thing co CHIP?

    This board looks really interesting, I've ordered one :)

  • Víctor Mayoral December 28, 2015 at 2:02pm

    @Bjorn,

    Yes. 2xI2C ports, 1xUART and a Power module connector. All JST GH.

  • Víctor Mayoral December 28, 2015 at 2:01pm

    Sorry to hear that. Let me know if there's a chance to get one of those CAN shields.

  • Bjorn Nellerson December 28, 2015 at 1:56pm

    Are the JST GH connectors using I2C?

This reply was deleted.