New autopilot hardware
I needed more RAM, more flash to store my autopilot code on. Unfortunately, 44 pins PICs don’t have such big amounts of memory. So I had no other option than to design a PCB for a 64 pins SMD chip. But I quickly admitted that my PCB fabrication skills (and tools) are not good enough to make such fine pitch prints. Luckily, there are some great cheap PCB fab companies. I decided to use Olimex. Four PCB’s arrived on my doorstep 15 days later: two for the Pic32, and two for the dsPic33 (I still haven’t decided which Pic to use in the future…).
Main features:
Common:
- Choice between PPM in or PWM in
- 5 Servo outs. Software and a “daughter board” could always add additional servo outputs.
- 2 axis-compass module (3 axis in the future) using I²C
- digital barometer using SPI
- the 5DOF, analog input
dsPIC33 version:
- Powered using the BEC
- Atmel flash chip for data logging
PIC32 version:
- Switched power supply
- Micro-SD socket for data logging
Because everbody loves pictures (dsPic33 version):
Populated with the sensors:
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