DroneCore 1

PRODUCT NOTICE

DroneCore 1 has been superseded by DroneCore 2.

DroneCore 1 will remain available for purchase. No new features will be added to this product, and this documentation is maintained solely to support existing implementations. End-of-life for this product has not yet been determined or announced. For all new projects, we strongly recommend adopting DroneCore 2, which offers improved capabilities and continued support.

DroneCore.Suite

DroneCore.Suite consists of these main blocks

• DroneCore.Pilot - top board for control of the aircraft containing

  • Jetson Xavier NX

  • Cube flight controller

  • Internal 5V power supply

  • Power selector

  • Peripheral connectors

  • USB hub

• DroneCore.Power - bottom board with power electronic containing

  • 4 FOC UAVCAN ESCs - 20A permanent / 40A peak current

  • Power sensor (battery voltage and current measurement)

  • Analog inputs for battery cell monitoring

  • SMBUS

  • LED Driver for 4 x WS2812B strips

DroneCore.Suite provides easy to use ROS based software stack supporting development of autonomous applications.

Out of the box device is configured to fly a quadcopter (though flight controller calibration is needed anyway).

Specifications:

Mechanical parameters

• Weight 247g - including Cube orange, Xavier NX, Xavier heatsink with fan

• Dimensions 115 x 80 x 45mm

• Mount with 4 screws/spacers M3 109 x 74mm

• WiFi module

• WiFi antennas 2pcs

3D model of whole DroneCore.Suite will be added soon.

3D models of DroneCore.Suite accessories will be added soon.

Electrical parameters

• Power supply range: 12V – 35V (6S LiHV)

• Integrated DC/DC converter for control circuits

• Redundant power supply with power good monitoring for control unit

• Current protected peripheral connectors

• 4 x FOC UAVCAN ESC 40A, featuring motor identification and motor diagnostics

• Power sensor, SMBUS

Ardupilot (Cube) Connections

• PPM input

• PWM output (7 + 7 lines)

• 2x CAN

• 4x UART

• 2x I2C

• Buzzer

• Power sensor input

• ADC input

• Buzzer

Jetson connections:

• PCI Express (M2, Key E connector)

• 4 USB 3.0 (ZIF connectors, reductions available)

• Gigabit Ethernet (ZIF connector, reductions available)

• 6 CSI (22 pin)

• 4 GPIO

• UAV CAN, UART, I2C, SPI

• IMU BMI088 and barometer BMP388 on board

• USB 2.0 for debugging

• Micro SD card

• Video output connector (micro HDMI)

• Fan

DroneCore.Power (bottom power board)

• 4 x FOC UAVCAN ESCs – 40A peak / 20A permanent

• power sensor, SMBUS,

• LED Driver for 4x WS2812B strips

Minimum viable configuration

minimum viable configuration

Minimum viable drone configuration consists of DroneCore.Suite assembled with Flight controller unit and Nvidia Jetson, 4 motors, power supply, and receiver for remote control.

Of course, receiver is not mandatory if drone is controlled via wifi/bluetooth or completely autonomously. However, it is recommended to test flight controller regulators settings with manual control through radio first.