2. Hardware Reference
2.1 Operational Temperatures
The following operating temperature ranges apply to the standard DCS2 Default kit components:
DCS2 Carrier Board (PCB)
−40 °C
85 °C
Jetson Orin NX SoM
−25 °C
105 °C
CubePilot Cube Orange+
−10 °C
55 °C
Note:
The system-level operational temperature is constrained by the most limiting component, which is the Cube Orange+ at −10 °C minimum.
2.2 Power System
Key ratings for the DCS2.PDB_Default:
VDD MAIN input voltage range
6 V – 26.5 V (recommended 9 – 26.5 V)
VDD MAIN max continuous current
50 A (including ESC pads)
ESC pads (ESC1–4) total continuous
45 A
VDD SWITCHED output voltage
Same as VDD MAIN (no regulation); no current limiter
On-board current sensor range (CAN2)
Up to 55 A measured and reported via DroneCAN
Peak theoretical system power (no ESCs)
~100 W
Onboard PDB CAN bus for battery data
CAN2 — uavcan.equipment.power.BatteryInfo
UBEC input for high-voltage batteries
Step down to 9.2 V before VDD MAIN when using >14S
Note:
VDD SWITCHED pads can power external components; output voltage equals VDD MAIN voltage. There is no current limiter on VDD SWITCHED — do not short these pads.
2.3 Ethernet Port
The DCS2 Pilot board exposes three Ethernet interfaces via FFC/ZIF connectors. The magnetics (transformer) are located on the small RJ45 breakout adapter, not on the Pilot board itself. The board-to-cable connection is an FFC ribbon cable.
FFC Cable Handling Guidelines:
Always open the black ZIF latch fully before inserting or removing the ribbon cable
Never pull the cable out while the latch is closed — this is the leading cause of pin damage
After insertion, close the latch firmly; some mechanical play is normal and does not indicate a loose connection
For vibration-prone airframe installations, mechanically secure both ends of the cable to prevent tension on the connector pins
The Livox Mid-360 LiDAR is electrically compatible — connect to GBE_M0 and GBE_M1 pins only
2.4 GPIO Expander — GPIO_EXP4 and GPIO_EXP5
The DCS2 Adapter Default board exposes two user-accessible GPIOs from a TCA6408A I2C expander (I2C address 0x20, bus 1).
GPIO_EXP4
gpiochip2
GPIO 312
User accessible, 3.3 V, 100 Ω series resistor
GPIO_EXP5
gpiochip2
GPIO 313
User accessible, 3.3 V, 100 Ω series resistor
GPIOs 308–311 on gpiochip2 are reserved (CSI connectors and future use). At power-on, all expander I/Os are configured as inputs.
To list all GPIOs and verify the expander is detected:
To control a pin using the sysfs interface (example: set GPIO_EXP4 high):
Alternatively, use libgpiod (gpioset, gpioget) for command-line access.
Note:
For additional GPIOs beyond EXP4/5, connect an I2C GPIO expander to the GPS_JET connector (I2C0 from Jetson). The default adapter board provides no other Jetson GPIO breakout.
2.5 RTC (Real-Time Clock)
The DCS2 Pilot board includes a coin-cell battery that provides RTC backup power, charged by the 3.3 V rail when the system is running. On DCS1.2 two RTC devices are visible:
/dev/rtc0 — Hardware RTC backed by the coin cell
/dev/rtc1 — Virtual RTC (always initialises at 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC)
The system service rtc_sync.service runs /usr/local/bin/rtc_sync.sh on boot and uses /dev/rtc0. Verify by checking:
To manually set the hardware RTC:
Note:
The coin-cell RTC on DCS1.2 boards retains time for only a few days when fully discharged. Newer DCS2 revisions include a more efficient RTC circuit with longer retention.
For GPS-based time synchronisation: GPS data arrives at the Jetson through the Cube via MAVLink (GPS2 port is wired to the Cube, not Jetson directly). Install mavlink-router, connect a MAVLink client, and read SYSTEM_TIME messages from the Cube. Write the GPS-derived time to /dev/rtc0 using hwclock or a custom Python script via pymavlink.
2.6 WiFi and Bluetooth Module
The Pilot board integrates a Sparklan WNSQ-261ACN(BT) module, which provides both IEEE 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5 on a single chip. No separate Bluetooth module is required. Refer to the Sparklan datasheet for antenna specifications when selecting replacement or external antennas (MHF4 connector, 2.4 GHz).
2.7 HDMI Output
The DCS2.Pilot board exposes a micro-HDMI connector. A micro-HDMI to full-size HDMI adapter cable is included in the standard accessory set. USB-C to HDMI/DisplayPort conversion is not supported — the Jetson Orin NX SoM does not implement DisplayPort Alt Mode over USB-C without an external bridge chip.
2.8 Audio
I2S audio is not routed to any connector on the DCS2 Adapter Default board. For audio output, use a USB audio adapter. The USB-A ports on the adapter board can supply the necessary 5 V.
2.9 Fan Connector
The fan connector on the Pilot board operates at 5 V. PWM and TACH signals are also at 5 V logic level. If you need to power a 12 V fan, use a separate 12 V supply for the fan motor and connect only the PWM, TACH, and GND signals from the board connector.
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