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[OSD] - on screen display (attitude information overlayed over video feed

[MUX] - Video Mux

[rfd900x] - RFDesign RFD900x Modem (singular)https://uwarg-docs.atlassian.net/l/cp/LPn8hwCv

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Our general architecture has the following hardware elements:

Airside Components:

• Airframe (Wings, Fueselage, tail)

Power:

• 2 6s batteries, potenmtially more auxilliary power sources.

• 1 pdb

  • PDB500[X] — Advanced Power Drives

Propulsion:

• 4 lift motors + ESC’s + Props

  • T-motor V505 V505 KV260_V Type_Motors_Multirotor_T-MOTOR Store-Official Store for T-motor drone motor,ESC,Propeller (tmotor.com)

  • APD 120F3[X] 120F3[X] — Advanced Power Drives

  • T-Motor MS1704 https://store.tmotor.com/goods.php?id=825

• 1 push motor + ESC’s

  • T-Motor AT4130 230Kv AT4130 Long Shaft_AT Series_Motors_Fixed Wing_T-MOTOR Store-Official Store for T-motor drone motor,ESC,Propeller (tmotor.com)

  • APD 120FX[3] 120F3[X] — Advanced Power Drives

  • APC 17*10 Propeller.

• 7-8 Servos (control surfaces, Purchased from HobbyHobby)

  • https://hobbyhobby.com/standard-servo-hs-311-universal/hrc31311s/107501/

Compute

Mandatory:

• Jetson TX2 + Carrier Board

  NVIDIA Jetson TX2i: https

  Pixhawk PX5 or PX6

  • http://www.arrowholybro.com/enproduct/products/pixhawk-5x/

  • Pixhawk 6X,Pixhawk 6X (holybro.com)

Optional:

• Jetson TX2 + Carrier Board

  • NVIDIA Jetson TX2i: https://www.arrow.com/en/products/900-83489-0000-000/nvidia

  • Connect Tech Quasar carrier board: https://connecttech.com/product/quasar-carrier-nvidia-jetson-tx2/

• Custom STM Flight Board (Nucleo OR ZP3)

  • ZP3 Custom Hardware Specifications:

    • ZP3 MCU: STM32L562ZET6Q

    • Add ZP3 Interface: https://warg.365.altium.com/designs/14CBC2A9-7887-4911-B7F1-874B17856231

    • Add ZP3 Primary: https://warg.365.altium.com/designs/8E6687CB-1A15-4D5A-BEAD-9E45C5E56743

    • Add ZP3 Hardware Link: ZeroPilot 3.0 Hardware (ZP3HW)

  • Nucleo STM32L552

    • https://www.st.com/en/evaluation-tools/nucleo-l552ze-q.html

• Pixhawk PX5 or PX6

  • http://www.holybro.com/product/pixhawk-5x/

  • Pixhawk 6X,Pixhawk 6X (holybro.com)

Airside Peripherals:

Peripherals

Mandatory

• 2 FPV cameras + video mux

  • 2 Caddx Baby Ratel 2 https://www.getfpv.com/caddx-baby-ratel-2-1200tvl-1-8mm-fpv-camera.html

• 1 Video Mux Switch

  • 1 video mux https://www.getfpv.com/lumenier-3-way-video-switcher-board.html

• 1 OSD board

  • Holybro micro OSD V2 https://www.3dxr.co.uk/camera-fpv-c57/osd-on-screen-display-c55/holybro-micro-osd-v2-p3649

• 1 CV Camera

  • 1080P 2MP Global Shutter Color USB Camera Module YUY2 USB2.0 100fps MJPEG | Hupuu Electronics

  • incl. 8mm 40deg fov lens

  1 1.3 GHz VTX (pick one)1.3 GHz VTX

  • Mateksys VTX-1G3SE http://www.mateksys.com/?portfolio=vtx-1g3se

  • or

    • RMRC 800mW VTX https://www.readymaderc.com/products/details/rmrc-1-3ghz-800mw-transmitter-us-version

  • Mateksys VTX-1G3SE http://www.mateksys.com/?portfolio=vtx-1g3se Pairs with singularity 1280 LHCP side exit

• 1 RFD900x

  • http://rfdesign.com.au/rfd900x-modem/

  (potential) 1 Dragonlink 433 OR LTE connection

  • stock antennas

• Set of LED’s

  • green LED’s for PAX aboard light

  • LED’s for aircraft nav-lights

• 1 SD Card for logging on ZP3.

  • incl SPI → SD board

• 1 SD Card for Jetson

• 1 Mateksys Optical Flow sensor

  • Mateksys 3901 L0X http://www.mateksys.com/?portfolio=3901-l0x

• 1 HereFlow Optical Flow SensorHereFlow Optical Flow Sensor

  • https://wurzbachelectronics.com/hereflow

• 1 Lidar module

  • TFMini-S I2C Micro Lidar Module https://ca.robotshop.com/products/benewake-tfmini-s-micro-lidar-module-i2c-12m

• 1 VN-300 Inertial Sensor

  • https://www.vectornav.com/products/detail/vn-300

• 1 NEO-M8 GPS Sensor 2 Airspeed Sensors (1 TBS digital, 1 old analog)w/safety switch (pixhawk terminated)

  • M9N GPS – Holybro

• 1 Airspeed Sensor

  • https://www.team-blacksheep.com/products/product:4404

• Arm/Disarm board.

Antennas

2 900 mhz antennas

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could be linear if we use yagi (might be better for signalqualiy idk)

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Optional

• 1 CV Camera

  • 1080P 2MP Global Shutter Color USB Camera Module YUY2 USB2.0 100fps MJPEG | Hupuu Electronics

  • incl. 8mm 40deg fov lens

• (potential) 1 Dragonlink 433 OR LTE connection

• 1 SD Card for logging on ZP3.

  • incl SPI → SD board

• 1 SD Card for Jetson

• 1 Mateksys Optical Flow sensor

  • Mateksys 3901 L0X http://www.truercmateksys.ca/shop/900mhz-3/transmitter-900mhz-3/singularity-868

  1 1.3 ghz antenna

  • https://www.truerc.ca/shop/1-3ghz-3/transmitter-1-3ghz-3/singularity-1280-v2 - side exitcom/?portfolio=3901-l0x

• Arm/Disarm board.

Groundside Components:

• Groundstation Center (the one inside the hardcase)

  • PC → not yet defined Aydan Jiwani (Deactivated) Mika Shaw

  • Monitor (compute rmonitor)

  • 5.8 VTX Relay Module

    • Made by AKK as one

    • Also a rushtank 5.8

    • https://www.getfpv.com/rushfpv-rush-tank-race-ii-5-8ghz-vtx-w-smartaudio.html

  • Video to PC device

    • https://www.amazon.ca/JMGO-Digital-Converter-Capture-Support/dp/B0B5THBF6G

  • Goggles + video receive link.

    • EMAX Transporter V2 Goggles/Display

• Tracking Antenna Telem

  • 900 MHz Yagi or patch antenna

    • RMRC patch antennas https://www.truerc.ca/shop/900mhz-3/receiver-long-range-900mhz-3/x-air-900

  • Nucleo F401

  • Omnidirectional antenna

    • same as transmitter on drone?

  • BMX160 IMU

  • NEO M.8 GPS

• Tracking Antenna VRX

  • 1.3 GHz Patch Antenna

    • https://www.truerc.ca/shop/1-3ghz-3/receiver-long-range-1-3ghz-3/x%c2%b2-air-1-3

  • Nucleo F401

  • BMX 160 IMU

  • NEO M.8 GPS

  • (potentially) 5.8GHz VTX

Infra Components

• Tuning Rig

  • ready for comp drone.

• Groundstation

  • ready by mid january

Airside Architecture

Now that we know what components are going on our drone, let’s talk about how they’re going to be laid out on the drone itself. This page will be finalized on Nov 6, 2022. After that date, any changes must go through a formal RFC process involving all subteam leads.

Airside Hardware Layout

The plane will be comprised of 5 main sections: the fuselage, cabin, avionics compartment, wings, and tail. The avionics + passenger compartment will be part of the main fuselage, while the wings & tail will house more electronics.

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Batteries & Power Distribution

Batteries and Power Distribution shall be mounted in front of the passenger compartment, under the same access lid as the pixhawk & various other PDB/Sensors. This should make wiring easy, and make weather proofing easy. Batteries & battery mounting to be decided.

The battery box should be easily accessible from the top so that battery swaps may be easily accomplished during task #2, and should be weatherproof and house the PDB, Batteries, and necessary power connectors in an manner that makes upkeep & plugging/unplugging/probing connectors easily.

Avionics Compartment

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Telemetry & Control

• 1x Telemetry radio

  • RFD900X RFD900x Modem - RFDesign

  • stock antennas

• 1x Control Relay

  • TBS Tracer System TBS Tracer - true connectivity (team-blacksheep.com)

• Ground Station Computer (WARG Laptop)

• 2x Controllers

  • TX16S Mk II (ELRS) TX16S Mark II Radio Controller (Mode 2) – RadioMaster RC

  • “blue” controller to house Tracer TX as master.

  • “pink” controller to connect to blue as slave.

• TRRS cable

• 1x Tripod

Video

• 1x 1.3 GHz Long Range Video Receiver

  • ReadyMadeRC 1.3GHz VRX RMRC 900MHz 1.3Ghz High Performance Receiver w/ Custom Tuner - RMRC (readymaderc.com)

  • pairs with TrueRC singularity 1280

  • output RCA to Rush Tank Race II

• 1x 5.8 GHz Video Relay

  • Rush Tank Race II TANK RACE II VTX – RUSHFPV

  • pairs with rush cherry u.fl antenna

  • Input RCA to Rush Tank Race II

• 1x 5.8 GHz VRX

  • any … 5.8 vrx. in this case an RC832

  • takes rush cherry stem

• RCA → USB Adapter

  • any RCA → USB adapter https://www.amazon.ca/JMGO-Digital-Converter-Capture-Support/dp/B0B5THBF6G

• 1x Goggles (WARG Sponsored)

  • EMAX Transporter 2 Transporter 2 Analog FPV Goggles w/ DVR and Removable Screen | Emax USA (emax-usa.com)

  • takes rush cherry stem

• 5.8 GHz Video Monitor

  • any 5.8 ghz video monitor.

• 1x Tripod

Optional Tracking Antennas

• Tracking Antenna Telem

  • 900 MHz Yagi or patch antenna

    • RMRC patch antennas https://www.truerc.ca/shop/900mhz-3/receiver-long-range-900mhz-3/x-air-900

  • Nucleo F401

  • Omnidirectional antenna

    • same as transmitter on drone?

  • BMX160 IMU

  • NEO M.8 GPS

• Tracking Antenna VRX

  • 1.3 GHz Patch Antenna

    • https://www.truerc.ca/shop/1-3ghz-3/receiver-long-range-1-3ghz-3/x%c2%b2-air-1-3

  • Nucleo F401

  • BMX 160 IMU

  • NEO M.8 GPS

  • (potentially) 5.8GHz VTX

...

Airside Architecture

Now that we know what components are going on our drone, let’s talk about how they’re going to be laid out on the drone itself. This page will be finalized on Nov 6, 2022. After that date, any changes must go through a formal RFC process involving all subteam leads.

Airframe Design

Propulsion

lift, push, offsets, spacing?

Wings

wongs.

Servo locations? numbers? gg

Tail Section

Rudder/elevator

Fuselage

Fuselage is main passenger compartment?

Avionics Compartment

The avionics compartment will house all the airside compute. The compartment should be weather resistant, but be mounted on the drone in a way such that all electronics are easily accessible and serviceable with minimal effort (ideally no screws removed to plug/unplug connectors from any of the onboard computers.

The avionics compartment should allow for airflow and cooling that can be shut (either manually or automatically) in inclement weather.Sensors may be over critical components. The Pixhawk should be mounted center with the COG, and peripherals should be mounted as explained below.

Sensors may be placed in the avionics compartment, but they should be mounted where they make sense. See below

Wings & Tail & Fuselage & Peripheral Mounting

The wings and the tail will house a lot of the RF Communication modules, such as the VN-300, rfd900 antennas, VTX antennas, and any GPS modules.

Transmitters

Both transmitters (RFD900, 1.3ghz VTX), should be placed in areas with adequate cooling/airflow. They are not weatherproofed, but do tend to be cooled passively by air moving across their heatsinks. In ground ops mode, it may be necessary to actively cool the devices over extended periods of time, especially if transmit power is high.

Cameras

There will be two pilot cameras. Both should offer +/- 10-30 degrees of adjustment. One will be mounted forward-facing, while the other will be mounted downard-facing. Both will feed into a video mux switch which then feeds into an OSD, before feeding to the VTX.

Sensors

The VN-300 receiver (red box) should be placed as close to the center of mass of the plane as possible, with the axis aligned (x is forward, refer to ZPSW Documentation for more detail). This can be done above or below the passenger compartment, but should be in a weatherproofed section of the plane.

Both VN-300 receptors & their grounding planes should be placed 1M apart, facing directly upwards, above other elements. These will be mounted inside the wings. The vn-300 is not weather rated, and should be protected.

NEO M.8 GPS Modules should be placed facing upwards, on the wings away from other soures of RF transmission. We anticipate having one for ardupilot, and one from the competition organizers.

Airspeed sensors should be placed in clean air, facing forwards.

Optical flow sensors & rangefinders or lidars should be mounted at the bottom of the drone, in our sensor cluster.

Antennas

The RFD900x Antennas should be placed 90 degrees apart from each other. There is no distance separation requirement. The RFD900X transmitter itself should be placed somewhere with adequate airflow.

The VTX Antenna should be placed as far as possible from other sources of RF interference (such as other antennas, sensors, or ESC’s). At the moment, the plan is to place the singularity 1280 on the tail of the drone.. The VTX transmitter itself should be placed somewhere with adequate airflow.

Cameras will be mounted outside the fuselage, one pilot cam forwards, one pilot cam downwards, one CV cam downwards. The pilot cameras will feed into a 2-1 mux switch controlled by ZP before feeding into the VTX.

Motors

Motor controller placement is decided by Mech, in a way such that the push prop ESC has adequate airflow, and the quad ESC’s have airflow when in use and are otherwise hidden.

Servos can be placed at the discretion of the mechanical team, provided the servos are equally balanced and symmetrical along both sides (within a few mm of error).

Airside Electrical Layout

Please see 2023-03-07 - Clarity on Electrical Components on Comp Frame . EE Team member to update with more specifics Daniel Puratich

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Landing Gear

Design, limitations, etc.

Lighting

Airside Hardware Layout

The plane will be comprised of 5 main sections: the fuselage, cabin, avionics compartment, wings, and tail. The avionics + passenger compartment will be part of the main fuselage, while the wings & tail will house more electronics. All mandatory airside compute & airside peripherals must be mounted.

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Compute

The Holybro PX_ system should be placed as close to the center of rotation of the drone as possible, offset in ONE axis only to allow for the installation of the VectorNav VN-300 module. There is an arrow on the top of the Pixhawk, which should point toward direction of forward flight. Keep in mind that wires need to be accessible from the “back” of the pixhawk (I/O & FMU Output banks), as well as from the side for USB debugging as well as retrieval of the SD Card.

There is no strict need to electrically isolate the system (the baseboard & cube are already protected), but it could be helpful to mount the system on vibration damped material (yellow sticky tack is good for this purpose).

Batteries & Power Distribution

Batteries and Power Distribution shall be mounted in front of the passenger compartment, under the same access lid as the pixhawk & various other PDB/Sensors. Batteries will be multiple 6S batteries harnessed together to provide a total output of 12S.

The battery box should be easily accessible from the top so that battery swaps may be easily accomplished during task #2, and should be weatherproof and house the PDB, Batteries, and necessary power connectors in a manner that makes upkeep & plugging/unplugging/probing connectors easily.

Transmitters

Both transmitters (RFD900x, 1.3ghz VTX), should be placed in areas with adequate cooling/airflow. Airflow can be introduced passively (i.e., drone is moving through the air), or actively (i.e. a fan). These devices are not weatherproof, and care should be taken to place their antennas away from any other RF sensitive devices. Devices such as cameras, unshielded signal wires, IMU’s, and GPS devices may experience large amounts of RF noise if placed too close to the antennas.

The RFD900x will use the stock dipole antennas, which means that RF Noise generated by the RFD900 may be fairly close to the source. It is possible to use co-axial extension cables to move the mounting location of the antennas. Recommendations to put one antenna along the edge of a wing, and to place the other antenna vertically along a vertical stabilizer or landing gear. Maintain one antenna perpendicular to horizon and one antenna parallel to horizon.

The VTX will use a coaxial cable extension to a side-exit singularity 1280 antenna mounted on the horizontal stabilizer. The antenna may be mounted inside or on top of the horizontal stabilizer. Maintain antenna deadzone perpendicular to horizon.

Cameras & Related Peripherals

There will be three pilot cameras. All cameras should offer +/- 10 degrees of adjustment minimum, up to +/-30 degrees is desirable from their intended direction. The mounting locations are as follows:

• forward facing at front of drone, level with horizon.

• downward facing, perpendicular to horizon.

• Downward facing, at a horizon angle of -30 to -45 degrees mounted high at the rear of the drone.

The forward facing camera will be the primary in-flight camera used during transition & fixed wing flight, while the downwards facing cameras may be used during takeoffs/landings as well as searching for landing pads.

There are currently no plans to motorize or otherwise be able to move the cameras in flight. This means they must maintain a pre-set fixed position in flight.

All three cameras will be wired into the Video Mux Switch, which will then pass a single analog video feed to the OSD, before being passed to the VTX. See Airside Electrical Layout for more details on wiring and interconnects. The OSD and Video Mux should be placed inside the avionics compartment, and although they do not require cases, it may be prudent to electrically isolate them from other conductive materials such as: carbon fiber, exposed wires, etc.

GPS Sensors

The VN-300 receiver (red box) should be placed as close to the center of rotation of the plane as possible, with the axis aligned (x is forward, refer to ZPSW Documentation for more detail). This can be done above or below the passenger compartment, but should be in a weatherproofed section of the plane with low external RF interference.

Both VN-300 receptors & their grounding planes should be placed 1M apart, facing directly upwards, above other elements. These will be mounted inside the wings.

One NEO M9N GPS Module needs to be placed in an easily accessible location on the drone. The kit comes with a mounting stand which means that it could be placed on top of the drone, away from RF noise, but there is no strict requirement for this. The safety switch on the GPS module must be easily accessible. See Airside Electrical Layout for wiring limitations.

Peripheral Sensors

Airspeed sensors should be placed in clean air, facing forwards.

Optical flow sensors & rangefinders or lidars should be mounted at the bottom of the drone, in a sensor cluster without obstructions (clear or otherwise) in the fov of the devices.

It is mandatory to have at least 1 hereflow and 1 tfminis lidar module, the rest of the sensors are optional.

Airside Electrical Layout

Please see 2023-03-07 - Clarity on Electrical Components on Comp Frame . EE Team member to update with more specifics Daniel Puratich

General Wiring Guidelines

• Servos connect to I/O Output and follow AETR, L->R

  • 1/2/3/4 Aileron (LO/LI/RI/RO)

  • 5/6 Elevator (LE / RE)

  • 7/8 Rudder (LR / RR)

• Motors connect to FMU 1-5

  • Mot X : FMU X

• FMU 6/7 for Aux Lighting

• FMU 8 for Video Mux

• Telem 1 → OSD

• Telem 2 → RFD900x

  • will need external Power

• CAN1 → Hereflow

• GPS1 → M9N

• VN300 → GPS2 OR Telem 3

Power Architecture

The drone will run a 12S power system.

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Electrical components and electrically pads should be at least 1mm away from the annular ring to avoid damaging the PCBA when mechanically bolting the board.

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Groundside Architecture

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Panel
panelIconId 1f6a6 panelIcon :vertical_traffic_light: panelIconText 🚦 bgColor #E6FCFF
Anni to update this

Mandatory Hardware

Optional Hardware

Optional hardware typically requires the use of ZP with custom telemetry.

Antenna Towers

The antennas will use directional antennas to improve connectivity with the drone, and must be placed as far apart and as high up as possible. They can be mounted on poles, and stakes may be driven into the ground with guy-lines to keep them upright (much like regular 5G antennas). Grounding wires can be driven into the ground as well. The towers should be as far apart as possible (one may have to be behind the tent and one in front of the tent - hence why it is important to get them to be able to go as high as possible), so that we have minimal interference. Even though we’re using different frequencies, they are still close to each other and notch filters may help significantly in signal quality, as will antenna separation. Antenna Towers should support fully tethered & fully untethered operation.

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Two controllers will be linked together, with one controller being the “master” using the trainer port. This means that if one pilot is unable to continue flying, the second pilot can takeover simply by hitting the switch. CC: Megan Spee confirm this is ok w/u at comp?

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Software Architecture

This section will discuss the computers involved, before then diving into communication architecture as well as messaging formats, different flight modes, and fail-safe contingencies.

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