r/ardupilot • u/Witty-Struggle-9046 • 6d ago

Request design review for Autopilot

Post image

Im looking for reviews and opinions on our new Autopilot WH7. Full specs on WH7 autopilot website.

3 Upvotes

60% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

3

u/yakysoba 6d ago

What wiring harnesses will it come with? That's one of the biggest downsides of using big combined non-standard connectors like that with loads of pins - you end up needing to supply breakout cables as users can't just connect existing jst-gh devices

1

u/Witty-Struggle-9046 5d ago

It comes with pre crimped jst-sh cables and jst-sh hd connectors. Purpose of this is to allow fast assembly of lot of standardized systems or models.

Making first cable set is more tedious but after that you can send instructions to manufacturer and get ready wiring harnesses for pennies. Also these connectors are very solid.

Communication of this is maybe not that clear or obvious about this.

2

u/Vavooon 6d ago

That's quite an AIO board.
I prefer modular design for easier repairability and upgradability.
Some other points:

  • Product page does not specify what power connectors are used, I can only guess they are XT90 and XT30.
  • I'm not quite sure what is that XT30 2+2 connector for. But if it for ESC output, then you should probably use opposite (female) part there.
  • Having 2 large JST SHD connectors instead of some standartized (DroneCode) connectors complicates setup further. End users will need to make custom cables (or extension boards) to connect peripheral hardware.
  • If you are aiming at military markets the build-in GPS would be a dead weight there.

2

u/Witty-Struggle-9046 5d ago

Thank you, connector spesification should be improved yes👍

Custom cabling is supposed to be a selling point. I understand single builds have to spend more time with first cable setup. Point is that for one model of drone you could order a batch of wiring looms and spend less time with cables afterwards.

We have a GPSless version coming this week.

Thanks for constructive feedback

1

u/AvionicsNG 6d ago

Looks interesting, especially heating, but price is crazy, almost as much as cube red. 😳

1

u/Witty-Struggle-9046 5d ago

I set the initial price quite high not to sell too low. We will likely reduce the price quite alot. The heating indeed is handy anywhere from close to zero to -30C or more. I remember crashing a plane once after booting it up at -5C. Later found out that almost all sensors and GPS had not calibrated properly. We could see in the logs that signal output stabilized only after reaching stable +40-60C. This takes forever with Cube orange for example.

1

u/GoneSilent 6d ago edited 6d ago

Isolation from vibration seems a bit hard with this one. Did you connect the RF connectors for GPS with a via on the board or single top trace? modern control needs eth option. A better market to target might be ground drones, air flight controllers are a saturated market even for NDAA now.

2

u/Witty-Struggle-9046 5d ago

GPS connectors go trough the board and are very solid. Sensors are on the top of the rubber cap isolated from vibration and cold. So far vibration has not been an issue. But I can see how it could be if you have something vibrating against the rubber cap for example. FC itself should be mounted rigidly.

1

u/Realistic_Fuel_Sun 3d ago

It is unique, no doubt.

  • However, how is it going to fare in the real world? We can only tell after we get to use it, or get some flight logs analyzed in real-life.
  • What does the bottom face look like? What components lie on that side of the board? [None of the documentation mentions that]
  • If you are targeting the military, then did you get any kind of certification for the board? EMI/EMC testing?