XT30 Power Module

A "power brick" for ArduPilot/Pixhawk/PX4 systems, with XT30 power connectors and digital voltage/current measurement.

Overview

This project contains the PCB design files for an XT30 power module, designed using KiCad 8.0. The module provides power measurement and 5V flight controller power.

For power measurement, the INA219 sensor was used due to it's more reliable readings at low current levels (<5A), making it suitable for low-power vehicles, such as ground rovers.

Max Ratings: -Max voltage 17V -Max current 15A

The power module supplies 5.2V at up to 2.5A.

The KiCAD files contain JLCPCB part ID's (LCSC) for easy manufacturing at JLCPCB.

The JST-GH connectors are standard Pixhawk power and i2c connectors (https://github.com/pixhawk/Pixhawk-Standards/blob/master/DS-009%20Pixhawk%20Connector%20Standard.pdf), and will plug straight into most flight controllers.

Images

ArduPilot configuration

Due to a digital I2C power measurement IC being used, the power module has a 2nd connector to the I2C port on the flight controller.

In ArduPilot, ensure the BATTx_MONITOR parameter is set to INA2XX and BATT_I2C_ADDR to 64, and then reboot.

Testing

This board has been successfully used on several 3S ground rovers using the latest version of ArduPilot.

License

This project is licensed under the CERN Open Hardware Licence Version 2 - Weakly Reciprocal (CERN-OHL-W). See licence.md for the full license text.