The Pi Zero Drone Part 3: Connecting the PXFmini

Pictured below is the setup of the PXFmini RPi-0 shield. You can notice the lead pins go straight into the Pi and must be shouldered to ensure a good connection.

The PWM output pins will be used to connect the ESC and rotors. From the Erle Robotics website the diagram of the connections are pictured below.

 

There are also multiple ways to power the controller, I used a Power Module that plugs into the power port on the shield. Power from the lipo is used to power the board as well as the ESC. When I am developing language on the Pi’s terminal, I use a 2A power supply into the power port on the Pi. Both cases are shown below. 

To connect using a RC transceiver, the 9^th pin is PPM enabled, that is Pulse Position Modulation. This allows multiple PWM signals to be used using one input. If you take a look on the previous post you can see the connection pins schematic, I used this to connect the ESCs. With the vast number of radio controllers at the Boca Bearing Workshop, not one is PPM enabled. Any of the controllers can be used if a PPM encoder is used to convert the PWM signal to a one wire PPM signal. These are cheap and easy ways to use any radio controller that you are comfortable with.  To date, I am still waiting on my encoder and once it comes in I will post a video of everything connected with a flying quadcopter.