Pomegranate Systems Power Module

INFO

In 2022, UAVCAN (v0) was forked and is maintained as DroneCAN. While this product still mentions "UAVCAN", it is fully compatible with PX4's DroneCAN support.

Digital Power Module with high resolution current integration, 5V/2A supply with power monitoring, single DroneCAN CANbus interface, and an RGB status LED.

Detailed setup, configuration, and troubleshooting information can be found on the manufacturer's device home page.

Hardware Specifications

• Input Voltage: 6-26V (2-6S)
• Max Continuous Current:
  • Benchtop: 40A
  • Forced Cooling: 100A
• Max 5V Output Current: 2A
• Voltage Resolution: 0.04 ΔV
• Current Resolution:
  • Primary / Battery Bus: 0.02 ΔA
  • 5V bus: 0.001 ΔA
• CANbus Termination: Electronic (on by default)
• MCU: STM32F302K8U
• Electrical Interface:
  • Power: Solder pads or XT60PW (right angle, board-mounted connectors)
  • CANbus Dual JST GH-4 (standard UAVCAN micro-connector)
  • I2C / Serial: JST GH-5
  • 5V Output: Solder pads or CANbus / I2C connectors
• Device Mass:
  • Without Connectors: 9g
  • With XT60PW Connectors: 16g

Firmware Setup

The power module runs pomegranate systems' own custom (open source) firmware. Source code and build instructions can be found on the bitbucket.

Flight Controller Setup

1. Enable DroneCAN by setting the UAVCAN_ENABLE parameter to 2 (Sensors Automatic Config) or 3.
2. Enable DroneCAN battery monitoring by setting UAVCAN_SUB_BAT to 1 or 2 ( depending on your battery).
3. Set the following module parameters using the MAVLink console:
   • Battery capacity in mAh: battery_capacity_mAh
   • Battery voltage when full: battery_full_V,
   • Battery voltage when empty: battery_empty_V
   • Turn on current integration: enable_current_track
   • (optional) Turn Off CANbus termination resistor :enable_can_term

Example: A Power Module with UAVCAN node id 125 connected to a 3S LiPo with capacity of 5000mAh can be configured with the following commands:

uavcan param set 125 battery_capacity_mAh 5000
uavcan param set 125 battery_full_V 12.5
uavcan param set 125 battery_empty_V 11.2
uavcan param set 125 enable_current_track 1
uavcan param save 125

See device configuration page for a full list of parameters.