Hardware Reference
Specifications
Distance sensor
SR: Broadcom AFBR-S50LV85D. MR: Broadcom AFBR-S50LX85D. LR: Broadcom AFBR-S50EX85D. All time-of-flight
Range
See Range
Reported distance
SR: 0 to 30 m. MR: 0.1 to 50 m. LR: 0.6 to 100 m
Rate
SR: 20 Hz. MR: 15 Hz. LR: 10 Hz
Laser
850 nm, Class 1 eye safe (IEC 60825-1)
Beam
2° × 2°, 3.5 cm spot at 1 m. SR and MR: 32-pixel receiver, 12.4° × 6.2° field of view, reference pixel for system health monitoring
MCU
STM32F412VG
CAN
DroneCAN range, 2× Pixhawk-standard 4-pin JST-GH
UART
MAVLink 2 DISTANCE_SENSOR, Pixhawk-standard 6-pin JST-GH
Debug
NSH console and SWD, Pixhawk-standard 6-pin JST-SH
Power
5 V, 78–86 mA
Dimensions
2.0 × 2.8 × 1.4 cm
Weight
4 g
Range
Range depends on the ambient light on the ground and on how well the surface reflects 850 nm light. With default settings, range is the greatest height at which at least half the readings are valid and within 5 m of the true height:
SR
18 m
30 m
18 m
30 m*
MR
18 m
40 m
18 m
50 m*
LR
18 m
40 m
40 m
82 m
Bright sun: sun 49–61° above the horizon; a lower sun gives more range. Dusk: sun below 6°. * Limited by the maximum reported distance; the sensor was still measuring at the flight ceiling (SR 38 m, MR 54 m). Wet surfaces reduce range. Over open water, readings are short and intermittent.
Pinout
CAN (×2) — 4-pin JST-GH
1
5V
5.0 V
2
CAN_P
5.0 V
3
CAN_N
5.0 V
4
GND
GND
UART — 6-pin JST-GH
MAVLink 2 distance output. See UART / MAVLink.
1
5V_UART
5.0 V
2
USART3_RX
3.3 V
3
USART3_TX
3.3 V
4
USART3_RTS
3.3 V
5
USART3_CTS
3.3 V
6
GND
GND
Debug — 6-pin JST-SH
NSH console and SWD.
1
3.3V
3.3 V
2
USART2_TX
3.3 V
3
USART2_RX
3.3 V
4
FMU_SWDIO
3.3 V
5
FMU_SWCLK
3.3 V
6
GND
GND
LEDs
Green, fast blink (10 Hz)
Node firmware running. It does not change with CAN traffic.
Green, slow blink (1 Hz)
Bootloader listening for CAN traffic
Blue, blinking (2 Hz)
Bootloader waiting for a node ID from the flight controller
Blue and green, blinking (3 Hz)
Bootloader waiting up to 3 s for the flight controller to start a firmware update
Red, green and blue together (3 Hz)
Firmware update in progress
Red, blinking
Firmware update error. 1 Hz: the flight controller returned a file error. 2 Hz: the flight controller stopped responding. 4 Hz: the image failed its CRC check. A failed update restarts the node after 20 s.
Without valid firmware the node stays in the bootloader until the flight controller flashes it.
Wiring
CAN: connect with a Pixhawk standard 4-pin JST-GH cable. See CAN Wiring. Chain additional nodes from the second CAN connector.
UART: connect the 6-pin UART JST-GH to a free FC serial port. Protocol details: UART / MAVLink.
Datasheets
3D Model and Case
All three variants use the same board and case.
All files: ARK_DIST in ark-hardware
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