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Pellicanus - An Open Source GNSS/INS Navigation Development Board

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palpurul:
Hello,

Me and my friend have just pre-launched an open-source IMU board called Pellicanus (because we heard that pelicans are good at navigation :)). It's an open-source GNSS/INS(inertial navigation system) board for navigation. I am a PCB designer and I developed the board. My friend specializes in navigation algorithms and me and him wrote a lot of code to implement loosely coupled kalman filter and it's all open-source, so that you can change the code for your own application or uase our code for learning and experimenting with navigation, it's more fun than you think.  ;D

Subscribe to our pre-launch page: https://www.crowdsupply.com/g-fusion/pellicanus

We use Raspberry Pi's RP2040 as our processor. It can be programmed with micropython if you are into it, you can also use C. Micropython can make your development process faster, and potentially making your application's performance slower  |O, but it's still a nice alternative if you are just trying to get something working.

UPDATE (15.02.2022) -Start
We decided to convert pellicanus to a small SMD module with castellated holes, so that it can be integrated in any project easily.

Here is the layout view of the new SMD module in KiCAD. I tried to make it as tiny as possible so that it doesn't take up much space in the PCB.


Here is some sweet 3D views from KiCAD. I wanted to share renders, but I am not that capable, 3D rendering stuff is not more for me.  :palm:


Since it's an SMD module it cannot be used as a single unit, it gotta be on another PCB, and therefore I developed a simple dev board for the Pellicanus.
The dev board includes:

* Type-C USB connector
* 3-pin Speedometer connector
* SDCard connector
* Qiwiic connector
* A few LEDs and a button
* Left-over pins from the RP2040  ;)Here is a picture of the dev board


UPDATE (15.02.2022) -End

UPDATE (15.02.2022) This is the first version of PELLICANUS which will not make into production


Pellicanus includes accurate and low-drift gyroscope and accelerometer. Pellicanus also includes a magnetometer, barometer and a GNSS module.
Here is a list of the main components:
Gyroscope: IAM-20380
Accelerometer: IAM-20381
Magnetometer: MMC5983MA
Barometer: MS563702BA03-50
However we are going to be switching to IAM-20680 which has both gyro and accelerometer and have the same performance, so performance is going to be the same.

We're experimenting with calibration, our end goal is to facilitate calibration for accelerometer and magnetometer. Here is some data showing the magnetometer output before and after the calibration.

Once the calibration is done, the calibration data is stored in pellicanus for future use. Each Pellicanus board will come with calibration data stored in it. Trust me it really helps with the drift (I will show the drift data befor and after calibration in a later post). We are also preparing documents on how to calibrate the board once you get it. We are working on calibrating gyro, but it's going to take time as calibrating them is more involved than calibrating the accelerometer or magnetometer.

At the end we are going to provide you with the mathmatical model and software for implementing extended Kalman filter, but you can also implement your own algorithms because it's a platform that you can play with precision IMU sensors.

Here is short list for the specifications:
Accelerometer Meas Range: ±2 g, ±4 g, ±8 g, ±16 g
Gyro Meas Range: ±250 dps, ±500 dps, ±1000 dps, ±2000 dps
Mag Meas Range: ±8 gauss
Operation Temperature: -40°C to +80°C
Gyro Bias Instability: 7-8°/hr
Dynamic Heading Accuaricy: ±1°
Dynamic Pitch/Roll Accuaricy: ±0.1°
Position Accuaricy: ±4 meters
Pressure Sensor Meas Range: 300-1200 mbar
GNSS position, speed and heading correction


We are looking for suggestions about what to add to the board.

* What are some of the essential features for an INS board to have that we missed?
* Do you have a cool idea about this project? We like to hear.More to come later.

palpurul:
UPDATE!

Subscribe to our pre-launch page: https://www.crowdsupply.com/g-fusion/pellicanus

This is the 3D view of the new version of Pellicanus.


We decided to add a few things:

* Lipo connector along with linear charge, that support a single cell lipo battery
* Extra ROM for logging
* Switched to IAM-20680
* Added terminal for 3-pin speedometer connection, which can be used in navigation algorithm
* Added a qwiic connector right next to USB
* Some cosmetic changes
We're sending the PCB to manufacturing, let me know if you have any ideas to add to the development board.

We're also working on GUI that visualized the raw data from sensors and helps you understand kalman filter and various navigation algorithms better. The GUI is not only going to show you the raw data, it's going to depict orentaiton, lets you fiddle with the parameters in Kalman filter, that way it's going to help you better understand navigation algorithms.

Let us know what you think about it. We need feedback.  :)

PlainName:
What's the ballpark cost of this?

Cerebus:
I'l certainly be keeping my eye on this. Make sure you update us here so that we don't have to keep dropping into crowdsupply to find out when it all actually kicks off.

palpurul:

--- Quote from: dunkemhigh on January 21, 2022, 11:16:58 pm ---What's the ballpark cost of this?

--- End quote ---
We cannot say that for sure for now, but keep in mind that GNSS and sensors we're using are really cheap, they are precision sensors and they are a bit expensive.

We are advised not to share the price by the crowdsupply team as we are kind of far away from the campaign, but we can promise that it's going to be considerably cheaper tactical grade IMUs (they are in the range of 800-1200$, example: VN-100). We know that VN-100 is not an exact competition to Pellicanus because we obviously focus hobby and education market, and therefore the pricing is going to be suitable for hobbyists and enthusiasts.  ;)

Small correction: (Edit)
Small correction about this VN-100 is not functionally equivalent to Pellicanus as VN-100 is only an AHRS(does not include GNSS). Although you can use Pellicanus as a AHRS you can do a lot more with it because it includes a GNSS, hence it is an INS/GNSS and its functional equivalent is VN-200, it sells for a whopping 2400$  :o. Obvisouly Pellicanus is going to be a lot more affordable than VN-200.   :-+

I'll post updates here, when we are live with the campaign the price information will be available. I can consult with the community here about the price as we get closer to campaign. In the mean time you can subscribe to mailing list here from this link

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