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TFASPDIMU02 - Differential pressure sensor and IMU

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ThunderFly TFASPDIMU02 is I2C bus sensor board equipped with a differential pressure sensor (Sensirion SDP3x) and 9-axis motion tracking sensor (ICM-20948). The board is equipped with a 4-pin JST-GH connector. The sensor board is designed for multiple uses. It can be used as a self-adjusting anemometer WINDGAUGE03 or as an airspeed sensor for UAVs with optional function as the external magnetometer. The featured use (after firmware improvement) could be an angle of attract sensor, stall detector, or vibration (Flutter) detector.

TFASPDIMU02 PCB

TFASPDIMU is commercially available from ThunderFly s.r.o., write an email to info@thunderfly.cz or shop at Tindie store.

Specification

  • Type: Differential and 9-axis motion sensor board
  • Mass: 3 g
  • Size: 30 x 15 mm
  • Power input: +5 V
  • Connection: 4pin JST-GH connector PixHawk compatible

SDP3x differential pressure sensor

  • Range: +/- 125/500/1500 Pa (depending on exact sensor type SDP33 by default)
  • Excellent accuracy and repeatability, even below one Pascal
  • No zero-point offset, no temperature drift
  • Calibrated and temperature-compensated
  • Fast sampling time of 2kHz at 16 bit resolution
  • I2C address: 0x21 (0d33), could be changed by JP2 and/or resorderig the R10 value.

ICM-20948 9-axis IMU unit

  • 3-axis gyroscope, 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis compass (magnetometer)
  • Onboard Digital Motion Processor (DMP)
  • On-chip 16-bit ADCs and Programmable Filters
  • 7 MHz SPI or 400 kHz Fast Mode I²C
  • Digital temperature sensor
  • Default I2C address: 0x68 (0d104), can be changed to 0x69 (0d105) by adjusting the JP1.

Example of uses

WINDGUAGE - weather vane sensor

Ground control station anemometer WINDGAUGE03 is based on a TFASPDIMU sensor which is used for both wind direction and wind speed measurement.

TFSLOT01 - UAV airspeed sensor

Our TFSLOT sensor is an airspeed sensor for use mainly on UAVs. Due to the 3D printed case, optimizing housing according to the sensor's location on the UAV and tuning its characteristics is possible. The first use of this sensor was on our autogyro TF-G2.

TFSLOT01 sensor

More details about this solution are available in the repository TFSLOT01.

TFPIPE01 - UAV airspeed sensor

The symmetric variant of TFSLOT sensor for different mounting options TFPIPE01.

TFVENTUFO - innovative anemometer

This anemometer is also based on the venturi effect. Thanks to a clever design, it will measure the wind speed from all directions (without knowing the direction).

Angle of Attack sensor

In case of mounting on slip-ring bearing the sensor could sense air AoA of the vehicle.

Stall detector

The venturi geometry could also be inverted therefore the pressure ports look in open airflow. That results in the ability to detect stalls on wings by detecting the absence of pressure difference and increasing pressure fluctuations on the wing surface.

Hardware

TFASPDIMU02 PCB

Electronics schema

Full schema is available in PDF TFASPDIMU02 schema

PCB dimensions

TFASPDIMU02 dimensions

Pressure sensor connections are aligned to the center of the PCB width.

I2C connector pinout

Signal Pixhawk Color ThunderFly color
+5V Red red Red
SCL Black yellow Yellow
SDA Black green Green
GND Black black Black

Pixhawk pinout is listed according to the Pixhawk connector standard.

PixHawk autopilot connection cable

To increase the transmission quality, it is mandatory to create twisted pairs of SDA, GND, and SCL,+5V on the cable (as shown in the image)

  • 10 twists for each pair SCL/+5V and SDA/GND per 30cm cable length
  • 4 turns/twists of pairs per 30cm cable length.

ThunderFly I2C jstgh

Usage

Python

For reading data from the sensor, we have prepared a Python script in the PyMLAB library that uses the pySMBus to read data. It can be used directly from a computer with a corresponding converter (for example MLAB USBI2C01A) or with one-board computers (Odroid, raspberry, and similar) that have own smbus output.

Calibration verification

Calibration can be verified by mounting an anemometer to the car roof and comparing it to GNSS speed. This needs to be done in windless weather.

PX4

There exists a pull-request of modified SDP33 driver into PX4 stack.

The main use of this sensor is as an airspeed sensor. It can also be used as an external magnetometer and thermometer.

Ardupilot

We are currently unable to implement the sensor in the Ardupilot flight stack. However, we will be happy to assist with implementation. You can contact us