Say Yes to the GNSS
A new, economical GNSS board is now available featuring the MAX-M10S from u-blox! We also have four new Pixhawk® flight controller kits!
Hello and happy September, everyone! It's Friday, once again, and that means we have more new products for you to check out. This week, we start off with a new economical GNSS Receiver Breakout featuring the MAX-M10S from u-blox. This board is remarkably accurate for its price and operates at ultra-low-power. Following that we have four Pixhawk flight controller kits two of which include M8N GPS units. You could probably call this a week for GNSS and GPS products! Now, let's jump in and take a closer look at this week's products!
Take it to the MAX-M10S!
The SparkFun MAX-M10S Breakout is an ultra-low-power, high performance, miniaturized GNSS board that is perfect for battery operated applications that don't possess a lot of space, such as asset trackers and wearable devices. The MAX-M10S module from u-blox has an extremely low power consumption that is less than 25mW in continuous tracking mode.
The Pixhawk® 6C (both with an M8N GPS and without an M8N GPS unit) is the latest update to the successful family of Pixhawk® flight controllers, based on the Pixhawk® FMUv6C Open Standard and Connector Standard. It comes with PX4 Autopilot® pre-installed. Inside the Pixhawk® 6C, you can find an STMicroelectronics® based STM32H743, paired with sensor technology from Bosch® & InvenSense®, giving you flexibility and reliability for controlling any autonomous vehicle, suitable for both academic and commercial applications.
These kits are almost the exact same as the ones shown above! The Pixhawk® 6C (both with an M8N GPS and without an M8N GPS unit) are included, but these two kits actually feature a Power Management Board (PM07 Board) that serves the purpose of a Power Module as well as a Power Distribution Board. In addition to providing regulated power to Pixhawk 4 and the ESCs, it sends information to the autopilot about battery voltage and current that is supplied to the flight controller and the motors.
That's it for this week. As always, we can't wait to see what you make. Shoot us a tweet @sparkfun, or let us know on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn. Please be safe out there, be kind to one another, and we'll see you next week with even more new products!
Even though my project is well beyond the point of choosing which GNSS receiver, I'll ask: Are there plans to support the SparkFun GNSS Receiver Breakout - MAX-M10S (Qwiic) to the SparkFun OpenLog Artemis (without IMU)? It would have been nice to use a longer antenna cable rather than a longer Qwiic cable...
The OpenLog Artemis (with/without the IMU) supports any of the u-blox GNSS boards via Qwiic since they have the same I2C address and protocol. It's subtly stated in the OpenLog Artemis Hookup Guide: Introduction:
Thus, the SparkFun GNSS Receiver Breakout - MAX-M10S (Qwiic) and any u-blox GNSS module should work with the Openlog Artemis through I2C. I also had the parts available and verified that the MAX-M10S can connect to the OpenLog Artemis (without IMU). I was able to view GNSS output and synchronize the RTC date/time with the GNSS receiver. ;)
Thanks for the clarification! I would suggest, though, that the list of supported Qwiic products on the OpenLog Artemis (without IMU) be updated, as there will be people who won't dig into the Hookup Guide before dismissing the combination.
Also, I'd suggest putting a link somewhere on the SparkFun OpenLog Artemis (without IMU) to the version with IMU SparkFun OpenLog Artemis -- maybe on the "similar items" list? Hopefully it won't be too long before you can keep both versions in stock (for my project, the IMU would have been superfluous). BTW, I noticed that the "with IMU" also would benefit from adding the new GNSS to the "supported list" in the description page.
Thanks for the feedback! I clarified under the product description of both the OpenLog Artemis versions with IMU and w/out IMU with the following changes:
I also mirrored the changes to the GitHub Repo. =)