echopilot_ai_1

EchoPilot AI

EchoPilot AI

$1,399.00 – $2,239.00

In stock

$1,399.00 – $2,239.00

In stock, most orders ship in 1-3 days.

A highly integrated vehicle control and edge computing system designed to power next-generation uncrewed systems. The EchoPilot AI leverages the popular Ardupilot and PX4 projects, and uses Pixhawk open-hardware standards in combination with an Nvidia compute module to support computer vision, machine learning, autonomy, artificial intelligence and other advanced edge computing needs. The power of  an advanced autopilot is seamlessly combined with high-performance computing, IP networking, cloud connectivity, RemoteID subsystem and flexible low-latency hardware accelerated video encoding.

The unique stacked design of the EchoPilot AI gives users the option to tightly integrate the EchoPilot AI into their own platform, or use our full-featured base/carrier board for the vast majority of IO needs. Our latest Rev1 update provides high-speed NVMe solid state drive (SSD) support, an onboard 4G/5G modem slot and additional USB 3.1 ports for high-speed cameras and peripherals.

SKU: EM-ECHOPILOT-AI
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Description

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The EchoPilot AI is a professional-quality, highly integrated Flight Management Unit (FMU), compatible with PX4 and ArduPilot, combined with a powerful Nvidia Jetson single board computer and peripheral support system (USB, MIPI, Ethernet, CAN, I2C, etc.) at minimal size, weight and power. The EchoPilot AI is a professional control and compute system for modern uncrewed systems.

Product Summary

Command and control functionality is provided by a high-performance autopilot, designed around the latest high-stability, temperature controlled low-drift inertial measurement units (IMUs), barometer and a military-grade RM3100 compass and compatible with PX4 and Ardupilot firmware. Compute functionality is handled by an Nvidia Jetson TX2 NX, Xavier NX, or Orin NX which plugs into the onboard 260-pin card edge connector. Compatibility with open-source software provides IP network connectivity to the FMU and supports several commercial IP/MANet radios from EchoMAV, Doodle Labs, Persistent Systems, Silvus Technologies and/or Microhard. Additional open-source libraries get you up to speed quickly with video encoding and streaming, cellular connectivity and more.

The EchoPilot AI’s unique board-to-board design allows platform developers to optionally integrate the EchoPilot AI into their own carrier/breakout board, minimizing wiring and weight while improving manufacturability and reliability. Each EchoPilot AI comes with a universal carrier board, offering connectivity suitable for most typical systems, however advanced users can design their own carrier board if they wish for a deeper integration.

As shown in the diagram above, the EchoPilot AI solution consists of two stacked boards, the top board is the main board and contains the Nvidia interface and Pixhawk-standard Flight Management Unit as well as peripheral support. The bottom board is the Carrier board and contains power management and connectivity. The EchoPilot AI stacked design gives integrators the opportunity to (optionally) design their own carrier board. We even help you by providing full open-source hardware design for our own Carrier board.

Nvidia Jetson Compatability

The EchoPilot AI is designed to be compatible with the Nvidia Jetson NX line of modules, including the Nano, TX2 NX, Xavier NX, Orin Nano and Orin NX. Quickly leverage Nvidia’s SDKs such as DeepStream to create vision AI and object detection applications.

Software

The EchoPilot AI is provisioned with powerful open-source software, allowing you to get up to speed quickly:

  • Flight management software from PX4 or Ardupilot flashed, fully calibrated and tested
  • A web-based user interface providing easy changes to telemetry routing, networking and other system tools (including terminal)
  • IP-based telemetry routing via mavlink-router

Compatibility with common toolsets including:

Remote ID Subsystem

The EchoPilot AI features a RemoteID system build to be compatible with Open Drone ID standards.

  • Compatible with ArduRemoteID, future upgradable to ensure continued compliance
  • Meets ASTM F3586-22 Means of Compliance
  • Serial connection to the FMU
  • Independent RGB LED for Remote ID Status

The RemoteID system supports the following transmission modes:

  • WiFi broadcasting
  • WiFi Neighbor Awareness Networking
  • Bluetooth 4 Legacy Advertising
  • Bluetooth 5 Long Range + Extended Advertising

Flight Management Unit (FMU) Details

The Flight Management Unit is based on the Pixhawk open-hardware standard. Specifications are below:

  • STH32H743 Processor
  • STM32F100 IO Processor
  • Compatible with PX4 and Ardupilot
  • 14 PWM Outputs (6 Dshot Compatible) (Note, the stock carrier board only routes out 12 PWM lines)
  • Triple Redundant ICM42688 IMUs
  • Dual Redundant MS5611 Barometers
  • RM3100 Compass (external compasses support on CAN or I2C)
  • Onboard heater for the IMUs and Barometer

Connectivity

The EchoPilot AI provides a wide arrange of connectivity to support the vast majority of system needs. Should you need more customization, please refer to our open-source carrier board design which you can modify to your needs, or contact us for customization options.

Connectivity from the FMU:

  • GPS/Compass (Pixhawk Standard)
  • Telemetry (Pixhawk Standard)
  • PWM (x12) (includes 0.1″ header adapter board)
  • CAN (x2)
  • I2C (x2)
  • Voltage and Current Sense (x2)
  • General Analog Inputs (x2)
  • RSSI/S.BUS
  • Radio Input
  • RS232 (Typically for optional external INS, e.g., VectorNAV)
  • SD Card

Connectivity from the Jetson:

  • PCIe, 4-lane, M.2 NVMe SSD slot, size 2230 (buy here)
  • M.2 4G/5G Modem slot, size 3052 (USB 3.1) (buy here)
  • USB 2.0 (x3) JST 4 pin
  • USB 3.1 SS (x2) JST 10 pin
  • Ethernet 10/100 Mbps (x2)
  • UART (for Iridium Rockblock)
  • MIPI/CSI (x2)
  • CAN
  • I2C
  • GPIO
  • FAN Control

Other:

  • Battery output spare voltage
  • +5V regulated and protected output

Inertial Navigation System Add-On Options

The EchoPilot AI includes hardware support external add-on INS systems, including VectorNav VN-1×0, 2×0 and 3×0 series of precision and calibrated Inertial Navigation Systems (INS). These systems provide an upgrade to the sensor suite on the EchoPilot AI, and can also serve as the system GNSS (VN-2×0 or VN-3×0 only).  The VectorNav INS can be added later. 

What's Included

Each EchoPilot AI purchase includes:

  • EchoPilot AI Mainboard with FMU flashed and tested with your selection of firmware
  • Jetson module installed, provisioned and tested (if ordered)
  • NVMe SSD installed and tested (if ordered)
  • EchoPilot AI Universal Carrier/Connector Board
  • 10mm standoffs and screws
  • XT30 female power connector
  • M2.5 screws for the Jetson module
  • Qty 1 PWM Breakout board with cable
  • Qty 1 USB3 type A Breakout board with cable
  • Qty 1 RJ45 Breakout board with cable
  • 16 GB SD Card
  • USB-A to USB-C Cable
  • USB-A to USB Micro Cable

Frequently Asked Questions

There are two MIPI-CSI2 connectors, one is a 4-lane connector using the common 22-pin 0.5mm spacing FFC connector with a pinout commonly found on available 4-lane MIPI cameras. The second MIPI-CSI2 connector is a 2-lane port and uses a 15 pin, 1mm spacing FFC connector and pinout commonly found on 2-lane commercial cameras.

Conformal coating is a hand-applied silicon-based clear coating applied to the printed circuit board. It provides strong protection against moisture, corrosion, dirt, dust, thermal shock, short circuits, arcing and static discharge. For most applications, we recommend conformal coating. Note that the barometers have a vent hole which is not coated. Also note that conformal coating does reduce thermal conductivity, so it is not applied to surfaces designed to mate to heat sinks (such as the processor on the NVidia SOMs). Thermal coating also makes future board rework or repairs more difficult, but it can be removed with appropriate solvents.

Yes, our carrier board design is completely open-source and feel free to use it as the base of your own custom solution or vehicle integration. You can find the full KiCad (6.0+) project here: https://github.com/EchoMAV/echopilot_ai_carrier

The EchoPilot AI supports any radio you would like to use! If you are using a traditional hobby-style receiver, you can use the RADIO input to connect to the receiver. If you are using a serial radio such as the RFD-900 or other SiK-based radio, you can use the TELEM port to connect the radio. In both cases, setup is required to configure the radio for your autopilot software, for example - refer to the ArduPilot Documentation. If you are using an IP-based radio, such as Persistent Systems, Microhard, Silvus or Doodle Labs, then you would typically use Ethernet 1 or Ethernet 2 in combination with software on the Jetson (such as mavlink-router) to packetize the serial data from the autopilot. Most commercial IP radios offer serial to UDP/TCP natively, but we recommend doing this on the Jetson as you will have significantly more control of your endpoints.

The EchoPilot AI Carrier Board is designed to be plug and play compatible with the RockBLOCK 9603 modem. When used, a serial/UART connection between the Jetson SOM allows you to read/write from the modem. Custom software may be required to fully utilize an Iridium SBD connection for your project.

Each purchase includes the EchoPilot AI Main Board, the EchoPilot Carrier Board, standoffs and screws, a female XT30 power connector, PWM Breakout Board with cable, a USB-A Breakout board with cable, RJ45 Breakout board with cable, USB-C and USB Micro cables. If you specified a Jetson module when your order, the Jetson module will be included with purchase. You may source your own Jetson SOM. If a NVMe SSD was ordered, it will be used to provision the Jetson (Orin NX and Orin Nano only). The EchoPilot AI Main Board is available standalone for customers who have designed their own carrier board, please contact us for a quote.

Per hardware revision 1+, the EchoPilot AI carrier board includes a M.2 slot design to incorporate a 4G/5G modem. We recommend Sierra Wireless modems in the M.2 3052 form factor. Only size 3052 is supported. In applications where video is uploaded with a cellular modem, we recommend installing a thermal pad under the modem and adding a heatsink (CUI HSB03-141406) in the provided space on the carrier board.

Size and Weight

  • 83 x 59 mm
  • 10mm stack height between board
  • Total height dependent on heatsink solution used with the Jetson SOM.
  • EchoPilot AI Main Board Weight: 33g
  • EchoPilot AI Carrier Board Weight: 35g

Power

  • 7-56 VDC @ 4A supply required. Supply should be able to deliver full 4A for short periods of time with minimal droop. Recommend wiring directly to system battery.

Nvidia Jetson Compatability

  • Nano
  • TX2 NX
  • Xavier NX
  • Xavier NX TAA
  • Orin NX

FMU Specifications

  • STH32H743 Processor
  • STM32F100 IO Processor
  • Compatible with PX4 and Ardupilot
  • 14 PWM Outputs (6 Dshot Compatible) (Note, the stock carrier board only routes out 12 PWM lines)
  • Triple Redundant ICM42688 IMUs
  • Dual Redundant MS5611 Barometers
  • RM3100 Compass (additional external compasses supported)
  • Onboard heater for the IMUs and Barometer

Environmental

  • -40° to 85°C

 

 

Export Information

  • ECCN: EchoPilot AI board is EAR99, Nvidia Modules are 5A992.C
  • Harmoized Tarrif Schedule (HTS) Code: 8542.31
  • Country of Origin: USA
  • The EchoPilot AI hardware is NDAA Compliant. For Blue UAS certification, we recommend using the TAA compliant Xavier NX (Taiwan COO) or Orin NX (USA COO) in conjunction with the EchoPilot AI.

Declaration of Conformity (CE Marking)

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