Location One - M10070

The 3DR Location One is a multi-constellation GNSS powered by the u-blox M9N module and the advanced RM3100 compass.

Compared to old generation GNSS+Compass modules, this board incorporates a robust Controller Area Network [CAN] bus based on the ArduPilot AP_Periph CAN peripheral firmware.

This CAN port allows us to transmit all sensor data with just two wires, on a single bus with high noise tolerance. It has a RGB Status LED and “Arm” safety button. Designed for all UAVCAN compatible platforms.

Location One is not just a u-blox chip populated on a purple reference GNSS board design. Patch antennas won’t work by themselves, they require a proper ground plane to achieve maximum performance and assure good reception at any angle. With the lack of a proper antenna, the GNSS module will not achieve peak performance (or work at all), as would happen with any RF system. The Location One ground plane and RF circuitry might look the same as other options, but we work very hard to give you that extra ~15% performance.

Warranty and Warnings

The 3DR Location One is a powerful yet delicate device. Handle with care and avoid touching the metal cap antenna, or your static discharge might damage the internal LNA. Do not cover it with tape or another insulator if you are not sure of its properties. This might change the antenna “tuning” resulting in lower performance.

Also, the 3 magnetic coils mounted on the top-front of the units are delicate. They purposely have little solder paste to avoid excess “tilt”, resulting in some reading inaccuracies of the compass. Any strong impacts will definitely separate them. The tallest coil (z-axis), has a lot of what is known in physics as “arm” due to the unusual height, so even if extra solder is present, it is relatively easy to rip the pads off. For this revision we added cover protection for to help you keep this coil intact. Still, use this precision instrument with care. If you break one, read our troubleshooting below.

Innovations

• As its predecessor, this GNSS module have a nearly “perfect” top plane, with no holes or artifacts that can alter the antenna reception pattern (except the USB-C holes).

• We keep the dual 3.3V regulators. One dedicated to the microcontroller and not critical sensors/peripherals, and one 3.3V just dedicated to the GPS engine, as close as possible to reduce noise.

• TVS protection added on all input voltages. Now your board is more robust and reliable.

• Marginal Extended Voltage Range

• Backup battery circuit revised, now offers up to 6 weeks for warm-start of the GNSS Module, battery retains full capacity after several charging cycles.

• PPS logic voltage selector added for a mosfet-driven (push-pull) output pad

• External interrupt, safe boot, D_SEL pads from u-blox chip now exposed

• Ground separations: the PCB is a multi-layered device, which allows us to separate the grounds from the GPS engine and the “rest” as much as possible, to reduce noise affecting the very weak GNSS signals.

• We are the first to “bump” the GPS shape and expose the compass coils away from the main PCB area. This has two advantages: the first is that it keeps the GPS ground plane intact, and the second is that it positions the very sensitive magnetic coils away from the internal unit noise with a “clear view” for better performance. Also, notice that the area has almost no copper.

• We now provide a cover protection for the RM1300's Z-axis coil

• Extra optional serial port pads from STM32 MCU (TX2, RX2) added

• STM32 Boot0 pad added

• Selectable I2C/CAN standalone mode

  • CAN (Primary): All sensors are transmitted through DroneCAN
  • I2C (Secondary): All sensors except by GNSS are transmitted through I2C, GNSS remains on CAN

• Changed Driver LED from NCP5623 to IS31FL3195

Changelog

The changelog for this product can be found at this link.

Quickstart guide

Purchase This GPS

Selection for CAN/I2C for onboard sensors aside the GNSS module

The Location One comes configured to transmit all the data through a CAN interface by default. If for some reason you need to
expose the sensors to use an I2C interface, then you'll have to carefully switch all resistors from the S Position (labeled) to the pad on the side as shown on the picture below:

Ardupilot Parameters

On the latest version of Mission Planner, set the following parameters:

If your flight controller has more than 3 internal compasses, you should disable the least important one:

Connect your 3DR Location One to your flight controller via CAN and Reboot.

Specifications

Normal Usage Guide

Advanced Usage Guide

Enable RGB

Enable I²C Airspeed

To enable an I²C airspeed, first go to your full parameter list via Mission Planner and set:

Then you must access your 3DR Location One CAN parameters and follow those steps:

• Mission Planner
• Initial Setup
• Optional Hardware
• UAVCAN
• SLCan Mode CAN1 (or 2)
• Parameters.

1 minute later inside the CAN Parameters list, change the following:

Write the parameters mentioned and reboot.

Downloads

Download 3D Model