PixHack - is it just another pixhawk alternative?

You might of noticed that we recently added a new autopilot to our shop, called the PixHack, and no its not a typo.  

We obviously think its a good autopilot but not everyone may agree one might think its just another alternative, or clone of the pixhawk.  Since this is an autopilot board we decided to stock I will obviously have a slight bias to why it is so great, but read more and then decide for yourself, as you cant always judge a book by its cover.

Buy PixHack

Some important design improvements

Thanks to the open source nature of the ardupilot hardware, anyone can get the files and clone, or modify the designs to come up with something innovative.  Lets start by pointing out that this is not a direct clone of the pixhawk.  During design, the goal was to produce a new autopilot that took all the great things from pixhawk, and fixed all the bad things.  As a result the two most notable features of the PixHack are the floating vibration isolated IMU mount, and the EMF shielding.

Floating IMU
The IMU sensors are located on a separate PCB, which is mounted to the PixHack via a solf silicone rubber mount.  This means that the sensors are more immune to vibrations, resulting in more accurate sensor readings to control your drone more effectively

EMF Shield
A copper EMF shield covers the IMU sensors to block unwanted electromagnetic interference from messing with the sensors.  This is particularly useful for the magnetic compass sensor which is prone to interference on the regular Pixhawk board.

New Connectors
If you own a Pixhawk autopilot, you will undoubly agree that although the DF13 connectors do make for a secure method of attaching cables, they are a real pain to pull out.  We have been told by countless customers who have ended up breaking a cable, or connector when trying to remove a DF13 plug.  Fortunately the PixHack uses some new connectors which are super secure, but have a nice clipping mechanism that allow you to easily remote them if needed.

Value for your money

This is not always something you want to read when looking for a mission critical device, but the truth is that the overall cost of the PixHack kit makes it a much more affordable autopilot kit.  Notable included modules include the Ublox Neo M8N GPS module which is capable of receiving both GPS, and GLONASS satellites for notable improvements in accuracy and reliability.  However a bunch of other modules are included such as telemetry modules, minimOSD, PPM encoder to allow you to get the most out of your drone autopiot.

Support for Unmanned Tech

Buy PixHack Autopilot Kit

Something that is not always considered, but unless you are an expert any autopilot can be confusing to use and setup.  The PixHack autopilot kits come with a full 90 day manufacturer warranty, so if something is not working as it should we will replace the autopilot for you assuming its not been damaged due to misuse (something that can easily be found out from the data logs).  However at Unmanned Tech we strive to help all out customers get the most out of what the buy from us, so if you ever have any issue, just send us an email and we will be happy to help you solve your problem.

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