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This is an old revision of the document!
- title:
- dji phantom gps module
- members:
- dolf, zediek, loreto
- skills:
- electronics, reverse engineering, arduino, drone
- status:
- in_progress
We need to figure out if the GPS module on the DJI phanthom 3 is busted or not. THe replacement part is expensive. If only the antenna is broken (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0DohxxUcyk) it is cheap to replace. If the chip itself is broken, a replacement module is $150-$160. See http://www.helipal.com/phantom2-11-dji-phantom-2-phantom-2-vision-gps-module.html?osCsid=nkrfdmm2iv98requc10sbd7i44
A first visual inspection looked like the chip was actually damaged, which is not good. It would be nice if we can check if the module still works. If the module works but doesn't get a GPS lock, it's the antenna. If the whole module doesn't work, it's the chip. There is little documentation on the module (DJI of course wants to sell replacement parts), but there is a group that already reverse engineered part of the module and made an Arduino library. We need to try if we can hook the GPS module up to an arduino ourselves and test it, to decide what is wrong.
We also just need to test the drone with the controllers and figure out what the different LEDs mean to be sure the GPS is the problem.
If the whole module needs to be replaced, it would be difficult, but cool nonetheless if we can reverse engineer the GPS module more than the guys of the Arduino library already did. If we can, we might be able to create our own GPS module for it that might be a lot cheaper. But this is not going to be easy probably. If someone is really good at soldering, and the actual chip is damaged, it might be possible to replace the actual chip on the board: https://shop-asia.u-blox.com/en/eur/3~101~EMEA/Positioning-modules/Standalone-positioning/NEO-series. Or maybe we can replace it with this part: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/I2C-GPS-NAV-Module-U-blox-NEO-6-V3-1-GPS-Receiver-for-MWC-MultiWii-SE/32303970261.html
Someone did a full breakdown of a DJI Phantom 2 and replaced parts on it, including moving the GPS module around. Good videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiNeLAUeCNk&list=PL163adClzxCNf3BRrOOMyPPVSwNq8T8KX
The GPS chip on there is the ublox neo-6Q for which we have the datasheet
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