UAV/FPV-project: The ground control station

	Summary The goal of this project was to integrate all necessary components for my ground station in a single box, minimizing the time needed for rigging in the field. It's of course also a lot more elegant and less prone to failures than a mess of wires and components.

Components and connections

Pelicase 1400 with 1400PF panel frame adapter
uC-controlled power system
12V, 5V and 3.3V switch-mode regulators
4S 5000 mAh LiPo
RC TX: Thomas Scherrer UHF LRS system
A/V RX: Lawmate 8ch 1.2GHz receiver
Telemetry transceiver: Xbee Pro 2.5 series 50mW
Framegrabber: EasyCAP DC60+ (new version with good W7-support)
4ch USB 2.0 hub
4ch video splitter
Neutrik USB-connector, 5-pin XLR, 3x 6-pin XLR, 3-pin XLR
SMA-connectors, switches and leds

The schematic below is not valid, as I now have three regulators powered directly from the LiPo protection circuit.

The power system

The main purpose of this system is to protect the LiPo-battery from being drained below 3V per cell and provide a visible feedback of battery status.

Panel design

The panel was ment to be modular with the use of exchangeable Neutrik-connectors. Schaeffer AG in Germany milled the panel after my drawings, and I was more than satisfied with the result.

Assembly and installation

To ease future expansion, I decided to mount everything with velcro and connect everything with MPX-connectors.

Installing regulators and doing some wiring

The following pictures shows, among other stuff, the installation of three switch-mode regulators, adjusted for 3.3V, 5V and 12V output. The 8" LCD-screen will normally not be used, but is shown here as an option to the Headplay googles I normally use.

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