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Cuav Nora

Raffaele Rossi

CUAV Nora Flight Controller

:::warning PX4 does not manufacture this (or any) autopilot. Contact the manufacturer for hardware support or compliance issues. :::

The Nora® flight controller is a high-performance autopilot. It is an ideal choice for industrial drones and large-scale heavy-duty drones. It is mainly supplied to commercial manufacturers.

CUAV x7

Nora is a variant of the CUAV X7. It adopts an integrated motherboard (soft and hard board), which reduces flight controller's internal connectors, improves reliability, and places all the interfaces on the side (making the wiring more concise).

::: info This flight controller is manufacturer supported. :::

Features

  • Internal shock absorption
  • The integrated process reduces the failure caused by interface damage.
  • Support USB_HS, download logs faster (PX4 not yet supported)
  • Support more dshot output
  • Support IMU heating, make the sensor work better
  • Dedicated CAN battery port
  • 3 sets of IMU sensors
  • Car-grade RM3100 compass
  • High performance processor

:::tip The manufacturer CUAV Docs are the canonical reference for Nora. They should be used by preference as they contain the most complete and up to date information. :::

Quick Summary

  • Main FMU Processor: STM32H743

  • On-board sensors:

  • Accelerometer/Gyroscope: ICM-20689

  • Accelerometer/Gyroscope: ICM-20649
  • Accelerometer/Gyroscope: BMI088
  • Magnetometer: RM3100

  • Barometer: MS5611*2

  • Interfaces:

  • 14 PWM outputs （12 supports Dshot）
  • Support multiple RC inputs (SBUs / CPPM / DSM)
  • Analogue / PWM RSSI input
  • 2 GPS ports(GPS and UART4 ports)
  • 4 i2c buses(Two i2c dedicated ports)
  • 2 CAN bus ports
  • 2 Power ports(Power A is common adc interface, Power C is DroneCAN battery interface)
  • 2 ADC input
  • 1 USB ports
  • Power System:
  • Power: 4.3~5.4V
  • USB Input: 4.75~5.25V
  • Servo Rail Input: 0~36V
  • Weight and Dimensions:
  • Weight: 101 g
  • Other Characteristics:
  • Operating temperature: -20 ~ 80°c（Measured value）
  • Three imus
  • Supports temperature compensation
  • Internal shock absorption

::: info When it runs PX4 firmware, only 8 PWM outputs work. The remaining 6 PWM ports are still being adapted (so it is not compatible with VOLT at time of writing). :::

Where to Buy

Connections (Wiring)

CUAV nora Wiring Quickstart

Size and Pinouts

CUAV x7

X7 pinouts

:::warning The RCIN port is limited to powering the rc receiver and cannot be connected to any power/load. :::

Voltage Ratings

Nora AutoPilot* can be triple-redundant on the power supply if three power sources are supplied. The two power rails are: POWERA, POWERC and USB.

::: info The output power rails PWM OUT (0V to 36V) do not power the flight controller board (and are not powered by it). You must supply power to one of POWERA, POWERC or USB or the board will be unpowered. :::

Normal Operation Maximum Ratings

Under these conditions all power sources will be used in this order to power the system:

  1. POWERA and POWERC inputs (4.3V to 5.4V)
  2. USB input (4.75V to 5.25V)

Building Firmware

:::tip Most users will not need to build this firmware! It is pre-built and automatically installed by QGroundControl when appropriate hardware is connected. :::

To build PX4 for this target:

make cuav_nora_default

Over Current Protection

The Nora has over-current protection on the 5 Volt Peripheral and 5 Volt high power, which limits the current to 2.5A. The Nora has short circuit protection.

:::warning Up to 2.5 A can be delivered to the connectors listed as pin 1 (although these are only rated at 1 A). :::

Debug Port

The system's serial console and SWD interface operate on the DSU7 port. Simply connect the FTDI cable to the DSU7 connector (the product list contains the CUAV FTDI cable).

The PX4 System Console and SWD interface operate on the FMU Debug port (DSU7).

The debug port (DSU7) uses a JST BM06B connector and has the following pinout:

| Pin | Signal | Volt | | ------- | -------------- | ----- | | 1 (red) | 5V+ | +5V | | 2 (blk) | DEBUG TX (OUT) | +3.3V | | 3 (blk) | DEBUG RX (IN) | +3.3V | | 4 (blk) | FMU_SWDIO | +3.3V | | 5 (blk) | FMU_SWCLK | +3.3V | | 6 (blk) | GND | GND |

CUAV provides a dedicated debugging cable, which can be connected to the DSU7 port. This splits out an FTDI cable for connecting the PX4 System Console to a computer USB port, and SWD pins used for SWD/JTAG debugging. The provided debug cable does not connect to the SWD port Vref pin (1).

CUAV Debug cable

:::warning The SWD Vref pin (1) uses 5V as Vref but the CPU is run at 3.3V!

Some JTAG adapters (SEGGER J-Link) will use the Vref voltage to set the voltage on the SWD lines. For direct connection to Segger Jlink we recommended you use the 3.3 Volts from pin 4 of the connector marked DSM/SBUS/RSSI to provide Vtref to the JTAG (i.e. providing 3.3V and NOT 5V). :::

Supported Platforms / Airframes

Any multicopter / airplane / rover or boat that can be controlled with normal RC servos or Futaba S-Bus servos. The complete set of supported configurations can be seen in the Airframes Reference.

Further info

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