Pixhawk overheating? In Dubai 45 degrees C

Hi,
I will be using the pixhawk cube in dubai next week.
I used 2.4.8 a few months ago and had some issues, it eventually died.

Wondering if it was the heat that did it.
It will be 45 degree Celsius

I haven’t tested it in high temperatures, but the working temp is fairly high.

It tries to heat up to 60° to work, so I’d say that 45 shouldn’t be an issue if there is no direct sunlight on the Cube.

The Pixhawk2 has an ‘oven’ built in to heat the IMU, usually running at 60 degree Celsius. So I suspect you will have no problem.

Operating the Cube in 40C ambient I get the cube to 80C plus (in <15 minutes) if it’s exposed in direct sunlight, which is excessively hot, and should be avoided. If you avoid direct sunlight I tend to level off around 70C in a 40C ambient (after an hour).

The heater will heat to the desired temp (60 is good)

If the external temperature is higher than about 40, please ensure some airflow past the cube.

Hi,
I am looking to fly my system in temperatures up to 50C. Any suggestions on what can be done to keep the AP running without temperature issues?

Airflow, peltier device?

Black is fine to heat up the box. Use white paint.

Marc

Even the original Pixhawk requires the IMU’s to be at constant temp to help prevent drift. On helicopters I use some heat-reflective material with thin coated insulation behind it over my Pixhawk’s. It prevents the electronics from overheating in direct sunlight. Plenty of airflow thru the covering for warm weather. In extreme cold weather I put another piece on the front of the Pixhawk to prevent cold air from flowing thru, which keeps the electronics nice and warm. I also insulate the belly batteries on helicopters with it in cold weather.

The covering is completely waterproof and also helps protect the Pixhawk’s electrical connection ports from dirt or sand blown up by the blades when operating close to the ground, and keeps the Pixhawk dry if the helicopter gets caught in a rain shower on a flight.

The material is the stuff they use for heat reflective in the windshields of cars parked in the sun, to keep the sun out.

Not a closeup photo, but you can see the installation on this helicopter.

New photo by Chris & Kristin Olson
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