Kakute F4 carrier board for Raspberry Pi

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uh, sounds good :slight_smile: - is this hat pcb available?
BTW: is it possible to share you schematic?

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The PCB is still a work in progress … I still need to fix up a few misplaced traces on it!

I’ve actually separated out the power module part for the Pi to make a standalone power/telemetry interface - I’ve posted some details of it on the Ardupilot Facebook group.

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nevertheless if pcb is ready for “ordering” - i’m interested in it

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I should be able to have something priced up by the end of the weekend… I think @khancyr was interested too.

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That would be perfect on my donkeycar for my ros videos! Keep us posted

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I am interested as well in a carrier board. I have several rover projects in mind. Currently I am using a Pixhawk 2.4.8 but need to research what would really work best. And I definitely need a coprocessor (R-Pi or other) to send some commands to the Auto Pilot over MAVLink and perform some separate functions. I have not researched the options, yet, but it seems I need to consider the Kakute.

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Ok, I’ve made a few changes to the board:

3D1
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3D2
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(Note the Servo output ports will be horizontal, rather than the vertical shown in the renderings

So it now has:

  • Separate power switches for the Kakute and Pi
  • Removal of current sensing (sensor was quite expensive)
  • I2C port breakout (from the JSH-GH port. The Kakute has it’s I2C port in an odd location, so the user will have to solder that themselves)
  • All ports face towards the USB-port side of the Pi
  • The Kakute’s USB port is accessible
  • Fixed up incorrect traces
  • Removed the ID EEPROM, as I’ve not quite worked out how to use it
  • Barrell Jack and XT60 ports replaced by solder pad, so the user can attach any power input plug they want.

Doing a small production run:

I can build these for roughly $40AUD per board. If I get more than 10 orders, I may be able to reduce the cost a bit (bulk discounts for parts, etc).

Postage isn’t included. It’ll likely be $20-30AUD depending on which country you live in.

If anyone wants a board, PM me with the quantity and country of delivery by 20/02/2019

1 Like
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Just a reminder to anyone who wants a board - PM me by the 20th Feb so I know how many boards to build!

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This would seem to address the PWM type problem if it makes it into Rover. Very nice looking board BTW!

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too late for ordering one?

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For this production run, yes. I ordered the parts several weeks ago.

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Small update, as I’m assembling the V2 boards:

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Assembly is going well for this batch - only 1 incorrect part footprint on the PCB! Easily fixed fortunately. Once complete, I’ll be testing the boards and then sending them out to everyone who ordered one.

Also, whilst testing I’ll create some documentation on how to use/configure the boards.

1 Like
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For all those that got their boards, here’s a copy of the user manual:
Kakute HAT Expansion Board V2.pdf (585.9 KB)

I’ve also made a ready-to-go disk image for the Raspberry Pi: https://drive.google.com/open?id=14CSzmFs3juZkNQbGRObfQGECXYbo7_M9. The image is a simplified Apsync software package, with streaming telemetry, a Web GUI and streaming video. Full details and scripts are at https://github.com/stephendade/apsync-Kakute

(The image will also work for Raspberry Pi’s without the carrier board, for those interested!)

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Congrats @stephendade

It looks like a very nice work.

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I have received mine. Looking forward to trying it out when time permits. Thank you for making these available.

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Wow, very cool. Thanks for sharing.

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Hi all,

I’m planning to do a second production run of the boards.

Features will generally be the same, but I will:

  • Upgrade the power supply to support the Raspberry Pi 4
  • Better placement of ports and pins
  • HAT EEPROM to comply with Raspberry Pi HAT spec
  • Other small bug fixes

I suspect the cost will be a little more than the previous boards - around $30-35USD, plus $10-20USD postage.

If anyone wants a board, PM me with the quantity of boards and country of delivery by 31/10/2019

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Hello! I’m not sure if you are still involved with this project. This hat works for Kakute F7? If not, could you pass me some guidelines to connect the Kakute F7 to the Raspberry Pi 3 or 4 using only UART ports of RPi? I’m trying since last sunday without success… :confused: Any tip would be very appreciated! Thanks in advance.

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It’s been on the backburner for a while, as I’ve been working on another (https://www.rpanion.com/product/pi-connect-lite/) board. I’ve got plans to get back to this in the next few months.

No, as the F4 and F7 have different pinouts.

Sure, connect the following:
Kakute F7 R1 pin ⇾ Pi GPIO14 (pin 8)
Kakute F7 T1 pin ⇾ Pi GPIO15 (pin 10)
Kakute gnd pin ⇾ Pi gnd (pin 6, 9 etc)

Then configure the Pi (using raspi-config) to enable the UART and disable the UART console.

The /dev/serial0 port will then be available on the Pi for the telemetry.

If you want a pre-built Raspberry Pi disk image, I’ve recently built one over at https://www.rpanion.com/software/

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Thanks a lot, bro!
I forgot to connect the ground, since the power source of my RPi4B and Kakute F7 are different in my bench tests. Everything working now… :call_me_hand: