• View
• Edit
• History
• Print

GPSstix

The GPSStix  is an add-on board that provides an easy interface to an uBlox LEA-4H  GPS reciever. It resides on the 60 pin Hirose connector off the Verdex motherboard.

The GPSStix also provides an audio in/out interface and LCD controller by way of the UCB1400  driver, but we're not using either for our project.

Notes

 
GPSStix on Flickr 

The GPSStix provides breakout pins to connect to the various parts of the board as well as the host motherboard. It saved us from having to have a tweener board in order to communicate with the Verdex. The thing to note is that the pins are not spaced the usual 0.1" apart, but 0.05" apart. We had a tough time finding headers we could solder into the board, and have yet to find any female connectors for the small header.

The LEA-4H unit has a pin for a backup battery to be attached, but this pin is not broken out in the board itself. This does not affect the operation of the unit, but it means that every time power is re-applied the unit has to re-download almanac and ephemeris data. This occurs on the sideband of the GPS satellite signals, and can take up to twelve minutes or more. While not devastating, if your bot loses power even for a second, you have to blindly wait until the info can be re-downloaded. This can make it a pain to change batteries!