Installation

SmartAP PDB - Power Distribution Board for Batteries / ESCs connection with integrated voltage and current sensors, buzzer, 5V and 12V outputs.

Pinout

SmartAP Power Distribution Board pinout diagram is shown below. Big pads in the rear side are intended for the main battery connection. Up to four independent batteries can be connected using the thick wires (e.g. 8-10 AWG) to be able to handle high current loads and even more using thinner wires. Both top and bottom, left and right sides have pads for ESCs power supply connection. Therefore, up to 12 ESCs can be connected.

Soldering

Note

It's strongly recommended to use powerful solder iron (at least 80W), otherwise, there is a high chance of cold joint which can significantly reduce the reliability.

Soldered Power Distribution Board should look as follows:

Powering the autopilot

SmartAP PRO

SmartAP PRO autopilot is capable of getting the power directly from the main battery, therefore, specially dedicated solder terminals can be used. If you would like the autopilot to get the current sensor (integrated in PDB) readings - simply connect the GND, 5V, CURRENT signals of the PDB using standard cable to the flight controller.

WARNING!

SmartAP 3.x gets power directly from the PDB connected to the main battery, therefore, supply voltage is the same as your battery voltage and it can be up to:

36V (8S) for SmartAP 3.0
36V (8S) for SmartAP 3.1

Wiring between the Power Distribution Board and the Autopilot should look as following:

SmartAP MAX

SmartAP MAX gets the power supply and voltage / current readings from the PDB using standard 6-pin cable with Molex PicoBlade connectors. Simply connect the cable to PWR connector of the autopilot.

Buzzer support

SmartAP PDB has integrated electromagnetic buzzer (sounder) which is used for audio notifications about the system status. Simply connect the BUZZER and GND signals of the flight controller to BUZZER and GND signals of the PDB.

Voltage and current sensors

SmartAP PDB has integrated voltage and current sensors. Current sensor is located on the bottom side of the PDB. For correct scale / offset configuration, please, refer to Configuration section.