#zedf9p

We juuuuust plugged in this uBlox RTK F9P shield into USB and given the intense cost of these modules we definitely had a nervous twitch but then we heard the "ba-dunk" of enumeration and wheeeewww it came up as a serial port. Heartened, we soldered on a right-angle SMA connector and connected a chonky active antenna . Start up a copy of u-center and huzzah, there is GNSS data streaming out. Next up, we have to figure out what we want to use as the underlying transport layer from base station to rover - maybe an ESP32-S3 Metro and ESP-Now? more research is needed!

We're taking a first pass at a board for interfacing with the ZED-F9P RTK module. RTK allows for centimeter-level precision location, with respect to a fixed base station. this sketch is a shield that you would pair with a Metro or Arduino with wireless support. The interface from the ZED module is basically UART but there's also I2C options and USB, so you could theoretically wire this board independently from a base-board. the modules are $200 each so we're a little nervous but what's life without a little excitement?

nothing is as satisfying as a scoop mint chocolate-chip on a hot day…except maybe finishing a board design from 2020! this ZED-F9P is an RTK 'real time kinematics' board https://blog.adafruit.com/2020/06/08/eye-on-npi-u-blox-c099-f9p-application-board-for-zed-f9p-gnss-rtk-module-eyeonnpi-adafruit-digikey-digikey-ublox/ that can do high precision location. kinda like a GPS/GNSS but with centimeter accuracy. they're not cheap but there's really nothing else that works as well. these are modules from uBlox and they're finally in good supply at DigiKey https://www.digikey.com/short/8v5rjw15 . our shield design is nice and spacious and would be a great fit for a Metro ESP32-S2 https://www.adafruit.com/product/4775 which has DC, USB and LiPoly input. we'll be sending out for prototype PCBs this week!