CubePilot Cube Orange

The CubePilot Cube Orange (Australia) is an autopilot module of the H7 generation for heavy multicopters and the predecessor of the Cube Orange+. The Cube is a compact module that plugs into a carrier board; the board supplies connections and power.

The main processor is an STM32H753VI (Cortex-M7, 400 MHz). A separate STM32F103 works as failsafe processor and takes over the outputs if the main computer fails. The three IMUs ICM-20948, ICM-20649 and ICM-20602 are different chip types, which lowers the chance that one common fault hits all of them; two barometers give altitude measurement a fallback. ArduPilot and PX4 run on the module. The Cube provides 5 UART, 2 CAN, 14 PWM, I2C, SPI, ADC and a microUSB socket; supply through the power input is 4.1 to 5.7 V. The module measures 38.25 × 38.25 × 22.3 mm.

In the EU the finished drone determines class and duties: open category up to 25 kg take-off mass, above that or for flights beyond visual line of sight the specific category. ArduPilot and PX4 include geofence functions that can serve as the basis of a geo-awareness function.

For new designs a comparison with the Cube Orange+, its successor, is worthwhile. Wear sits in the contacts between Cube and carrier board and in the vibration damping; vibration corrupts the IMU readings. After every modification the accelerometer and compass are calibrated again, and the firmware is maintained in line with the older sensor chips.