Sensirion Airspeed Sensors Enhance Workflow with PX4 VTOL Drones

The Sensirion SDP3x, a small differential pressure sensor, is now available in an airspeed sensor development kit for VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) and fixed-wing UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) applications. The reference design was developed in collaboration with PX4 Pro and is fully integrated with the open source autopilot. The integration includes a full aerodynamic software compensation model for the sensor and pitot tube, making it a plug-and-play solution.

The fully calibrated and temperature-compensated SDP3x sensor enables instant launch of VTOL drones. And high sensitivity at low airspeeds allows closed-loop control during the transition phase from hovering to forward flight.

The SDP3x sensor is based on Sensirion’s CMOSens sensor technology, which combines the sensor element, signal processing and digital calibration on a small CMOS chip. The differential pressure is measured by a thermal sensor element with flow-through technology.

The development kit is available from Sensirion’s launch partner Drotek.

For more info, visit Sensirion and Drotek.

Sources: Press materials received from the company.