Table of contents

Table of contents 2

Document Revisions 3

Contact and Public Developer Call 4

Trademark Guideline 4

License and Disclaimer 4

Flight Management Unit Standards 5

Interface Standards 5

Common External Interfaces 6

CAN Transceivers 6

Pixhawk Autopilot Bus (PAB) and Module Standard 7

Connector X1 (PAB X1) 7
Connector X2 (PAB X2) 8
X1 Pinout 8
X2 Pinout 10
Mechanical Design 11
PCB Layout Guidelines 12

Baseboard Design Examples (FMUv5X, FMUv6X) 13

Base to FMU Connectors (X1, X2) 13
FMU Debug Connector 14
RC Inputs 15
Powerpath Selector 16
Peripheral Power Protection 17
Baseboard EEPROM and Sensor Connections 18
Ethernet Transceiver 18
GPS / Audio Interface 19

Pixhawk Autopilot Standard 2

Document Revisions

Revision Editor Reviewer Comments

0.1.0 Lorenz Meier David Sidrane Initial specification

0.2.0 Lorenz Meier David Sidrane Addition of FMUv6X draft

0.3.0 Lorenz Meier David Sidrane Split up into focused documents

0.4.0 Lorenz Meier Andrew Smith -

0.5.0 David Sidrane Ramon Roche Added I2C Pull up not

0.6.0 Dugan Yoon David Sidrane Updated Mechanical guidelines

0.7.0 David Sidrane Ramon Roche Updated PAB Pinout to RC03

Pixhawk Autopilot Standard 3

Contact and Public Developer Call
This standard is being developed on a public developer call.
For further questions, please contact the maintainer of the standard, lorenz@px4.io.

Trademark Guideline
Pixhawk is a registered trademark and is used to mark and protect the consistent use of this
standard. The requirements for this are covered in this document: Trademark Guideline

License and Disclaimer

Copyright (c) 2020, Pixhawk Special Interests Group (SIG). All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in products, without modification, are permitted provided that the
following conditions are met:

● The trademark shall only be used for compliant products and in combination with a
signed adopter agreement.
● Implementations of the standard must be compliant with the full specification.
● A royalty-free, non-exclusive license is provided to adopters with a valid adopter
agreement for schematics and drawings based on the standard documentation.

THIS SPECIFICATION IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND

CONTRIBUTORS “AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING,
BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING,
BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS
OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND
ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY,OR TORT
(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE

Pixhawk Autopilot Standard 4

Flight Management Unit Standards
● FMUv1: No product name (2012, 168 MHz M4)
● FMUv2: Pixhawk 1 (2013, 168 MHz M4)
● FMUv3: Pixhawk 2 (2015, 168 MHz M4, redundant sensors)
● FMUv4: Pixracer (2015, 168 MHz M4)
● FMUv4X: Pixhawk 3 Pro (2017, 168 MHz M4, redundant sensors)
● FMUv5: Pixhawk 4 (2018, 200 MHz M7)
● FMUv5X: Pixhawk 5X (2021 , 200 MHz M7,, redund. sensors)
● FMUv6U: Pixhawk 6U (2021 , 400-600 MHz H7)
● FMUv6X: Pixhawk 6X (2021, 400-600 MHz H7,, redund. sensors)

Interface Standards
● OBSOLETE: Pixhawk connector standards v1 (2011-2015)
○ Connector: Hirose DF13
○ Pinout: Obsolete
● Pixhawk connector standards v2 (2015-)
○ Connector: JST GH
○ Pinout: Pixhawk connector pinout
● Pixhawk Autopilot Bus (PAB)
○ Connector: 100-pos Hirose DF40
○ Connector: 50-pos Hirose DF40

Pixhawk Autopilot Standard 5

Common External Interfaces
This list describes the mandatory external interfaces.

Standard FMUv5 FMUv5X FMUv6U FMUv6X

Stable 06/2018 06/2019 12/2020 02/2021

MCU STM32F765 STM32F765 STM32H753 STM32H753

Clock 200 MHz 200 MHz 480 MHz 480 MHz

RAM 512 KB 512 KB 1 MB 1 MB

FLASH 2MB 2MB 2MB 2MB

PAB / SoM 𐄂 ✔ x ✔

UART (RTS/CTS) 2 3 3 3

UART (2-wire) 2 4 4 4

Debug 6-pos 10-pos 10-pos 10-pos

Ethernet x 100-Base T x 100-Base T

USB 2.0 12 MBit 2.0 12 MBit 2.0 12 MBit USB-C 480 Mbit

CAN 2 2 1 3

I2C 2 3 (+NFC) 3 3 (+NFC)

Power input analog digital digital digital

PWM out 6 + 8 (IO) 8 + 8 (IO) 8 8 + 8 (IO)

CAN Transceivers
The following CAN transceivers are recommended.

● TJA1051TK/3
● MCP2562FD-H/MF

Pixhawk Autopilot Standard 6

Pixhawk Autopilot Bus (PAB) and Module Standard
The usage of this bus is mandatory for all System-on-Module(SOM) designs . However, if
autopilot and baseboard are integrated into one unit, this connector pair (PAB X1 and PAB
X2) can be omitted. See the mechanical section for dimensions.

TIP: Leverage the Altium footprint available in the support files folder

Connector X1 (PAB X1)

The 100-pin connector is automotive grade, low-cost, vibration resilient and allows very high
density assemblies.

Side Baseboard side (bottom) Autopilot side (top)

Part Number Hirose DF40HC(3.0)-100DS-0.4V(58) Hirose DF40C-100DP-0.4V(51)

Distributors DigiKey DigiKey

Dimensions

A = 21.52mm
A = 22.6mm
B = 19.6mm
B = 19.6mm

Pixhawk Autopilot Standard 7

 Connector X2 (PAB X2)
The 50-pin connector is automotive grade, low-cost, vibration resilient and allows very high
density assemblies.

Side Baseboard side (bottom) Autopilot side (top)

Part Number Hirose DF40HC(3.0)-50DS-0.4V(51) Hirose DF40C-50DP-0.4V(51)

Distributors Digikey Digikey

Dimensions

A = 12.6mm A = 11.52mm
B = 9.6mm B = 9.6mm

X1 Pinout
Mandatory main bus with the critical Pixhawk interfaces.

ODD Pins EVEN Pins

FMU_CH8 1 2 GND (Pin 2)
FMU_CH7 3 4 BUZZER_1
FMU_CH6 5 6 GND
FMU_CH5 7 8 I2C3_SDA_BASE_MS5611_BARBED_EXTERNAL1
GND 9 10 I2C3_SCL_BASE_MS5611_BARBED_EXTERNAL1
FMU_CH4 11 12 I2C2_SDA_BASE_GPS2_MAG_LED_PM2
FMU_CH3 13 14 I2C2_SCL_BASE_GPS2_MAG_LED_PM2
FMU_CH2 15 16 I2C1_SDA_BASE_GPS1_MAG_LED_PM1
FMU_CH1 17 18 I2C1_SCL_BASE_GPS1_MAG_LED_PM1
GND 19 20 GND
FMU_SAFETY_SWITCH_IN 21 22 UART7_RTS_TELEM1
FMU_nSAFETY_SWITCH_LED_OUT 23 24 UART7_CTS_TELEM1
HW_VER_REV_DRIVE 25 26 GND
HW_VER_SENSE 27 28 UART8_TX_GPS2
V_RTC_BAT 29 30 UART8_RX_GPS2

Pixhawk Autopilot Standard 8

 GND 31 32 GND
VDD_3V3_SPEKTRUM_POWER_EN 33 34 USART1_RX_GPS1
VDD_5V_PERIPH_nEN 35 36 USART1_TX_GPS1
VDD_5V_PERIPH_nOC 37 38 GND
FMU_PPM_INPUT 39 40 USART2_TX_TELEM3
GND 41 42 USART2_RX_TELEM3
GND 43 44 GND

GND 45 46 USART2_RTS_TELEM3
GND 47 48 USART2_CTS_TELEM3
VDD_5V_IN 49 50 GND

VDD_5V_IN 51 52 UART5_TX_TELEM2
VDD_5V_IN 53 54 UART5_RX_TELEM2
VDD_5V_IN 55 56 GND
CAN2_TX 57 58 UART5_RTS_TELEM2
CAN2_RX 59 60 UART5_CTS_TELEM2
GND 61 62 GND
CAN1_TX 63 64 UART7_TX_TELEM1
CAN1_RX 65 66 UART7_RX_TELEM1
GND 67 68 GND
USART3_TX_DEBUG 69 70 USART6_RX_FROM_IO__RC_INPUT
USART3_RX_DEBUG 71 72 USART6_TX_TO_IO__NC
GND 73 74 GND
FMU_SWDIO 75 76 USB_D_P
FMU_SWCLK 77 78 USB_D_N
GND 79 80 VBUS_SENSE
VDD_5V_HIPOWER_nEN 81 82 GND
VDD_5V_HIPOWER_nOC 83 84 FMU_VDD_3V3
nARMED 85 86 FMU_VDD_3V3
FMU_nRST 87 88 GND
nPOWER_IN_A 89 90 ADC1_6V6
nPOWER_IN_B 91 92 ADC1_3V3
nPOWER_IN_C 93 94 GND

GND 95 96 UART4_RX
FMU_CAP1 97 98 UART4_TX
GND 99 100 GND

Pixhawk Autopilot Standard 9

 Note: All I2C buses are pulled up with 1.5K Resistors on the FMUM.

X2 Pinout
Advanced bus (optional) containing ethernet and external SPI port.

ODD Pins EVEN Pins

GND (Pin 1) 1 2 ETH_MDIO
ETH_REF_CLK 3 4 ETH_MDC
GND 5 6 ETH_POWER_EN
ETH_CRS_DV 7 8 GND
GND 9 10 ETH_RX_ER
ETH_RXD0 11 12 ETH_PHY_nINT
GND 13 14 GND
ETH_RXD1 15 16 FMU_CH9
GND 17 18 FMU_CH10
ETH_TXD0 19 20 FMU_CH11
GND 21 22 FMU_CH12
ETH_TXD1 23 24 GND
GND 25 26 SPARE09
ETH_TX_EN 27 28 SPARE10
GND 29 30 SPARE11
SPI6_MISO_EXTERNAL1 31 32 SPARE12
SPI6_MOSI_EXTERNAL1 33 34 GND
SPI6_SCK_EXTERNAL1 (SWO) 35 36 SPARE14
GND 37 38 SPARE15
SPI6_nRESET_EXTERNAL1 39 40 CAN3_TX
SPI6_nCS1_EXTERNAL1 41 42 CAN3_RX
SPI6_nCS2_EXTERNAL1 43 44 PG6
SPI6_DRDY2_EXTERNAL1 45 46 GND
SPI6_DRDY1_EXTERNAL1 47 48 NFC_GPIO
SPIX_SYNC 49 50 PH11

Pixhawk Autopilot Standard 10

Mechanical Design
Top view of FMUM

Bottom view of FMU SOM

Pixhawk Autopilot Standard 11

For mechanical compatibility across vendors the following is advised. Locate centers of Red,
Green, and Blue LEDs and SD Card connector pin 1 as shown in the Top View FMUM above.

For mechanical case compatibility across vendors the following is advised. The outer case
dimensions shall be no greater than 31.8mm x 38.8mm. This allows a total of 1.4mm to be
used for case wall thickness and clearance to FMUM pcb. It is necessary to provide heat
sinking of the FMUM microprocessor. This can be accomplished by using a metal top case
that thermally interfaces to the FMUM microprocessor.

PCB Layout Guidelines

● The base board should be impedance controlled with 50 ohms single ended, 90
ohms differential for USB, and 100 ohms differential for Ethernet.

● Impedance controlled signal traces should not be routed such that they cross a split
in their respective reference planes. A signal crossing a plane split may cause
unpredictable return path currents impacting signal quality and potentially creating
EMI problems.

● Provide 3x the gap separation between adjacent ground fill copper and both USB
and Ethernet differential signal traces.

● Ethernet RMII interface signals ETH_TX_EN, ETH_TXD1, ETH_TXD0, ETH_CRS_DV,

ETH_RXD1, ETH_RXD0 should each be kept under 6” in length with length matching
to each other within 2”. ETH_TXD0 is ~1” on the FMUM board and ~0.5” longer than
the rest of the RMII interface signals. Therefore on the base board ETH_TXD0
should be less than 5” in length and the remainder of RMII signals should match
(ETH_TXD0 - 0.5”) to with 2”.

● While it is possible to mount low profile components under the FMU SOM, it is
recommended that some form of heatsinking provision be employed to remove heat
from bottom side M7 processor U1, such as a metal housing that is thermally
connected to U1. Use of such a metal housing may require a keepout area under the
SOM.

● The four 2.0 mm mounting holes with 3.6 mm pads are connected to ground and are
intended to provide electrical grounding to the base board through metal standoffs.

● The DF40 connectors establish a 3mm board to board spacing between the SOM
and base board.

● Port protection diodes and series resistors should be placed close to the connectors
they are providing protection for.

● Ethernet common mode chokes specify removing copper planes and traces from
beneath the parts for best performance.

Pixhawk Autopilot Standard 12

 ● The impedance from the input connector, through power path selector, to
VDD_5V_IN should be given special attention to reduce voltage drops. Keep traces
wide (at least 1mm) and use multiple vias when changing layers (at least 2).

Baseboard Design Examples (FMUv5X, FMUv6X)

The design examples in this section have been proven as part of a reference design and are
offered for convenience.

The design examples are not part of the formal specification and implementing
the board differently is permitted. They serve as a baseline to ensure successful
adoption of the standard.

Base to FMU Connectors (X1, X2)

Pixhawk Autopilot Standard 13

FMU Debug Connector

Pixhawk Autopilot Standard 14

RC Inputs

Pixhawk Autopilot Standard 15

Powerpath Selector

Pixhawk Autopilot Standard 16

Peripheral Power Protection

Pixhawk Autopilot Standard 17

Baseboard EEPROM and Sensor Connections

Ethernet Transceiver

Pixhawk Autopilot Standard 18

GPS / Audio Interface

Pixhawk Autopilot Standard 19