Needed: Inexpensive AHRS module to work with Oudie, XCsoar, LK8000, etc...

Hi Kirk

I'm not aware of any AHRS units in the price range you are looking for. But
here are some options.

http://www.lxnav.com/accessories/ahrs.html - available soon for about $1300.

http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/trutrak.htm - $520 for Pictorial Turn &
Bank - not full AHRS but much better than nothing.

Best Regards,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.

"kirk.stant" wrote in message
...

All the recent threads on the danger of inadvertent VMC into IMC flight
without proper instrumentation has highlighted what I think is a needed bit
of kit for the modern glider (i.e. one that has some sort of PDA/PNA/nav
display in it's cockpit: An inexpensive stand-alone AHRS module that would
output continuous attitude information (pitch, roll, yaw, turn rate) which
could be used by programs such as SeeYouMobile, XCsoar, and LK8000 to
provide an instant-on useable attitude display, for those rare but dangerous
times that a glider inadvertently gets stuck IMC (or for the Brits, when
they want to do it!).

I'm thinking a nice BIG attitude screen showing pitch and roll, with a
turnrate "needle/ball" at the bottom, and if possible, showing other data
that the display device/software would know from other sources: airspeed,
altitude, basic GPS nav info.

I would start with a basic AHRS MEMS module, add a small rechargeable
battery to provide backup if the ownship power fails, and output the
attitude data in NMEA via usb to the display device. Price point would be
around $500 or less, and of course the software providers would need to
integrate it.

We already spend a lot for FLARM, to cover a threat that is also relatively
remote (mid-air collision). But not all of us want to drop the big bucks
(or euros) for a Butterfly or S80 - and the price of stand-alone AHRS
modules seems pretty low.

And at the risk of restarting the RAS-war about attitude indicators in
contests, well, I think the cat is already out of the bag on that issue -
but having the device add an "attitude on" or whatever flag on the logger
trace should be sufficient, IMO.

Anyway, just thinking...

And if this already exists - please send me a link!

Kirk
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