The NAVIO gets a serious update and I’m happy to announce the new autopilot shield fully-compatible with the Raspberry Pi A+ and B+: the NAVIO+. The autopilot add-on was engineered as a platform for the Linux OS and features hardware equipments to build custom robotic projects.

The shield is developed by Emlid aiming to make the development of autonomous robots easier and with an increased robustness.

The NAVIO version is hugely popular in the hackers and makers crowd because eliminates the need of multiple sensors and add a variety of connection methods. The new version is also equipped with hardware for position and orientation including IMU and GPS/Glonass/Beidou receiver, and can host Wi-Fi, LTE, BT or any other modem in the USB port. And because one of the main challenges for the drones is to capture images, the Raspberry Pi shield is powerful enough to run the image recognition software and compress video from a camera.

Five things to know about the NAVIO+

Just as I expected, the NAVIO+ comes with improved features including sensors and compatibilities. All these five features are here:

1. New receiver – overall, the NAVIO+ has new GPS/Glonas/Beidou U-blox M8N receiver, an improved power supply system and a power module connector with voltage monitor.
2. Stackable shield for Raspberry Pi A+ and B+ – the Navio+ is an add-on board for the latest version of Raspberry Pi models and it is 65mm in length and only 55mm in width.
3. A ton of outputs and inputs – the NAVIO+ is equipped with 13 PWM servo outputs and serial UART, I2C, PPM inputs.
4. Navigation sensors – in addition to the GPS receiver, the Pi add-on has an IMU with 9DOF based on MPU9250 motion tracking device and a MS5611 barometer.
5. The video stream – the shield can be integrated with the Raspicam and hardware H.264 encoding on VideocoreIV 1080p FPVto transfer videos over LTE or high-power Wi-Fi.

Only the NAVIO+ board has a price of $168.00. The additional accessories such as antenna or a power module increase the price with tens of dollars.

In other words, the Raspberry Pi autopilot shield is designed to extend the connectivity and control option for a variety of robots, drone, and boats.