www.volo.systems
V1.2 Copyright VOLO 2015 Page | 2
Thanks for purchasing The Power.
Please read through the following instructions to get a full understanding of the board and how it works.
Let’s start with the connection guide. This guide assumes that you already know how to solder on ESC
and battery cables.
The Volo Power Distribution Board has been engineered from the ground up to provide the highest
possible performance and reliability in a small form-factor. The Volo PDB distributes power from a
battery pack to 4 ESCs, as well as providing two regulated DC outputs for powering servos, cameras,
video transmitters, etc. Batteries may range from 3S to 6S LiPo, and the battery input is reverse polarity
protected. The Power also features convenient cable tie loop holes for securing your battery cables,
which remove any stresses on the solder terminals when connecting or disconnecting your battery.
The 6V and 12V switching power supplies are synchronised and interleaved, resulting in the smallest size
and best possible ripple and noise performance. There is also an extra set of filtered 12V outputs for
sensitive electronics such as cameras and video transmitters. With all electronic components on the
board being Industrial spec (2 classes higher than consumer electronics) and with the board having a
conformal coating you can be confident that your multirotor is in safe hands.
Features:
Features:
Features:
Features:
Conformal coating.
Conformal coating.
Conformal coating.
Conformal coating.
The conformal coating is applied to the top of the board to protect the sensitive electronics against
moisture, dirt and chemicals.
Very handy if you land in long grass or clip a tree branch on a day that has been raining. (Spinning props
can be the enemy of keeping sensitive electronics clean and dry.)
The conformal coating is also helpful if you accidently spill a drop of solder in the wrong place during
setup. Solder will not stick to the areas of the board that have the conformal coating.
Battery lead cable tie down
Battery lead cable tie down
Battery lead cable tie down
Battery lead cable tie down slots.
slots.
slots.
slots.
We wanted to remove any unwanted stresses on the battery cable solder connections by introducing the
first PDB with cable tie slots to securely hold your battery cables. It offers great protection from the day
to day use of connecting and disconnecting your battery packs but even more so if your battery is
ejected in a crash.
ESC Solder tabs.
ESC Solder tabs.
ESC Solder tabs.
ESC Solder tabs.
We have oversized the solder tabs for all the esc connections underneath the black solder mask to
maximise both the current carrying capacity of the pads, but to also give them more strength.
Solder Bridges
Solder Bridges
Solder Bridges
Solder Bridges
Solder bridges were used to make it quick and easy to select either 3S or a 4S-6S setup. We decided to
move away from jumpers to try and minimise any points of failure.
Why 6V and not 5V?
Why 6V and not 5V?
Why 6V and not 5V?
Why 6V and not 5V?
A couple of reasons… For Tricopters, a servo has more torque at 6V as opposed to 5V, also all of the
RC receivers, flight controllers etc… are fine at 6V. We understand there may be a few people that have
5V cameras but we knew that most of the good video transmitters have a 5V output built into them
anyway, so the extra servo torque won.
What’s a
What’s a
What’s a
What’s a Pi filter?
Pi filter?
Pi filter?
Pi filter?
Have you heard of a LC filter? A Pi filter is almost the same as a LC filter but with an extra capacitor at
the beginning. So you could also say it’s a CLC filter.
