Precision current & voltage sensor

What does a UAV current sensor do?

It measures the current and voltage flowing out of the battery so the autopilot knows how much energy is left and how hard the aircraft is working. That reading drives the state-of-charge estimate and the low-battery failsafe. Ours senses current and voltage simultaneously at 20-bit resolution, is rated 300 A DC, holds a calibrated error below plus or minus 0.039 percent of full span, and reports over DroneCAN.

See: Accuracy and current rating compared, Aircraft that depend on the reading

How accurate is this current sensor?

It states a calibrated error below plus or minus 0.039 percent of full span, and plus or minus 0.1 percent uncalibrated, at 20-bit resolution. Comparing accuracy across vendors is hard because they state it differently: the CUAV CAN PMU publishes absolute error (plus or minus 0.05 V and 0.1 A), not a percentage, and the Mauch PL-200 and Holybro PM02D publish no percentage at all. The fair test is a common load bench, but on the published calibrated figure ours is precise.

See: How the accuracy figures compare

How much current can this sensor measure?

It is rated 300 A DC with heavy copper layers. That is the highest in its comparison set: the Mauch PL-200 measures to 200 A, the CUAV CAN PMU to 110 A max, and the Holybro PM02D is rated 60 A continuous with a 120 A short-duration ceiling. For a heavy multirotor or a high-current pack, the current rating is the first row to check.

See: Current rating against alternatives

Does this current sensor report over DroneCAN?

Yes. It reports over FD CAN as a DroneCAN-compatible peripheral, so the reading stays digital end to end on the autopilot's CAN bus. The CUAV CAN PMU also uses CAN; the Holybro PM02D uses I2C; the Mauch PL-200 is analog and hands a voltage to the autopilot. For a platform standardising on DroneCAN, a CAN sensor fits without a conversion step.

See: Data interface compared

Precision current sensor for accurate battery state-of-charge on a UAV

State-of-charge is only as good as the current measurement behind it. This sensor measures current and voltage simultaneously at 20-bit resolution with a calibrated error below plus or minus 0.039 percent of full span, which turns the estimate from a guess into a measurement. Feed that into the autopilot's battery model and the low-battery failsafe becomes something you can trust rather than pad with a large safety margin.

See: Resolution and accuracy detail

Current sensor for a large 12S or 13S drone battery pack

It takes 7 to 60 VDC, covering 3S to 13S LiPo packs, and is rated 300 A DC. The Mauch PL-200 covers up to 14S (60 V), the CUAV CAN PMU 2 to 15S (6 to 62 V), and the Holybro PM02D only up to 6S (36 V). For a 12S or 13S pack ours is in range and the PM02D is not, so match the input range to your largest pack before choosing.

See: Voltage and pack support compared

Current sensor that calibrates quickly on a production line

It calibrates with a single value in ArduPilot, no bench procedure. That sits between the Mauch PL-200, which needs user calibration against a known load, and the CUAV CAN PMU, which is factory calibrated and needs none. The single-value approach is fast to set while still letting you trim it to your own reference, which suits a line that builds many aircraft.

See: Calibration approach compared

Current sensor with a 5 V auxiliary output for peripherals

It carries a 5.3 VDC / 5 A auxiliary output, so it can power peripherals alongside sensing. The CUAV CAN PMU has a comparable 5.4 V / 5 A port, the Holybro PM02D a 5.2 V / 3 A regulator, and the Mauch PL-200 has no regulated output at all, since Mauch pairs it with a separate BEC. If you need the sensor to feed a rail as well as measure, ours and the CUAV do that in one board.

See: Auxiliary output compared

How does this compare with a Mauch PL-200 or CUAV CAN PMU?

The Mauch PL-200 is an analog Hall sensor to 200 A whose accuracy depends on the autopilot ADC and user calibration. The CUAV CAN PMU reports over CAN to 110 A, factory calibrated, with a wide -20 to 100 C range. Ours reports over CAN to 300 A at 20-bit with a calibrated error below plus or minus 0.039 percent, calibrated with a single value. Where ours gives ground is temperature: its -10 to 40 C range is narrower than the CUAV's.

See: Full head-to-head comparison

We keep landing with more or less charge than the display predicted. Will a better current sensor fix that?

It fixes the measurement that the prediction is built on. A state-of-charge estimate drifts when the current reading is coarse or poorly calibrated, so the aircraft lands early with reserve wasted or late with the margin gone. A 20-bit sensor with a calibrated error below plus or minus 0.039 percent of full span gives the autopilot's battery model an honest input. The model and the pack's own ageing still matter, so pair the sensor with a realistic battery profile and verify the prediction against measured landings.

See: Resolution and calibrated accuracy

Our aircraft flies in extreme heat and cold. Is this sensor rated for that?

This is the row to weigh carefully. Ours is stated at -10 to +40 degrees C, which is narrower than the CUAV CAN PMU at -20 to +100 C; the Mauch PL-200 and Holybro PM02D do not publish a range. If the sensor sits in direct sun or the aircraft flies in the cold, that envelope may not cover the extremes, so confirm the sensor's behaviour at your operating temperatures in a trial, and weigh the CUAV figure honestly against ours.

See: Operating range compared

Why does the current sensor's supplier matter for a sovereign UAV programme?

Because the sensor feeds the energy picture the aircraft flies on, and its calibration and firmware are part of that. The Mauch is German, the Holybro PM02D and CUAV CAN PMU are Chinese, so firmware and resupply run through those vendors. Ours comes from one independent, non-aligned team that supplies and sustains it, so calibration and any firmware stay inside your jurisdiction. The measurement physics is the same; the supply relationship is what differs.

See: Origin and support line compared

Should we standardise on CAN-based power sensing across the fleet, or stay with analog?

CAN keeps the reading digital end to end and scales cleanly when several nodes share one bus, which is why ours and the CUAV CAN PMU use it. An analog sensor like the Mauch PL-200 hands a voltage to the autopilot ADC, adding a conversion step and tying accuracy to that ADC; I2C, as on the PM02D, is digital but does not scale on a bus the way CAN does. If the platform already runs DroneCAN for the GNSS and other peripherals, a CAN power sensor fits the same architecture.

See: Interface trade-offs compared

Can one current sensor cover both our light ISR drones and our heavy-lift platforms?

The 300 A rating and the 7 to 60 VDC input across 3S to 13S give it a wide enough envelope to cover a range of airframes from one part number, which simplifies spares and calibration across a fleet. The lighter aircraft simply run well below the current ceiling. Confirm the current draw and pack voltage of your heaviest platform against the 300 A and 60 V limits, and treat the shared operating temperature range as the constraint that must suit every airframe.

See: Rating and pack support detail, Heavy ISR platforms it can serve

Can this current sensor pair with a CAN flight controller and GNSS on the same bus?

Yes. It reports over FD CAN as a DroneCAN peripheral, so it joins the same CAN bus as a DroneCAN GNSS module and a CAN-capable autopilot rather than needing a separate wire. That keeps the power telemetry, the navigation data and any other CAN nodes on one wiring run. Plan the bus as a whole, since node addressing and bus load are shared across every node, and confirm the full node list in the review so the CAN architecture is scoped once.

See: CAN interface detail, The autopilot on the same bus

What is Precision current & voltage sensor?

Precision current & voltage sensor is Unstrat's Sky (Air Domain) capability: A 20-bit current and voltage sensor for unmanned platforms: 300 A DC rated, calibrated error under ±0.039% of full span, 7-60 VDC input covering 3S to 13S packs, with a 5.3 V/5 A auxiliary output. Single-value calibration in ArduPilot and real-time reporting over DroneCAN.

How does Precision current & voltage sensor work?

Precision current & voltage sensor delivers its effect through 300 A DC rated with heavy copper layers; 7-60 VDC input covering 3S to 13S packs, 20-bit simultaneous current and voltage sensing and Calibrated error below ±0.039% of full span; ±0.1% uncalibrated, capabilities matched to the requirement and confirmed under briefing rather than published.

Who makes Precision current & voltage sensor?

Precision current & voltage sensor is built by The Robotics & AI House, whose focus is unmanned systems, eo/ir sensors & ai video analytics. Unstrat represents The Robotics & AI House to government and enterprise buyers worldwide as an independent, non-aligned prime vendor.

Why choose Precision current & voltage sensor over a major-power alternative?

Precision current & voltage sensor is sourced from an independent, non-aligned manufacturer, so it carries no major-power disclosure rules, upgrade-locks or political ramifications. Concretely: ±0.039% calibrated accuracy turns state-of-charge estimation from guesswork into measurement. The capability is accountable to you, not to a foreign vendor's government and its release schedule.

How is Precision current & voltage sensor procured, and where can it be exported?

Battery truth for aircraft that cannot afford surprises: 300 A measured at 20-bit resolution with calibrated error under ±0.039%, reported over DroneCAN, calibrated in ArduPilot with a single value. Every engagement begins with a briefing, and export eligibility is confirmed per market under briefing rather than published. Where controlled capabilities are involved, the classification and end-user-certificate chain is confirmed first. Precision current & voltage sensor is then sustained in-region by one accountable team from briefing through long-term operation.