Guide for Apollo Sensor Unit

Apollo Sensor Unit (ASU) is designed to work with Industrial PC (IPC) to implement sensor fusion, vehicle control and network access in Apollo's autonomous driving platform.

The ASU system provides sensor interfaces to collect data from various sensors, including cameras, Lidars, Radars, and Ultrasonic Sensors. The system also utilizes pulse per second (PPS) and GPRMC signals from GNSS receiver to implement data collection synchronization for the camera and LiDAR sensors.

The communication between the ASU and the IPC is through PCI Express Interface. ASU collects sensor data and passes to IPC via PCI Express Interface, and the IPC uses the ASU to send out Vehicle Control commands in the Controller Area Network (CAN) protocol.

In addition, Lidar connectivity via Ethernet, WWAN gateway via 4G LTE module, and WiFi access point via WiFi module will be enabled in the future releases.

System Connectors

Front Panel Connectors

1. External GPS PPS / GPRMC Input Port
2. FAKRA Camera Data Input Port (5 ports)
3. 100 Base-TX/1000 Base-T Ethernet Port (2 Ports)
4. KL-15 (AKA Car Ignition) Signal Input Port

Rear Panel Connectors

1. General purpose UART port(reserved)
2. External PCI Express Port (Support X4 or X8) For connections to IPC, please use EXTN port.
3. GPS PPS/GPRMC Output Rectangular Port (3 Ports) for LiDAR
4. Power and PPS/GPRMC Cylindrical Output Port for Stereo Camera/LiDAR
5. CAN Bus (4 Ports)
6. Main Power Input Connector

Purchase Channels

The Apollo Sensor Unit is currently only provided to our Partners and certain developers. Questions regarding the availability and access to ASU should be directed to apollo-hw@baidu.com

Installation

1. Power Cable

   The main power is from vehicle battery, 9V ~ 36V, 120W.

   

   MFR	MPN	Description
   TE Connectivity	DTF13-2P	DT RECP ASM

   PIN #	NAME	I/O	Description
   1	12V	PWR	12V (9V~36V, 120W)
   2	GND	PWR	GROUND

2. FPD-Link III cameras.

   There are 5 FAKRA connectors for FPD Link III cameras in ASU Front Panel labeled with 1~5, respectively, from right to left. The ASU can support up to 5 cameras by enabling Camera 1 ~ 5 whose deserializers (TI, DS90UB914ATRHSTQ1) convert FPD Link III signals into parallel data signals.

   Camera #	I2C Address	Deserializer
   1	0x60	DS90UB914ATRHSTQ1
   2	0x61	DS90UB914ATRHSTQ1
   3	0x62	DS90UB914ATRHSTQ1
   4	0x63	DS90UB914ATRHSTQ1
   5	0x64	DS90UB914ATRHSTQ1

3. GPS synchronization input channel

   GPS synchronization input channel is using 1565749-1 from TE Connectivity as the connector. The connector information and the pinout are shown in the tables below.

   

   MFR	MPN	Description
   TE Connectivity	1565749-1	Automotive Connectors 025 CAP ASSY, 4 Pin

   PIN #	NAME	I/O	Description
   1	GPRMC	INPUT	GPRMC TX
   2	NC	NC	NO CIRCUIT
   3	GND	PWR	GROUND (the ground for PPS and GPRMC should be shorted on ground)
   4	PPS	INPUT	Pulse per Second from GPS transceiver, 3.3V CMOS Signal

4. GPS synchronization output channels

   ASU forwards the duplicated GPS PPS/GPRMC from external GPS to the customized 8 Pin connector. This connector provides 3 sets of PPS/GPRMC output for sensors that need to be synchronized, such as LiDARs, etc.

   

   MFR	MPN	Description
   TE Connectivity	1376350-2	Automotive Connectors 025 I/O CAP HSG ASSY, 8 Pin

   PIN #	NAME	I/O	Description
   1	GPRMC0	OUTPUT	Channel 0, GPRMC OUTPUT, RS-232 Signal
   2	PPS0	OUTPUT	Pulse per Second from GPS transceiver, 3.3V CMOS Signal
   3	GPRMC1	OUTPUT	Channel 1, GPRMC OUTPUT, RS-232 Signal
   4	PPS1	OUTPUT	Pulse per Second from GPS transceiver, 3.3V CMOS Signal
   5	GPRMC2	OUTPUT	Channel 2, GPRMC OUTPUT, RS-232 Signal
   6	GND	PWR	GROUND
   7	GND	PWR	GROUND
   8	PPS2	OUTPUT	Pulse per Second from GPS transceiver, 3.3V CMOS Signal

5. CAN interface

   The ASU provides 4 CAN Bus ports, the datapath is :

   

   MFR	MPN	Description
   TE Connectivity	1318772-2	Automotive Connectors 025 I/O CAP HSG ASSY, 12 Pin

   PIN #	NAME	I/O	Description
   1	CANH-0	INOUT	Channel 0, CANH
   2	CANL-0	INOUT	Channel 0, CANL
   3	GND	PWR	Ground
   4	CANH-1	INOUT	Channel 1, CANH
   5	CANL-1	INOUT	Channel 1, CANL
   6	GND	PWR	Ground
   7	CANH-2	INOUT	Channel 2, CANH
   8	CANL-2	INOUT	Channel 2, CANL
   9	GND	PWR	Ground
   10	CANH-3	INOUT	Channel 3, CANH
   11	CANL-3	INOUT	Channel 3, CANL
   12	GND	PWR	Ground

6. GPS PPS / GPRMC Output Rectangular Port

   The Connector provides 8 ports for 3 LiDARs

   

   MFR	MPN	Description
   Digi-Key	A121343-ND	025 I/O PLUG HSG ASSY 8P

   |

   PIN #	NAME	I/O	Description
   1	GPRMC	OUT	GPRMC (ASU) -> Pin4 GPS_RXD_CNT (LiDAR 1)
   2	PPS	OUT	PPS (ASU) -> Pin1 GPS_PULSE_CNT (LiDAR 1)
   3	GPRMC	OUT	GPRMC (ASU) -> Pin4 GPS_RXD_CNT (LiDAR 2)
   4	PPS	OUT	PPS (ASU) -> Pin1 GPS_PULSE_CNT (LiDAR 2)
   5	GPRMC	OUT	GPRMC (ASU) -> Pin4 GPS_RXD_CNT (LiDAR 3)
   6	GND	PWR	Ground (ASU) -> Pin3 GND (LiDAR 1,3)
   7	GND	PWR	Ground (ASU) -> Pin3 GND (LiDAR 2)
   8	PPS	OUT	PPS (ASU) -> Pin1 GPS_PULSE_CNT (LiDAR 3)

7. PPS/GPRMC Cylindrical Output Port for Stereo Camera/ LiDAR

   The Connector provides 8 ports but we currently use only 3

   

   MFR	MPN	Description
   Digi-Key	APC1735-ND	CONN RCPT FMALE 8POS SOLDER CUP

   PIN #	NAME	I/O	Description
   6	PPS	OUT	PPS (ASU) -> Pin1 GPS_PULSE_CNT (LiDAR)
   7	GPRMC	OUT	GPRMC (ASU) -> Pin4 GPS_RXD_CNT (LiDAR)
   8	GND	PWR	Ground (ASU) -> Pin3 GND (LiDAR)

Disclaimer

This device is Apollo Platform Supported