Pogo pin debug jig for Hubsan Q4 / Estes Proto-X micro quadcopters

thingiverse

Human: Pogo pin to solderlessly attach the CPU debug pins of the Hubsan Q4 or Estes Proto-X quadcopters for hacking works perfectly for working with Bradwii firmware. My Proto-X resembles a conformal coating over both sides of the board, including test points. Yet, that does not prevent sharp conical point pogo pins from making contact and talking to the debugger smoothly. Update: WIP Bradwii port to Q4 / Proto-X exists here now. It sort-of works, needs some minor fixes and PID tuning adjustments. Contributions are always welcome! Instructions Parts: -Sparkfun pointed tip pogo pin - Other tips could work too. Purchase at https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9174 . You will need serious tweaking to use with pogo pins of different lengths and diameters. -Small gauge wire of any sort. I used a CDROM audio cable from the junk bin because it has 26ga stranded wire and terminates in Dupont socket pins, which fits my SWD adapter perfectly. -An SWD JTAG adapter. I utilize the STLINK/V2 adapter since I have a devkit with one built-in and it's supported in OpenOCD. -Rubber band or velcro cable tie to keep the copter held inside the jig Pins: swclk - "C" on the board - SWD clock swdio - "D" on the board - SWD data gnd - unlabeled pad on the board - system ground vcc - "+" on the board - 3.3V from after the regulator Construction: The pogo pin holes are narrower at the ends to make it simple to enlarge them with a hobby knife easily. Ream both ends so the pogo pin fits snugly inside. Be cautious while forcing the pin in, as they snap easily. Solder the leads to the 3mm of the pin body near the plunger carefully, making sure not to let solder reflow onto the plunger at all. Use: If debugging with power from a battery is desired, omit vcc to avoid any issues. Shorting the battery while loading the copter into the jig might occur so consider using vcc and detaching the battery first. At least, do not plug the copter in while either end is powered up. These pins have some play inside the plunger, therefore verify that the tips are on the pads before powering up the target carefully always.