smôl ZOE-M8Q Hookup Guide
PaulZC 
Hardware Overview
In this section we'll cover what's included on the smôl ZOE-M8Q Peripheral Board.
GNSS Capabilities
The u-blox ZOE-M8Q is able to connect to up to three different GNSS constellations at a time making it very accurate for its size.
Below are the listed capabilities of the GNSS unit:
| GNSS | GPS and GLONASS | GPS | GLONASS | BeiDou | Galileo | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horizontal Position Accuracy | 2.5m | 2.5m | 4m | 3m | 3m | ||
| Max Navigation Update Rate | ROM | 10Hz | 18Hz | 18Hz | 18Hz | 18Hz | |
| Flash | 5Hz | 10Hz | 10Hz | 10Hz | 10Hz | ||
| Time-To-First-Fix | Cold Start | 26s | 29s | 30s | 34s | 45s | |
| Hot Start | 1s | 1s | 1s | 1s | 1s | ||
| Sensitivity | Tracking and Navigation | -167dBm | -166dBm | -166dBm | -160dBm | -159dBm | |
| Reacquisition | -160dBm | -160dBm | -156dBm | -157dBm | -153dBm | ||
| Cold Start | -148dBm | -148dBm | -145dBm | -143dBm | -138dBm | ||
| Hot Start | -157dBm | -157dBm | -156dBm | -155dBm | -151dBm | ||
| Velocity Accuracy | 0.05m/s | ||||||
| Heading Accuracy | 0.3 degrees |
Power
Power for this board - and all smôl boards - should be 3.3V.
Battery
The small metal disk in the center of the board is a small lithium battery. This battery does not provide power to the IC like the 3.3V system does, but to relevant systems inside the IC that allow for a quick reconnection to satellites. The time to first fix will be about ~29 seconds, but after the product has a lock, that battery will allow for a one second time to first fix. This is known as a hot start and lasts for four hours after the board is powered down. The battery provides over a year's worth of power to the backup system and charges slowly when smôl 3.3V is powered.
Jumpers
There is only one jumper on the top of this product, labelled V_ANT. By default, 3.3V power is provided on the u.FL connector for an active antenna. Cutting the V_ANT jumper disconnects the 3.3V power.
u.FL Connector
The u.FL connector on the board is where you will plug in your antenna. This is a compact connector for RF antennas, that has the same function as the traditional SMA connector. You may be more familiar and even own some antennas that use SMA connectors; never fear, we carry a U.FL to SMA cable adapter. Check out our tutorial on using U.FL connectors, if this is your first.
Power Switching
The smôl ZOE-M8Q includes an on-board power switch (MOSFET):
Power for the ZOE-M8Q is controlled via the smôl GPIO0 signal. Leave GPIO0 floating or pull high to disable power to the ZOE-M8Q (default state). Pull the smôl GPIO0 signal low to enable power for the ZOE-M8Q.
FPC Connections
Like all of our smôl boards, the ZOE-M8Q Peripheral Board is equipped with two 16-way 0.5mm-pitch Flexible Printed Circuit connectors. FPCs are used to link the smôl boards together in a daisy-chain.
The pin-out for the smôl ZOE-M8Q IN connector is as follows:
| IN Connector Pin No. | Signal Name | Function | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PROC_PWR_EN | Processor Power Enable | Not used |
| 2 | 3V3 | 3.3V Power Rail | |
| 3 | GND | Power Ground / 0V | |
| 4 | SCLK | SPI Clock | Not used |
| 5 | COPI | SPI Controller Out Peripheral In | Not used |
| 6 | CIPO | SPI Controller In Peripheral Out | Not used |
| 7 | CS0 | SPI Chip Select 0 | Not used |
| 8 | CS1 | SPI Chip Select 1 | Not used |
| 9 | CS2 | SPI Chip Select 2 | Not used |
| 10 | GPIO0 | ZOE-M8Q Power Control | Pull low to enable power for the ZOE-M8Q |
| 11 | GPIO1 | General Purpose Input / Output 1 | Connected to Pin 10 (GPIO0) on the OUT connector |
| 12 | SDA | I2C Data | Used for ZOE-M8Q communication |
| 13 | SCL | I2C Clock | Used for ZOE-M8Q communication |
| 14 | GND | Power Ground / 0V | |
| 15 | 3V3 | 3.3V Power Rail | |
| 16 | V_USB | USB Power Rail (5V) | Not used |
The pin-out for the smôl ZOE-M8Q OUT connector is as follows:
| OUT Connector Pin No. | Signal Name | Function | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PROC_PWR_EN | Processor Power Enable | Not used |
| 2 | 3V3 | 3.3V Power Rail | |
| 3 | GND | Power Ground / 0V | |
| 4 | SCLK | SPI Clock | Not used |
| 5 | COPI | SPI Controller Out Peripheral In | Not used |
| 6 | CIPO | SPI Controller In Peripheral Out | Not used |
| 7 | CS0 | SPI Chip Select 0 | Not used |
| 8 | CS1 | SPI Chip Select 1 | Not used |
| 9 | CS2 | SPI Chip Select 2 | Not used |
| 10 | GPIO0 | General Purpose Input / Output 0 | Connected to Pin 11 (GPIO1) on the IN connector |
| 11 | GPIO1 | Not connected | |
| 12 | SDA | I2C Data | Used for ZOE-M8Q communication |
| 13 | SCL | I2C Clock | Used for ZOE-M8Q communication |
| 14 | GND | Power Ground / 0V | |
| 15 | 3V3 | 3.3V Power Rail | |
| 16 | V_USB | USB Power Rail (5V) | Not used |
We use a technique called waterfalling on the GPIO signals. If you haven't used waterfalling before, please check out the smôl Hookup Guide.