Absolute lightest flight controller

I am looking for the lightest flight controller that can run Arducopter 4.x.

Do we have any expertise here on this?

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revo-mini, omnibusf4 nano v6 and kakute f7 mini all weigh somewhere close to 5 g.

revo-mini without the plastic case is ~ 3,6 g, most likely the lightest, no onboard osd chipset and no wide input range adc though, needs some hwdef rearrangements too to make full use of its capabilities.

i‘m having good success with the omnibus nano v6.

cheers, basti.

Most of them are 1MB flash boards. I’m looking forward to mRo Pixracer Pro.

Anyone have an opinion on the Kakute F7 Mini and the V2 version? Difference being the IMU, ICM20689, vs. the venerable MPU6000. Iv’e used Kakute F7’s and liked them but I need a 20x20mm board so it’s this or a Omni F4 nano which I have also had good luck with.

These look good, thank you for the suggestions.
It’s important that it has servo outputs for what I’m doing.

I haven’t tried the mini, but both of the regular ones work with arducopter. The v2 with the mpu6000 can handle vibrations slightly better. The v1 works fine though.

What do you think Dr. Piper? @andyp1per

They are both great and my PR to support fast sampling on the MPU6000 is about to get merged so there is no downside to using the v2.

I have both - they both work well

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Good day, i suggest mro control zero… a very tiny fc with many customizable cables… you can use only what’s necessary. Very stable during the flights and you can customize also your cover for it…

But very expensive and no OSD…

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This doesn’t suit the use case. Outboard accessories are required (power module, OSD, BEC’s) that are integrated on the Mini boards saving space and further expense.

I prefer different modules… but this is my personal opinion, I think you can find many small hardware options

@Dave84 is this your personal opinion or it is part of your job to suggest specific products ?
If that is the case I would suggest that you identify yourself as a corporate member so there might be no confusion

Now merged as of this morning

Permit me a rant here.

I have built a few small copters now. Every single additional components adds weight and reduces build compactness.

The cleanest build I have is a Gecko 3" with Kakutef7Mini/Tekko32/Unify Nano Pro32/Runcam Racer - the reason it’s clean is that most things are directly soldered and additional components are integrated - no external OSD, no external PSU, VTX powered from FC, no camera daughter board.

The most complicated small build I have is a QAV180 (4") with a Pixracer. The reason it’s complicated is I have to have - separate PDB, separate ESC’s, runcam daughterboard, external OSD plus many, many connectors which just get in the way. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Pixracer - but when manufacturers leave the integration out it makes these kinds of build much, much harder.

I’m not sure anyone has got this 100% right yet - for instance the Kakute cannot deliver enough power for a runcam split and is suscepitble to the leans.

Rant ends.

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Indeed. I have a Pixracer (3 of them actually) on a 210 frame and it’s 5lbs of stuff in a 3lb bag. These AIO boards have been a boon to small craft builders particularly for FPV types. And of course they are affordable which brings more hobbyists in!

every option and suggestion is good and appreciated…, there are people who love build a fully customizable drone and others which prefer a different way.

its my personal opinion, there is no obligation

I had pretty good results with MATEK F405 STD, I think it is one of the cheapest FC on the market and coupled with a M8N GPS it works ok as a simple solution… yeah, some soldering required :wink:

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I see that Omnibus F4 Pro has too small firmware memory to use all ardupilot features, but I see no such warning for the Omnibus F4 Nano V6, despite that they seem to use the same chip. Do the Nano V6 version have the same limitations, just that it is not in the documentation or will it work normally?