Just to throw some fuel on this fire, we know with certainty that some of the no-name third-party flight controllers are using reclaimed/recycled components, and it’s a reasonable assumption that due to the current supply chain issues this is likely to increase. I’m not aware of any of the mainline/partner companies doing this. Point being that whilst in most cases a third party flight controller will work just fine, my level of confidence in them is substantially less than those from the mainstream vendors.
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I have used and abused pixhawks from just about every manufacturer. And generally what your paying for is quality control and support and warranty.
What that means for the end user is if you get a no name Ali express special.
1.Chances of a DOA or immediate fail is much higher but your still probably talking single digit differences.
2. The chances of getting support and help from the manufacturer or seller are slim to none.
3. If it gets past the first few flights then chances are it will last as long as any other.
If your just doing a cheap basic machine for personal use and your familiar with flight controllers to check everything yourself then cheap controllers are fine.
If your getting from a known manufacturer then its going to usually use better quality parts and pass better quality control but I have seen companies push out product when they are struggling. Before 3dr went out of the hardware business they pushed out dead pixhawks to pack out orders to the point that more than 50% of the final orders were DOA.
You will almost always get better support on more expensive controllers and usually some kind of warranty past the DOA cover so long as they don’t go out of business but again if your dealing with Chinese sellers warranties past 60 days are generally unreliable unless your getting them 100+ at a time and they just discount your next order.
When I recommend to use branded high end controllers like cubes are:
1.When machines get expensive, an extra £100 is nothing for peace of mind when your flying a 2 grand gimbal.
2. You need the extra connectivity.
3. You need more ram for scripts.
4. You want more redundancy
5. You want support.
why would I care if they are using recycled parts on cheap no name pixhawks? im running a dual 18 core xeon workstation on a motherboard with reclaimed chips, the parts dont have a life time as long as they are used in spec, if I get a pixhawk for cheaper with a reused processor that saves chips from landfill then I don’t see a problem with it. if you’re really worried about using a refurbished processor then just buy something from a reputable manufacturer.
It goes back to piece of mind and cost, if your flying the cost of a small car then some extra on a pixhawk is probably a good idea, I used to use the 3dr pixhawks, then cubes exclusively on customer machines, But for R&D aircraft, personal aircraft or something on an extreme budget then the cheapest one you can find makes a lot more sense. With all the racing controllers out now avalible, the bottom end pixhawks just are not as desirable unless its a large complicated aircraft or drone.
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I am sure that most agree with you on this logic.
But I also think that the consern on recycled part will become more frequent in the future. The more there will be demand the worst the quality of refurbished components will be.
with chips you generally dont get bad quality ones just working or not working. Sensors could be more problematic, as you could get bad quality ones that need large offsets, but you’re back to the point i made of if it gets past the first couple of flights it’s going to be fine.