Having successfully converted two of my helis to Ardupilot using Matek H743WING boards, I offered to do the same for one of my clubmates’ TRex 500s. Having seen some forumites using Matek F405 boards, I suggested to him that would be a cheaper option than the H743 series.
But then I read this page where it says that the Matek F405 series has memory limitations, as well as having no onboard barometer. I know an external barometer can be used so my question is, in real life does the memory limitation have a significant (or any) effect on programming the board for a traditional heli?
There are several Matek F405 boards with barometers. Pick the one that best suits based on the form factor. Flash size does limit some functions and features. Lua scripting for one. However for many uses they will work fine. I wouldn’t use one as I don’t think the price difference ($55) is worth the choice in the scheme of a complete craft but everyone is different in this regard.
Thanks Dave, a quick check of UK prices just now shows H743 and F405 within a couple of ££ of each other. Though we’re not interested in Lua scripting (at the moment!), on that basis I agree with you that F405 is not worth looking at. Seems like I may have overpaid for my H743 boards, for the difference when I looked a few weeks back was about £20.
I wonder if the Autonomous Autorotation Mode will require a 2Mb board when it goes live? The Wiki page doesn’t say. If it’s just a flight mode perhaps not.
@abenn1@dkemxr i would caution you on using F4 boards for the latest software versions. The EK3 consumes a lot of resources and has slowed my loop times considerably on my F4 boards. In one case it runs closer to 200hz where it should run at 400hz. Check you logs to make sure you don’t have long loops and the load is below 60%. I have went back to EKF 2 and only have 1 EKF core running to keep the load down on my F4 boards.
If you have the money, I would recommend and H7 board over an F4