Pixhawk - for beginners?

I’ve always been interested in RC and have planned to buy myself an AR.Drone for quite some time. But now I realize that I would like to take one step further and actually get myself a “real” quad copter instead. After spending some time reading about RC quad copters I realize that Pixhawk is the thing I want. But being inexperienced (albeit 100% committed) and all, would you think Pixhawk is to advanced to begin with? I’m a senior software engineer with some experience of electronics. Less with mechatronics though.

My initial plan was to buy a Anycopter Quad 370 kit. It’s simple, fairly cheap and easy to work with. And then go for the Pixhawk together with suitable motors and props. Then, at a later point, upgrade the frame to something more robust. But still keeping the electronics as much as possible.

So, I guess there are two questions. Is it a bad or good idea to start with Pixhawk given that I’ll probably fly copters many years. And if Pixhawk is the way to go. How do I know if the Anycopter Quad 370 goes along with Pixhawk? And a third bonus question. How do I know which motors/props/batteries suits this setup best?

Cheers,

An similar issue has been handled already. Please use the forum search function before posting questions.

=> viewtopic.php?f=21&t=7371

As for your copter - Pixhawk can handle pretty much every copter - it’s just a matter of tuning.

Thanks! I’ve actually read that thread already. I was more curious to hear peoples personal opinion whether or not Pixhawk is suited for beginners. Pros/cons of choosing something simpler/cheaper to begin with.

As I wrote in the other thread - with patience, discipline and reading the docs, Pixhawk is pretty easy.
It depends what you want. If flying around is enough for you, get a KK board for $20 from Hobby King.
If you want the functionality of the Pixhawk, then buy a Pixhawk but be aware that - as with every piece of sophisticated technology - there is a learning curve. Besides - clones aside, there is no cheaper system than the Pixhawk that can do what the Pixhawk can. Actually, to my knowledge, there is no civilian system at all that can do all things that the Pixhawk can do.

personnally you can easily begin with pixhawk and to say the true, it s better to begin with it beause it s the best plateform available on the market…not the easiest but the best!!
if you are english, it will be easy for you,because the wiki is very well made and EVERYTHING is on it!!!
you need to read a lot( for example read more 4 or 5 time the wiki to be sure to forget nothing important)

Hi,

Being the OP of the thread that Stefan linked you to, and now I’m a month into this FC system, I can unreservedly say that I wouldn’t even contemplate any others…

I’ve dabbled with planes, boats and helis over the years and more recently I had a Phantom that prompted me to look bigger and better.

Sure there’s a lot to learn and a lot to read and try out but the reward is enormous when you do get it right. The versatility and wealth of functions that are available to you with the Pixhawk go far beyond anything else out there. It may be that this wealth of functions leads to mistakes but as long as you take it slowly, test, test and then test again, you’ll be fine.

I’ve only scratched the surface really but already I’m completely sold on the Pixhawk. Apart from it’s capabilities, may be the fact that you’ve got to search and work things out makes the end result even more satisfying.

I was initially put off by so many flyaway, flip and crash posts but imo, a lot, when you read some of the things people do, can be put down to operator error either in the build or programming.

Do it, you (hopefully) won’t regret it.

This was a week or so ago, 3rd flight, first with the gimbal and Gopro fitted: youtu.be/hg207uESXME