First-time builder with the Pixhawk standard, and I just wanted to get any suggestions regarding what parts I actually do need for the build and any specific suggestions for those parts.
I am aware I need an FC, Power Mod., GPS/Compass, Frame, 4xMotors and ESCs, Props, and a battery for the actual drone and then a RC Transmitter and Reciever, and potentially Telemetry Radios. I do like the idea of having control from GCS but I briefly saw somewhere you can also just use MAVLink and ELRS to have the same control. No clue how it fully works yet though and whether it provides the same control/info as just using the radios.
I am looking at 9-10 inch props and like ~900-1000 kV motors. I’d assume that would mean I’d need my ESC to be capable of 40A or more. I am wanting a 4000-6000 mAh battery. I also will probably end up going with the Holybro Pixhawk 6C unless there are any other FCs that are a similar level of performance at a lower cost.
The ultimate goal is for it to also have a companion computer running off a Raspberry Pi5 or a Jetson Orin Nano, so I’d also need a power BEC for that, as well as a camera. I also am planning to ultimately have a latch system on the underside of the drone, connected to a servo, giving me the ability to drop something. However, in the first version, I just want to get the drone working and flying, the companion computer will be a later addition.
I live in Canada, so if you have any suggestions regarding which parts I might be missing or that I might not need, or if there are any specific parts that will best suit my needs, I would appreciate any support.
Would also appreciate any form of support or advice regarding the build or Ardupilot in general.
I think with “Pixhawk Standard” you mean an Ardupilot based system as you are posting to the ardupilot forum. Other systems also existing using the same HW.
Should your first drone just be a test drone to enter and learn about ardupilot or should it directly be expandable to your final goal. I recommend to first built a smaller drone to just learn the basics of such vehicles and control system.
If you directly want to build a drone near to your final goal in my eyes your approach seems to be wrong. In that case you have to start with the specification of the necessary payload, endurance, range, speed etc and search un that specification the necessary battery, motors, props, frame.
Of course, that’s why I initially branched out into this “hobby” in the first place. I find it interesting. Would there be any links of some sort that could lead me to the initial things I need to be looking for, for my first build. I just want to ensure everything I use is compatible, and then I can of course learn and experiment with the software, which will, I believe, be a much more continuous process as I venture deeper and deeper in this hobby.
Sure. As you said, I was referring to their Autopilot reference system in general, which I thought might be clear considering I had mentioned it was a drone, and that was the idea of this subforum. And no, I wasn’t referring to Ardupilot specifically; I haven’t decided on Ardupilot yet but the Ardupilot community seems more embracing and supportive along the way so far, so I’m leaning toward this software for the long run. I’ve also heard Ardupilot is much more feature-rich and more beginner-friendly compared to the other software, ie PX4. That’s kind of why my post was based more on the hardware/part specs side of things.
I appreciate the advice regarding my introduction into the niche. Will keep it in the back of my mind while learning more about this, for sure! Will keep you updated on my projects
Hi, I am also quite new to the subject. Just needed a drone for sensor data, also needed a companion computer. I chose the Holybro X500 v2 set. Then added Holybro RP3H Receiver and a Raspberry Pi 4. Connected the RPi via USB-A/UART to Pixhawk (Mavlink). Here I can tell you that the very popular CP2102 UART bridge has not worked with me, you need the CP2102N or similar (more bandwidth). And yes, the RPi needs separate power supply - so I have a fuse and a separate BEC for that - then USB-C for the Raspberry. UART bridge is powered by Raspberry, so do not connect the 5V. I am a software guy, no hardware, had to learn a bit of soldering (Youtube), which was fun and not so hard for simple purposes and you need a multimeter. The drone flies great. I use it mainly in auto mode with pre-planned flights. There is a whole lot more to tell…I got most of my advice from ChatGPT and Claude LLM I have to say. Drone weight with LIDAR sensor and RPi plus wiring is about 2 kg, possibly 1 kg additional payload possible. Flight time with 5500 mAh Lipo is not much more than 5 minutes, though. Ah one more hint: if you can, take a plastic housing for the RPi - I bought a metal one, its great but there is a lot of weight difference (something like 17gr plastic vs 120 gr metal).
I think it is probably, I chose my way because I wanted to avoid soldering at the time, but that was unavoidable anyway. Probably worth noting that the signal levels might differ (on may path they do, 5V vs 3V if I recall correctly, compensated by the UART bridge, but that maybe due to my USB path)
Both Pixhawk (which uses STM32) and RPI use 3.3v logic levels. but, either way, doesn’t make much difference other than a few grams and other possible point of failure (although unlikely). USB is more plug and play and easier to set up.
I’ve worked with my uncle’s systems before. His are obviously much higher quality drones and UAVs, as he has a contract with the DOD, but I understand how to make and put together stuff; I’m just new to actually selecting it from scratch and have had very limited experience with the software he used, which I can’t recall.
So for connecting the RPi to the Pixhawk, is it just the TELEM port to the UART and then obviously get a separate 5V BEC to power the RPi straight from the battery. And then run a MAVLink program on that RPi serial port at the same rate as the TELEM port, and then on the Pixhawk, just set that TELEM port to MAVLink and match it to the same baud rate. Also, could you elaborate on what you meant the USB C was used for, I didn’t fully understand. For the UART pins, just don’t connect the TELEM header power pins so it doesn’t draw power from the Pixhawk but instead from the dedicated BEC. For the housing, did you find it online, and was it easy to attach to the frame? I’ve been recommended to either buy the housing or just whip up a CAD design and 3D print it with something like PETG, and then for the frame, I’ve been told that I would have to make a custom one eventually. I appreciate all your claity by the way, truly does help.
Yes, that is all correct in my view. With USB-C I meant the power supply for the RPi. I have a 3A fuse and a 3A BEC for RPi 4. For the UART - in my case (USB based) the UART bridge board is powered by USB (RPi) - so only 3 wires, Rx/Tx (twisted) and GND. The housing I found online and I especially looked for the option of a screw based mounting, which is rare. It cost almost as much as the RPi. There are cheap ones like 12 € or so made out of plastic. I did not know at the time one of the truly useful all-in-one wonder gadgets at the time which is “3M VHB Tape”- so if I would do it again I would take a cheap and light plastic housing and stick it on the drone with VHB tape. Also had my very first experience with PETG 3D printing for my RPi/Lidar mount. For software people using Linux I recommend OpenSCAD for 3D design. If you know some programming you can learn modelling by script super quickly. Or maybe somebody has already an STL file for the housing freely available. For the software side on RPi I tried MAVROS (I run ROS on the RPi) but gave up on it eventually (several days of nightmare). I use pymavlink now and publish to ROS after reception - that worked almost instantanoeusly. As said my experience = 1, but I am glad if it helps. RPi 4 is really a lot more powerful than I expected. It processes local position, attitude and about 3200 Lidar readings all synchronized in 0.5 ms on average in the callback.