Planning to build New AP-type/550+ size drone

Hello all,

I’ve been wanting to build an AP-type/550+ size drone for a long while now. Mostly I just want to learn the ArduPilot ecosystem, autonomous flight modes, camera gimbal/control, Lidar tech, GCS, etc. I have had many years with FPV quads and I find myself with many questions about these bigger drones. It seems as if these 450mm+ size drones are being built less and less these days. Because FAA maybe?

Anyways, I can’t choose between Tarot XS690 and Daya 680 frames, so I’m buying both. Although the Daya frame is hard to find available (Let me know if you recommend a place that has this frame). I will be purchasing a Cube Orange combo with Here 3 and RFD900x Tele radios.

Questions I have are about ESCs, Motor size vs Prop size suggestions, and Camera Gimbals:

I have some high-quality BlHeli(32) ESCs supporting from 35A to 55A. I see that ArduCopter supports ESC protocols like OneShot and DShot. Are there any downsides to using BlHeli ESCs vs a typical HobbyWing xrotor 40A ESCs? The plan would be to max out the prop size of 17" props. I’m not sure what size motor I should be looking at? I see these Tarot 4006 or 4008 motors support this prop size, but I know nothing about Tarot quality control. Should I down prop instead?

Any Camera gimbal suggestions? I would like to be able to fully control the pan and tilt via Radio or GCS. Carrying a GoPro 9 or GoPro Session 5 for now. Does anyone know if you can export gopro 9 Black or Session 5 video out to vTX?

Thanks for the time and support,
Nick

Hi Nick, are you familiar already with eCalc? It is really the way to answer your questions about motor and prop sizes. Unfortunately, I can’t help with Tarot quality control or GoPro gimbal questions. Cheers.