XK X450 VTOL Thoughts and Opinions

Hi,

I recently purchased a WLToys XK X450 VTOL. After seeing many reviews, RCG threads, and learning about its capabilities, I ordered a RTF version on eBay from a vendor state-side. It performed flawlessly in my back yard in either hover position, including continuous spins.

I compared it to my smaller conversions using APM plane. Granted, there is no autonomous flight capability other than stabilization, but, I have to admit that there is an incredible amount of technology and value in this VTOL for only $115!

It seems like there is an altitude hold feature keeping the plane at a steady height but I cannot see a normal BARO chip on the Flight Controller / Receiver board. My assumption in the images below is that the top side sealed black box is the RF radio system and the bottom side chip with the ROHS sticker is the FC. This assumption may not be valid. Has anyone removed the ROHS sticker to see what the chip is? The 48-pin chip may be an STM32F103 but it is just a guess.

What has my brain spinning, and I welcome your thoughts on this design, is the incredible capability built into the $16 X450 Receiver Main Board. I have no plans to convert this model to APM but marvel at the technology change from my original VTOL attempts some 13 years ago.

The black box houses the IMU, which is most likely vibration dampened, and I imagine would contain the barometer. Since most baros are sensitive to light, it would make sense to place it under the black cover.

On the bottom you can see a few passives leading from the antenna to a 20 pin QFN. Looks like a Panchip XN297L. That’s all there is to the RF portion. It is wired directly to the microcontroller via SPI.

The microcontroller appears to be from Nuvoton, judging from the “n” not covered by the ROHS sticker. Other than being a 48-pin QFP, there isn’t much we can judge. Nuvoton has parts based on the ARM Cortex M0 and M4F, as well as 8051/2 in this package. My guess is this is a M4F part.

Indeed, it is remarkable how simple and low cost these have become.

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Thanks for the additional information. Hopefully, someone will dissect the black IMU section for us to see. Perhaps when mine is a bit older, I will remove the Receiver/Controller board from the plane.

Cheers!