Mikrokopter or Ardupilot

[aerialshots]

Hey guys, over the last 12 months I have built 3 x Mikrokopter Hexa's for aerial photography, all using MK gear,
I recently built a Hexa using $14 motors, $12 speed controllers, MK boards and a I2c bus to PWM converter, it flies exactly the same as a MK which
costs 4 times as much, why are so many pilots using the more expensive gear ? is it because like myself until you get experience you just
don't know about other options ? convential ESC's are so much more robust and easier to wire up, easier to source,
same with common motors and in the event of a crash because of the cost being so low it is much cheaper to rebuild.
I did not even alter and MK tool gyro settings, it just flew the same as the other MK hexa's.

 

[Boltzman]

Hey guys, over the last 12 months I have built 3 x Mikrokopter Hexa's for aerial photography, all using MK gear,
I recently built a Hexa using $14 motors, $12 speed controllers, MK boards and a I2c bus to PWM converter, it flies exactly the same as a MK which
costs 4 times as much, why are so many pilots using the more expensive gear ? is it because like myself until you get experience you just
don't know about other options ? convential ESC's are so much more robust and easier to wire up, easier to source,
same with common motors and in the event of a crash because of the cost being so low it is much cheaper to rebuild.
I did not even alter and MK tool gyro settings, it just flew the same as the other MK hexa's.

Hi!

Please let me know what components you both and links? Thanks!

BR

Boltzman

 

[CMonteiro]

I also would be very interest to know detaisl of your setup. But you are right. I bought me a xaircraft x650 because I didn't have money for more. And bought it because I'm new to all this and didn't have the experience to build a craft combining several brands and solutions. But that is my dream. To build a new multirotor selecting the right components.
But as far as I know, the MK boards are probably the more expensive components. And you used them. Did you really save that much?
Please comment
Carlos

 

[jffry7]

There had been mixed reaction with this, there was a guy in DIY drones who had a MK that crash then he built a new one with ACM and they liked it specially with a fraction of the cause. Now IMHO, I think MK did make their own (everything including ESC/PDB etc) to eliminate unwanted behaviors on the quad. Like oscillation due to wrong esc calibration, gain/PID modification is complicated. I have ACM and been flying on 3 different quads and to be honest since they are all different in components there is a different tuning method for them. With wrong tuning you only get oscillation and crash but with proper once you get nearly as good as MK (not equal in every way). ACM still in beta stage. I like them and configure them but I am moving up a bit to DJI, only reason is that the ACM is sometimes finicky and does unwanted stuff.

With all that said I think it is really a matter of preference and what the owner "feels" and "think" is reliable both on flight controllers and ESC.

 

[midnight999]

I have struggled with an ACM board for a few months now, hoping the new firmware release would be "the one" and all my problems would be solved, unfortunately it never was, combined with posting your issues on the forum and never getting definative answers but try this, try that suggestions. If all your looking for is a bit of fun and you like tinkering then by all means get it. If however you are trying to build a proper AP plarform do like I have, get a DJI and enjoy having something that works straight out of the box.