Choosing a flight controller

[nopctoday]

I am writing a autopilot system on BeagleBone Black(BBB). However if I were to write a PID system for the low level controls and sensor data acquisition, it would take too much time for a simple project. So I am beginning to look into flight controllers, what is a decent & cheap one you guys would recommend? I am looking into KK 2.1 and APM 2.6, but obviously APM2.6 is a lot more expensive. Does KK 2.1 have pin-in with simple control interfaces like up/down/forward/back/turn etc?

 

[DucktileMedia]

I'd pull names from a hat. Seriously though, if you were thinking of writing software for a controller you will be best with the APM. I've never owned it but from what I have read and heard it is pretty versatile at a good price and is nice and small. They just arent as easy to setup as say DJI's naza. The KK is alright if you wanna buzz around for fun. But it doesnt even come close to the stability and function of the other FC's out there.

 

[PeteDee]

I'd pull names from a hat. Seriously though, if you were thinking of writing software for a controller you will be best with the APM. I've never owned it but from what I have read and heard it is pretty versatile at a good price and is nice and small. They just arent as easy to setup as say DJI's naza. The KK is alright if you wanna buzz around for fun. But it doesnt even come close to the stability and function of the other FC's out there.

CC3D. Naze32 and the new KK2.1 is better than the V2.

 

[SoCal Blur]

Let me toss Multiwii Pro Ez3.0 into the ring. It is open source like APM and a lot less expensive. The latest version of the firmware even accomodates waypoints for autopilot like navigation.

 

[nopctoday]

Thanks for the quick response guys! I will look into the suggestions. Also I should probably mention that I only need basic functionalities on the flight controller: the autopilot system will still be on BeagleBone Black, and it simulates a remote controller and pipe it to the flight controller. The flight controller will handle the low level stuff such as stablization, forward/back/up/down. Loitering would be ideal but not nessasary.

 

[SoCal Blur]

With the multiwii, you can have it just do the basic stuff and loiter... just depends on how you set it up. Here is the board that I use: http://witespyquad.gostorego.com/fl...black-flight-controller-w-gps-option-276.html

 

[p40whk]

Not to hijack the Ops thread but I didn't want to start a new one since this deals with a similar subject.

If you were to pick a flight controller for ease of use full fpv support and autopilot features which would you choose?

I've had limited success with multiwii and do have the same board on order that SoCal Blur mentions above but I'm not sure I want to wait for Paul to build my board and may just buy one of the more commercial offerings. I just don't have any experience with any of them and not sure which offer the features I'm looking for. I'm also a little afraid of all the DJI flyaway stories I've read so not sure I want to go that route.

 

[SoCal Blur]

It's true that it can take a couple of weeks to get something from Witespy. Paul is a one man show and apparently swamped with orders. It can take some time, research and patience to get the Multiwii figured out...it's definitely not plug-n-play but the features/price can't be beat. If you want features and ease of set up, you're going to have to spend more. You might take a look at SuperX. They have different prices for Quad, Hex and Octos, quads being the lowest price but still a lot more expensive than Multiwii. I will probably try SuperX for my next build.

 

[p40whk]

I'll wait a bit longer on Witespy. I did have one of his Flip pods flying on a tricopter but couldn't get it dialed in. That was a year ago so I was hoping the software and hardware from the 1.5 version had improved.

Buddy RC which is about an hour and a half from me also sells the SuperX. It's a little out of my price range right now but I'll consider it for later. I had considered APM 2.6 or the PixHawk but from what I've read, they can be a pain to setup as well.

 

[SoCal Blur]

Yeah, the Multiwii was actually a result of someone wanting a less expensive version of the APM FC. So they are very similar in how they are set up and operate. PixHawk is new and I don't know much about it but is probably worth looking into. BuddyRC is where I order my wire and Motors from. They are a good source.