Flight Controllers
See definitions at the bottom of the page.
Filters:
Show All | Open Source | Self Leveling | Care Free | Altitude Hold | Position Hold | Return Home | Waypoints
| Board | OpenSource | GyroStabilization | SelfLeveling | CareFree | AltitudeHold | PositionHold | ReturnHome | WaypointNavigation | Pricing | ||||
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| AeroQuad 32 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Add-on | Add-on | Add-on | Medium |
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| ArduCopter (APM 2.5) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Medium |
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| AutoQuad v6.6 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | High |
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| Crius All In One PRO | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Add-on | Add-on | Add-on | Low |
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| Crius MultiWii Lite | Yes | Yes | Yes | Low |
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| Crius MultiWii SE | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Low |
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| DJI Naza | Yes | Yes | Add-on | Yes | Add-on | Add-on | Medium |
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| DJI Wookong | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Add-on | High |
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| Free Flight | Yes | Yes | Low |
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| FY-30A | Yes | Yes | Medium |
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| Gaui GU-344 | Yes | Medium |
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| Hobbyking KK2.0 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Low |
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| HoverflyPRO | Yes | Yes | Add-on | Yes | Add-on | Add-on | Add-on | High |
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| HoverflySPORT | Yes | Add-on | Medium |
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| KKMulticopter | Yes | Yes | Low |
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| MikroKopter Flight-Ctrl | Yes | Yes | Add-on | Yes | Add-on | Add-on | Add-on | High |
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| MultiWii PRO / MTK GPS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Low |
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| MultiWii PRO 2.0 / MTK GPS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Low |
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| OpenPilot CC3D | Yes | Yes | Yes | Low |
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| Paris MultiwiiCopter | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Add-on | Add-on | Add-on | Medium |
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| Quadrino ZoomFlight | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Medium |
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| Rabbit | Yes | Yes | Yes | Add-on | Add-on | Add-on | Low |
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| SmartAP Autopilot | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | High |
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| TMF Pro FH-X46 AQ50 | Yes | Yes | Medium |
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| UAVP/UAVX | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Add-on | Add-on | Low |
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| XAircraft FC1212-P | Yes | Add-on | Add-on | Add-on | Add-on | Add-on | Medium |
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| Zero UAV YS-X6 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | High |
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Flying capabilities
- Gyro Stabilization - the ability to easily keep the copter stable and level under the pilot's control. This is a standard feature of all flight control boards.
- Self Leveling - the ability to let go of the pitch and roll stick on the transmitter and have the copter stay level.
- Care Free- The pilot can control the copter as if it is pointing in its original direction as the orientation of the copter changes.
- Altitude Hold - the ability to hover a certain distance from the ground without having to manually adjust the throttle.
- Position Hold - the ability to hover at a specific location.
- Return Home - the ability to automatically return to the point where the copter initially took off.
- Waypoint Navigation - the ability to set specific points on a map that copter will follow as part of a flight plan.
Pricing
- Low - less than $100
- Medium - $100-300
- High - $300+.
Hi guys, I’m currently designing my first quad. I got many informations from this site which I find really helpful. The main goal of this quad will be to follow a person of even a car at moderate speed. I thought about having two gps, one on the quad itself and one on the car so the quad can track it. My questions is, do you guys how I could do that?
Thanks,
Steven
https://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/AC2_FollowMe
Hi,
This chart is awesome. I’m an electrical engineer and have been flying for 5-10 years and was one of the fairly early guys to slap a P&S camera onto a plane (in 2006 or so).
Anyhow, your chart covers the hardware very well, but which board runs which software/firmware? I’ve been reading here and there, but still have no clue what software runs on each board, nor the differences between each software. Well, I haven’t searech aroudn your site, mayeb you covered it…pretty sur enobody else has anything like this controller board chart, so if anyone has a software chart, it’ll be you it seems!
If it is an open source board, you should be able to click the link where it says “Yes” under open source to get to the firmware site. If it is closed source, there is no link.
Awesome list, thanks so much! Though I can’t see the ArduFlyer on your list http://www.rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goods_details.dwt&goodsid=818&productname=
It’s very cheap, and features everything. It is fully compatible with APM 2.5 as well.
Will you be updating this with the new OpenPilot Revolution?
Thanks!
Yes, when it is available.
Hi Britt,
Please add the UAVP/UAVX to your list. It has been around since 2002 and is now updated to 32 bit as the UAVXArm32F4. Huge flexible feature set and is open source. It has all “Yes” in your columns and even more features capable. The board is available for $96.50 at http://www.quadroufo.com. RCG thread: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1093510
Cheers,
Jim
Done! I put GPS and waypoints as an add-on since it doesn’t appear to come with the board.
Hi Britt,
The GPS module is the add-on, but he firmware already has the waypoint, RTH and hover hold capability, so once you add a GPS module which is also available from http://www.quadroufo.com or any other GPS that outputs NMEA data(UBLOX etc) you will have that capability at no further cost.
Cheers,
Jim
Hey!
I plan on building a quadcopter for FPV, and not with some keychain camera but a gopro or maybe even a light DSLR. I’m looking for smooth video, what would you say are the best options for that? Do more expensive controllers make the copter more stable? Or is that down to frame and vibration reduction? Also, does any of features need additional channels? Like altitude hold, does it need a channel for a button on the transmitter?
Thank you!
Sander
All of those factors effec the smoothness of the video, but a solid frame with properly balanced motors and props will be the biggest factors. Also, tuning the flight controller is very important. Some FCs work better than others and some are easier to tune. Yes, more features usually require more channels. Right now I am working on an AIOP that uses one channel to switch between lots of different modes.
Hey Britt! May we add the AeroQuad 32 board? (http://www.aeroquadstore.com/AeroQuad_32_Flight_Control_Board_p/aq32-001.htm). Here’s a video to demonstrate it’s stability (our pilot threw it in the air): http://youtu.be/WwPwg95EXcE. Thanks!
Sure! I will add it.
You don’t have the Flycam Multicopter Flight Controller listed.
Oops, yeah, there are quite a few not listed. If someone would volunteer to maintain it, that would be great!
Thanks!
I am 95% sure I will buy that one than.
One last question about the flight controllers.
On the pictures, I didn’t saw the quadcopter in the list (on the lcd screen).
But in the ‘manual’ I see quadcopter + and quadcopter X.
When I buy it, do I have to do different things to make it fly?
Or can I just solder it and plug it onto my quadcopter?
Thank you,
Isaac
MWC MultiWii Lite Lightweight Version
That one has the most options for a cheap price.
anyone knows a good cheap one?
Would it be possible to learn to fly with this flight controller for a total stranger in the multicopter-world?
Thanks
Again, I think the KK2.0 is the best beginner board, because it is easier to configure and tune with the built in lcd.
Hi,
With the Crius ALL IN ONE PRO I see there are add-ons, what do you mean with that?
That it would be possible to download that stuff to my flight controller?
What flight controller would you recommend for a total beginner?
No, I dont have a big budget, I am looking for getting the hole thing except fpv for €150-200 that is around the 250 dollar.
What’s the difference between altitude hold – position hold and self leveling?
I am also looking for a challenge, not that I crash every flight, but also not that a total beginner can hoover around as a pro.. lol
Thanks
Usually add-on means another board or gps that has to be purchased. I recommend the HobbyKing KK2.0. Altitude hold means it stay at the same height. Position hold means it stays at the exact same location. Self-leveling means if you set go of the roll/pitch sticks the quad should return to level.
please check this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_AxThJYa2g
I connected XBEE to KK2
Very Cool!
This seems to have the most features at the lowest price.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__26588__MultiWii_PRO_Flight_Controller_w_MTK_GPS_Module.html
Yeah, I was thinking of buying one of those, but they are backordred.
Fantastic site with lots of good information. Keep up the good work! Hey, just quit work and you’ll have lots of time!!
You need to add a filter for boards that you can actually find in stock somewhere. I’m a newb, and trying to figure out which controller to get, but it seems the good cheap ones (CC3D) are hopelessly out of stock. Some sort of review/rating system might be helpful too. Just a thought.
Thanks for you website, it’s helped me get started on my journey to building a quad for the first time.
Yeah, I agree, just need to find the time to do it. Did you consider the KK2.0 board(Link to KK2.0)? I love mine and it is cheap with self-leveling. Also, it can be programmed in the field.
New all-in-one Flight Control Crius All In One PRO Flight Controller V1.0
2012 is the year of flight controls. The new Crius AIO pro is hard on the heels of the freshly released ArduPilot Mega2 and 2.5. It comes with MultiWii and MegaPirateNG (a ArduPilot spin-off) support, a set of state-of-the-art sensors in the low budget range on-board and connects to Sonar, GPS, Xbee extenders direct and easily without the need for the I2C bus.
I will get that added to the flight controllers list!
You can add Waypoint Navigation in the features list as well and while declaring GPS based features for the AIO as add-on, it isn’t fair not to do the same for ArduPilot as well. Even though complete packages exist, the GPS is not necessarily sold along with the APM.
Will do.