Flight Controller / FC Comparison

[Jumpy07]

Flight Controller	Open Source	Gyro Stabalised	Self Leveling	Care Free	Altitude Hold	Position Hold	Return Home	Waypoint Navigation	Pricing	Comments
ArduCopter Mega	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	GPS Required	GPS Required	GPS Required	High	APM 2.5, APM 2.5+
Rctimer Arduflyer V2.5	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	GPS Required	GPS Required	GPS Required	Meduim	APM 2.5 compatible
Goodluckby APM 2.5	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	GPS Required	GPS Required	GPS Required	Meduim	APM 2.5 compatible
AutoQuad v6.6	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	GPS Required	GPS Required	GPS Required	High
Crius All In One PRO V1.0/V1.1	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	GPS Required	GPS Required	GPS Required	Low	Option of MultiWii or MegapirateNG. V1.1 has re-enforced UsB port which was common failure on V1.0
Crius All In One PRO V2.0	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	GPS Required	GPS Required	GPS Required	Low	Same as above but with Onboard 16Mbit Dataflash chip for automatic datalogging
Crius MultiWii Lite	Yes	Yes	Yes						Low
Crius MultiWii SE	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes				Low
DJI Naza	No	Yes	Yes	Optional	Yes	Optional	Optional		Medium	GPS Optional, GPS also includes MAG sensor. (No Octo Support)
DJI Wookong	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Optional	High	High end FC with high price, Waypoints are expensive add on. Roll';s royce of FC';s.
Free Flight		Yes	Yes						Low	Options of Free Flight software or Timecops 32 bit Multiwii port.
FY-30A		Yes	Yes						Medium
Gaui GU-344		Yes							Medium
Hobbyking KK2.0	Yes	Yes	Yes						Low	Software update v1.5 drastically improves self levelling.
HoverflyPRO		Yes	Yes	Optional	Yes	Optional	Optional	Optional	High
HoverflySPORT		Yes			Optional				Medium
KKMulticopter	Yes	Yes							Low
MikroKopter Flight-Ctrl		Yes	Yes	Optional	Yes	Optional	Optional	Optional	High
OpenPilot CC3D	Yes	Yes	Yes						Low
Paris MultiwiiCopter	Yes	Optional	Optional	Optional	Optional	Optional	Optional	Optional	Low	Sensorless board for people that like soldering there own – arduino pro mini based
Quadrino ZoomFlight	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes				Medium
Rabbit	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Optional	Optional	Optional		Low	Recommend buying with optional Mag board
TMF Pro FH-X46 AQ50		Yes	Yes						Medium
XAircraft FC1212-P		Yes	Optional	Optional	Optional	Optional	Optional		Medium
Zero UAV YS-X6		Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	High
Flyduino MWC V2.0		Optional	Optional	Optional	Optional	Optional	Optional	No	Low	Sensorless board for people that like soldering – arduino Pro Mini based
Quadrino MultiWii Advanced		Optional	Optional	Optional	Optional	Optional	Optional	No	Meduim

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[Ross]

Yet another good  post of info for everyone   Thanks.

[neagron]

Thank you Craig,Marty. :scotland:

[Ppuxley]

Thank you Jumpy for this comparison chart and your various other guides
I';m new here, although I have some experience in quads. At the moment I fly a multiwii controlled (JussiH) quad
I want to upgrade and get some mission capability, so was looking at the Ardupilot Mega 2.5+. Then I came across your stuff about the Rctimer controller
http://www.rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goods_details.dwt&goodsid=837&productname=
It seems like a no brainer, it looks like it does the same thing exactly, but can you tell me if there is anything I don';t get with Rctimer that I do with the Mega 2.5+?

[Gaza07]

Hi Ppuxley and welcome to the forum the rctimer arduflyer 2.5 does exactly the same thing as the original arducopter  2.5+ its well worth buying the power module and arducopter case for it though it makes a nice neat job 
Please feel free to share any pics or video you might have of your copters 

[Ppuxley]

Hi Ppuxley and welcome to the forum the rctimer arduflyer 2.5 does exactly the same thing as the original arducopter  2.5+ its well worth buying the power module and arducopter case for it though it makes a nice neat job 
Please feel free to share any pics or video you might have of your copters 

Thanks for the welcome and the very straightforward answer.I have a couple of videos on Vimeo, nothing tht special , I';m afraid
vimeo.com/20409182

[paulcobra]

Anyone know anything about the fy901 & fy91q i';ve seen these pop up occasionaly

[Gaza07]

They are a bit old now not sure many people are using them 

[HowDoIfly]

Hi Ppuxley and welcome to the forum the rctimer arduflyer 2.5 does exactly the same thing as the original arducopter  2.5+ its well worth buying the power module and arducopter case for it though it makes a nice neat job 
Please feel free to share any pics or video you might have of your copters 

Hi Gaza, I was searching rctimer for these two items but failed to find them. Do you have any links please?

[DarrenG]

The case is only available from 3DR or 3DR resellers. As for the power module, it seems it';s best avoided, has some design issues that make it less than ideal, much better to install a current and voltage sensor (RCTimer do on as do Attopilot) and dedicate a 5V UBEC to powering the APM.

On an aside, why is the APM listed as HIGH for pricing?  It';s cheaper than a NAZA-M Lite which is listed as MEDIUM?

[HowDoIfly]

The case is only available from 3DR or 3DR resellers. As for the power module, it seems it';s best avoided, has some design issues that make it less than ideal, much better to install a current and voltage sensor (RCTimer do on as do Attopilot) and dedicate a 5V UBEC to powering the APM.

I have since found some suppliers, thanks. Any idea what the design issues were/are with the power module? I';ve trawled several wikis but find no mention of problems.

Talking of which, they';ve also left me a bit confuddled as to the power requirements of the APM - one table states 5.5v 2.5A while another paragraph says it only draws ~500ma at most.

[DarrenG]

Several issues some of which are more complicated than I could pretend to understand. The best guide to powering the APM I';ve ever found is on RCGroups here.

Have a good read. I';ve followed that guide and power mine using one of those UBECs set top 5V on the input headers. And I use a separate UBEC for powering other stuff such as lights etc.

[ChrisH]

Jumpy, could do with updating the Naza entry at some point! Now three options (Lite, V1 and V2) including Octo support on V2.

Useful info though!

[HowDoIfly]

Several issues some of which are more complicated than I could pretend to understand. The best guide to powering the APM I';ve ever found is on RCGroups here.

Have a good read. I';ve followed that guide and power mine using one of those UBECs set top 5V on the input headers. And I use a separate UBEC for powering other stuff such as lights etc.

Excellent, I';ve been down a warren of rabbit holes following a lot of posts on that forum regarding the APM and have decided to order a dedicated UBEC as advised   


I';m still on the lookout for a the semi-opaque case though - either they';re seriously over-priced or out of stock at the moment.

[DarrenG]

I ended up ordering a case from HobbyKing to use with my ArdyFlyer APM board. My first APM is a 3DR original and came with the case.

[powerlord]

Several issues some of which are more complicated than I could pretend to understand. The best guide to powering the APM I';ve ever found is on RCGroups here.

Have a good read. I';ve followed that guide and power mine using one of those UBECs set top 5V on the input headers. And I use a separate UBEC for powering other stuff such as lights etc.

That rc groups stuff I';d mostly mince though.  Hardly any ESCs have linear BECS these days.  You';d be far better imho ignoring that,  and leaving all 4 ESCs to the board - you then have 4 way redundancy.  Check your ESC docs to ensure they can be wired up together first though

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[HowDoIfly]

I ended up ordering a case from HobbyKing to use with my ArdyFlyer APM board. My first APM is a 3DR original and came with the case.

I just checked there. "Limited stock", give us yer email address and we';ll let you know when we can sell you one. 

[DarrenG]

Well, as I soldered my Arduflyer earlier with the side-entry pin option, and have just realised that HK';s case uses the top entry, you can have mine for what I paid for (£6) when it arrives, if you want!

[HowDoIfly]

oops, sorry Darren, missed your reply somehow, wasn';t intentional.

Thanks for the kind offer but I';ve soldered mine as side-entry too.

[Poppy Ann]

Hi there, does most people buy the genuine APM or one of the cheaper clones? I just ordered one from amazon and it was £60 for the 2.6 controller plus gps on a stand and case is that a decent price? it can be seen here:-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Buyincoins-ArduPilot-External-Compass-Controller/dp/B00JGP86S8/ref=sr_1_4?m=A2KVVEZQUSFYSM&s=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1397922110&sr=1-4&keywords=flight+controller

I only got it from here as I had £40 credit in my Amazon account they have the 90 Amp power module as well for £4

[HowDoIfly]

I';m awaiting my third clone in the post as we speak. Of the two I have, both are working fine. The 2.6 has no on-board compass and that kit doesn';t appear to include one. They';re cheap though so it';s still a good price you paid 

[Poppy Ann]

i just added the OSD plus power module to go with it.
it does say that there is a compass unit  in the GPS so should be good.
now it is the hard part waiting for the post man to arrive with it all.

[quads500]

I have read the similar charts in many forums but is there any realistic comparison between FCs (more than features). It may be reliability, accuraccy of features in numbers. 

[Gaza07]

This is from January 2013 I think things have changed quite a bit since then and maybe a new chart should be done  ::)

[Revs]

I was looking at it thinking ';what! no Naze32?';, then I realised

Yes a new chart would be good, two years is forever in this game. Though maintaining it would be a full time job for the same reason.