• MPU6000 vs MPU6050 vs MPU6500

    MPU6000 and MPU6050 Deep down, MPU6000 and MPU6050 are the same same hardware. They both have the same 3 axis gyroscope and the same 3 axis accelerometer. Both allows max 8kHz gyro sampling rate. From a flight controllers point of view, the only difference between them is bus that connects them to CPU. MPU6000 allows…

  • UART1 and PPM on Airbot F4 / Flip32 F4 Flight Controllers

    Today I’ve discovered another small but irritation limitation of Airbot F4 / Flip32 F4 also known as CC3D REVO for unknown reason. Looks like, by default, this board is unable to share UART1 RX line and PPM input. So, if you would like to connect, for example, OSD or GPS to UART1, you would have…

  • How much power flight controller consumes?

    Year after year flight controllers grow stronger, faster, more powerful. Three years ago we had MultiWii running Arduino. Two years ago it was Naze32 with STM32F1. Year ago it was SPRacingF3 with SMT32F3. This year it is something with STM32F4. Is there a price is power consumption to pay? Should we start using stronger BECs?…

  • PWM, OneShot125 and Brushed motor protocol on an oscilloscope

    When I’ve buoght an oscilloscope (cheap digital DSO201), I’ve decided it would be a good idea to see how different ESC protocols looks like from the signal point of view. Previously I’ve written few words about them, like which is the fastest as so on, but is there something “special” about them? Well, let’s find…

  • Project Dualcopter – worklog #2

    3 weeks after my first post on Project Dualcopter, it's time for small update. The plan was to install servos and control surfaces. Instead, I've done: Basic electrical wiring for motors and ESCs. They have power now and are ready to be connected to flight controller To level shelf (above propellers) designed to hold flight…

  • ATtiny85 Light Sensor – I2C slave device

    ATtiny85 Light Sensor – I2C slave device

    I love AVR ATtinyx5 series microcontrollers. They are cheap, easy to use, they can be programmed just like Arduinos and comparing to their size they offer great features. For example, they can be used as a remote analog to digital converters connected to a master device using an I2C bus. Background: A few years ago…

  • BLHeli Configurator Preview

    While BLHeli was the best what happened to ESCs since original SimonK firmware, BLHeli has one very serious flaw: BLHeliSuite works only on Windows operating system. Let's be honest here, this sucks. OK, one can use virtual machine and some people succeeded to run it using WINE (I failed) but those are not good solutions.…

  • 3D Printed 35deg camera stand for Runcam HD / Mobius

    I have no idea how I was able to build drones before I've bought my 3D printer… I before I've learned basics of 3D design. So, today I present you upgraded version of my Runcam HD / Mobius camera mount I've designed few months ago. Changes: tilt angle increased from 25 to 35 degrees allows…

  • Flip32 F4 / Airbot F4 : Pinout

    There is very little reliable information about Flip32 F4 / Airbot F4 on the internet, so I’ve decided to fix it. Today, pinout map for Flip32 F4 (Betaflight 3.0.1) and some additional notes: Betaflight 3: use REVO target UART1 is only UART with inverters, so S.BUS can be connected only here S.BUS / PPM pin…