Suggestions on FC to buy
« on: March 11, 2017, 02:13:13 pm »
Hello an please forgive me if this was already asked...but here goes...
   I do have another fpv racer I built with cc3d, 20A esc, RS2205, CC3D, PWM protocol, walker devo7 that i use for primary fpv racing.  This next build I want to ditch CC3D (hardware is not changing), walkera devo7 cant use ppm nor connect up 433MHz submodule like oplink (just a opening on back of transmitter but no connector on PCB).

It sounds like the end of the road for Revo hardware as there will be no further enhancements to this hardware platform...like support for dshot and anything new that might come along.  So with that in mind, any suggestions on which FC I should purchase that works great with Librepilot GCS?
My useage will be...
On a 250mm fpv frame...so need light weight small form factor
Prefer a oneshot, multishot, or dshot setup
Using with GPS
433MHz band for CC
Primary use automated flight programming
Secondary use to practice fpv race flying
Good support with librepilot

Thanks for suggestions
/Z/

Re: Suggestions on FC to buy
« Reply #1 on: March 11, 2017, 05:48:16 pm »
End of the road for CC3D (not Revo) hardware, due to "out of memory so new features aren't added".

I wrote a reply and decided to post it as a separate thread.
https://forum.librepilot.org/index.php?topic=3213.0

Re: Suggestions on FC to buy
« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2017, 02:07:42 pm »
@theOtherCliff,
I thought Revo hardware was not moving forward either?  Here is a quote of you from hardware section...

"OP seems to not exist any more, leaving the hardware in limbo.  Hence the Chinese clones, but no USA clones since fear of prosecution is probably higher for USA manufacturers.
Revolution has a good name, but is made from older components, including some "end of life components".
LibrePilot does not do anything with hardware.  It only writes software for available controllers."

So I must have misunderstood you.  Who (what group) is making Revo  hardware updates?  I see the need in the near future for more memory on the Revo.

Mateusz

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Re: Suggestions on FC to buy
« Reply #3 on: March 12, 2017, 05:52:27 pm »
You can find list of supported hardware at https://librepilot.atlassian.net/wiki/display/LPDOC/Supported+Hardware
  • CC3D (aka Copter Control 3D) - Is a racing flight-controller with STM32 F101 chip. All components are in production but F101 chip has limited memory. It works great as flight-controller for racing and if used for that purpose does not need any upgrades.
  • Revolution - Is an auto-pilot, this is very different thing from flight-controller. It is based on STM32 F405 chip and has enough memory (still lots of unused) to provide navigation features. It has also additional components such as magnetometer, oplink(radio) and barometer. Magnetometer same version as on original Revo might not be produced soon, but newer models are easy to replace and supported in firmware so not big deal. Besides most of time, you don't really use on-board magnetometer but external one.
  • Sparky2 - Also auto-pilot, based on STM32 F405 chip, same barometer, but one chip MPU9250 is new and is integrating gyro,accel,magn, it also has the same oplink. One of sensors is upgraded to newer version and ports are a bit different. For example it has dedicated I2C port. I use Sparky2 but I think Revo had more flexibile ports

There are also many STM32 F3 boards on the market, and F303 is pin-compatible drop-in replacement for F101 used on CC3D. One of developers has few models with F303 flyable but it's still work in progress. F303 has more RAM memory than F101 on CC3D but less than F405 used on Revo/Sparky2.
Some folks wet their pants on bigger numbers on IMU sensors, micro-controller etc.. but there is still plenty of RAM to develop new exciting stuff on Revo/Sparky2.

CC3D is cheaper then Revo, so kind of nice for models which are just for racing and crashing. However if you are interested in something more than just FPV flying, then I would recommend Revo or Sparky2, but then if you break them, you lose more money :)

Re: Suggestions on FC to buy
« Reply #4 on: March 15, 2017, 05:05:50 am »
Revo and Sparky2 are good designs that we have not as yet, fully used.  The "hard drive" still has room for more programs.  :)

Most of what the cloners make are more or less direct copies of these, but there are some exceptions, like the Mini Revo.

DVD players still sell because they are "good enough" even though we now have BluRay.

It takes a non-trivial effort to make a new FC work with LP, so there aren't a lot of new boards added until there is a reason.