MultiWii arduino drone with Flysky Fs i4x transmitter and FS-A6 receiver?

I want to build my drone with an Arduino with the Atmega 328p and the MultiWii open source platform, but I don't want to use the NRF24l01 modules for RF communication. Instead I want to use the Flysky FS - i4x transmitter paired with the Flysky - Fs-A6 receiver. But for the code of the MultiWii platform, its only there for the NRF24l01 modules and not for the Flysky transmitter. So does anyone know where I can download the MultiWii code for the Flysky transmitters?

I think your receiver of choice has a PPM output.

A bit of googling suggests that multiwii can be configured to accept a PPM input.

So… it has been done and can be again, google is your friend.

On the other hand, it’s 2021. The idea of making a drone with an Arduino and multiwii is kinda out of date, there are open source alternatives if that’s important, but how important can it be when your first question is about getting the software complete and ready for exactly your use case? Who then cares about open source?

If you are looking to study the source code of a quadcopter control system don’t start with multiwii.

a7

Do you know any other open-source software like MultiWii that I can use with Arduino? I am actually a beginner in this drone area, so I thought MultiWii was a good start to understand the basics of drone controlling and flying.

So will there be some none open-source commercial software?
And do you suggest that I should start with ready-made flight controllers? Or is DIY fine? With help from another open-source platform of course.

Thanks for your reply!

Without knowing where you are heading with your quadcopter interest, it is hard to make any recommendations.

Multiwii and Arduino work, I have no experience with the combo, but ppl do fly things using it. And if you can slog through it, MultiWii has all the bits you’d expect to find if you interested in how a flight controller works.

I use Betaflight, which you can google. It is a mature quadcopter software system, source is all there but quite huge. And a wonderful variety of inexpensive and very powerful flight control boards are available that run Betaflight. I would expect it to outperform an Arduino, but it might not matter if you are just hoisting a camera for a bird view.

There is also Silverware, a very compact and open source flight control software system, but it was designed for repurposing toy quadcopters. But ppl have done amazing things with it; I just haven’t paid attention to the developments it may have enjoyed in several years.

One way to go would be to buy a lower end quadcopter that runs Betaflight and works with your transmitter and maybe also your receiver. You’ll probably get some experience doing repairs as you learn to fly. :expressionless:

Separate learning to fly and have fun with quadcopters from making a career out of building, programming, testing, crashing and the other fun parts. The more you know about flying and where you really want to end up, the easier it will be to get into all that.

a7

Thanks! Do you know any flight controllers which support Betaflight that can work with brushed motors? I don't want to make a brushless motor drone as of now. And if I wanted to make my own Betaflight controller can I do that? Like with a supported STM32F4 board?

Thanks again!

Betaflight can be configured to put out appropriate signals for a brushed motor.

There are brushed Betaflight boards that include the necessary high current FET switches, otherwise you would need to make that little bit of circuitry.

By which point you might just as well have started with brushless.

Your pick but brushless motors work so much better for real quadcopters!

Brushed motors and Betaflight do work very well. Some Silverware controllers have ben developed for commercial sale; adherents insist that it is a superior software solutin for brushed toys

Betaflight can be ported. I just came across an effort to move it onto the Arduino Portenta. With “real” Betaflight control boards being so cheap it is hard to imagine why anyone would bother.

Google is your friend for all these kinds of questions.

Have you flown any quadcopters? What level are your skills at in programming, electronics and mechanical things like soldering?

You could just spend money and buy a quadcopter set all ready to go. Or you could spend time and maybe save some money doing a scratch build from parts. And in between offers various levels of involvement of skills other than spending money (hey, that takes skill!) and learning how to fly.

Even though the hobby is relatively mature, there is still a great deal of information scattered about, the gathering and mastering of which will happen as you progress.

a7

Thanks!

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