Autonomous

VTOL UAV
System
Electronics Division
Electronics
Division Every UNDERLINED word in this
document contains a link. Feel free
to explore...
Kick-Start Guide
● Micro Computers
● Flight Controllers
Micro-Computers
A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer with a microprocessor as its
central processing unit (CPU). It includes a microprocessor, memory and minimal
input/output (I/O) circuitry mounted on a single printed circuit board (PCB).

Most commonly used micro-computers for projects are:

● Arduino
● Raspberry Pi
Arduino vs Raspberry Pi
● They look pretty similar, at a first look. Chips, connectors, holes for screws.
● Turns out, they are very, very different.
● Starting from the core. Arduino comes with an 8-bit microcontroller. The
Raspberry Pi comes with a 64-bit microprocessor.
● Arduino has 2 Kilobytes of RAM. Raspberry Pi has 1GB of RAM. (500,000x
more).
● In simple, Arduino is used for beginners projects and quick electronics
prototyping while Raspberry Pi is used for and some complicated projects
can be easily handled by pi.
Raspberry Pi
● The Raspberry Pi is a tiny and affordable computer
● It is a series of small single-board computers
Flight Controllers

● APM
● Pixhawk
● DJI NAZA
Pixhawk Flight Controller
The most common question asked in drone community is “what is flight controller” and the answer is here The flight
controller (aka FC) is the brain of the Drone. It’s a circuit board with a range of sensors that detect movement of the drone,
as well as user commands so Pixhawk 2.4.8 does. Using this data, it then controls the speed of the motors to make the
craft move as instructed.
References

● Microcomputer - Wikipedia
● Arduino vs Raspberry Pi
● What are the differences between Raspberry Pi and
Arduino?
● Raspberry Pi - Wikipedia
● Raspberry Pi
● Pixhawk Overview