Hello World,

I'm Dela, a DIY drone newbie with intermediate electronics knowledge and I'm designing an autonomous VTOL Fixed Wing drone. I want to design my own budget Flight controller using basic sensors such as IMU, barometer, GPS and compass. 

I would like to know if I can run the Ardupilot firmware on my flight controller because I don't want to code the software. Also could you suggest some sensors and concepts I could implement in this build.

Again, Is it possible to implement a beyond line of sight control in this drone? If possible how can it be done. I've been thinking about finding a way to use a GSM module for the telemetry as well as beyond line of sight control. Is this feasible? Or an LTE dongle connected to a raspberry pi?

As it stands now, cost of materials is a problem because of where I am come from (Ghana) so I'm avoiding the purchase of a pixhawk and sticking to using simple budget friendly systems.

Thank you very much.

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  • There's no way you can put together your own Ardupilot-compatible autopilot for less than you can buy it from Aliexpress ($35-50). But yes, you can use GSM modules with serial interfaces for your telemetry. You don't a RaspberryPi for that.
    https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32947890087.html?src=google&src...
    US $35.5 28% OFF|Pixhawk 2.4.8 PX4 PIX 32 Bit Flight Controller+M8N GPS+ 433/915Mhz 100/500mw Radio…
    Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
    • Thank you very much. I will purchase this Pixhawk then.

      I still hope to build my own autopilot running the Ardupilot firmware, something like the Matek F405 or F765 Wing, sometime soon. I will take my time to do that and hopefully get it to work.

      Please, in such a case, how do i make it ardupilot-compatible? Because i haven't found an Ardupilot firmware build dedicated to such projects, or a list of requirements that need to be met in order to make a flight controller board Ardupilot-compatible.
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