Just as other 3DR products appeared as copies in all kinds of web stores, now also the Pixhawk starts to show up in the same stores. The one pictured above is available from DealExtreme for US$ 126 including worldwide shipping (US$ 280 in 3DR store)
Advanced 32 bit ARM Cortex® M4 processor running NuttX RTOS;
14 PWM/servo outputs
Abundant connectivity options for additional peripherals (UART, I2C, CAN)
Integrated backup system for in-flight recovery and manual override with dedicated processor and stand-alone power supply
Backup system integrates mixing, providing consistent autopilot and manual override mixing modes
Redundant power supply inputs and automatic failover
External safety button for easy motor activation
Multicolor LED indicator
High-power, multi-tone piezo audio indicator
Micro SD card for long-time high-rate logging
Hardware Parameters: Processor: 32 bit STM32F427 Cortex M4 core with FPU
168 MHz / 256KB RAM/2 MB Flash
32 bit STM32F103 failsafe co-processor Sensors: ST Micro L3GD20H 16 bit gyroscope
ST Micro LSM303D 14 bit accelerometer / magnetometer
MPU6000 6-Axis Accelebrator/magnetometer
MEAS MS5611 barometer Interfaces: 5 x UART (serial ports), one high-power capable, 2 x with HW flow control, 2 x CAN
Spektrum DSM / DSM2 / DSM-X® Satellite compatible input
Futaba S.BUS® compatible input and output
PPM sum signal
RSSI (PWM or voltage) input
I2C
SPI
3.3 and 6.6V ADC inputs
External microUSB port
Specifications seem pretty much the same, so I guess they are comparable. According to the product page it comes with the board and a shell. No mentioning of cables (that seem to be included in the box of the Pixhawk from 3RD). At moment of writing no accessories seem to be available.
Also no mentioning of 3DR on the product page.
Comments
@ RCTech,... So you are saying that buying RTFHawk will inevitably mean fiddling? That the only way of going Pixhawk is by way of 3DR? How much fiddling around are you talking about?
Also in reference to swapping the components over to the APM 2.5, I put a halt to the shipment of a bare board because the RCTimer board began to work again. I am now bench testing to see if it has really returned to the land of the living, so far so good.
I have done very small soldering with iron and hot air, and I think you are right, that it would be a miracle to be able to do successfully considering the size of the smaller components. But I am playing the ball where it lies.
I am fully aware of the HobbyKing offering, I used to shop there exclusively. I am now sourcing from other suppliers and that is how I found out about RTFQuads. Everyone would like to save a few bucks here and there but what has been written here and also on the thread you started "Game Of Clones" has made for a serious re-think.
The 3DR Price for just the Pixhawk controller is under $200. 3DR is very good with support. A friend had a new GPS from 3DR that had a problem and it was replaced with no problem in about 10 days. TRY TO GET THAT SERVICE FROM THE FAR EAST.
Or why not the HKPilot? http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__56052__HKPilot_Mega_2_7_...
So you will try to salvage parts from one and hand solder to a APM with your "forties eyes" ? I would say that chances to get that to work is very slim if you don't have professional repair-tools for SMT components.
Go for a PIxhawk clone if you are a DIYer on a budget and don't mind fiddling around. Don't forget the PPM board if your RX cannot supply SBUS ot PPM directly
How timely :-) I was going to purchase the RTFHawk and didn't realize the broad assumptions I would be making . I have had trouble with a RCTimer APM 2.5.2.; it took the replacement of some parts and countermeasures to repair deficiencies.I was the culprit that eventually killed it just as I was ready to maiden the board in my first UAV Hexacopter. It is my "forties" eyes that made the mortal blow to the input circuit. Undoubtedly took out the Atmega32U.
My projects in UAV far in a way exceed my financial reach. And certainly made worse by the apalling economy in these parts. Because I had all the knowledge and peripherals, the price-point and the USA based origins of the RTFHawk made it, at first blush a logical choice. And I now will have to second guess that based on what I have read here.
I have a bare APM 2.5 PCB coming and will be taking the useable parts off the old APM 2.5 and will breathe life into a new. I will just have replace the Atmega32U associated with the inputs. Now If I could do that, I could do a Pixhawk. Practice makes perfect. If I could buy the bare Pixhawk and BOM I would attempt to build my own. But for the sake of timeliness and budget, I wish that RTFQuads would get their "stuff" together. I wouldn't think twice then.
Why would they need to mention 3DR?
It's a design made by students from the ETHZ (https://pixhawk.ethz.ch/) and has been shared with a very permissive license (http://pixhawk.org/), so any1 can produce it.
Whether you get support from the producer or not is of course an entirely different subject....
Please enlighten me.
RTFHawk is cheap and useless!. One man show with no support at all.
http://witespyquad.gostorego.com/flight-controllers/rtfhawk-2-4.html
Kind of looks like the RTFHawk, available from Witespy in the US for $100.
We got two of these kits when 3DR halted the export shipments. We were looking's for alternatives and i can say that it was a mixed bag.
The bare boards are OK. We have had them running in a test rig nonstop for days.
One of the kits was clearly a "refurbished" return with missing/open packaging. The other came with unsoldered connector and lots of small parts missing.
As far as we can see the connectors on top is not the 3DR type (but very similar) so connections to 3DR stuff like telemetry or airspeed sensors requires hacking/soldering.
The biggest problem is that you cannot use the Mission Planner to upload new firmware. You have to resort to other tools. (This one have been discussed earlier so i will not get into that)
This makes these board useless for anything else than system integration where you have control over the build. And if you do that kind of stuff, 100 dollar more for a proper PIxhawk per build is nothing.
Selling these to end users will only generate badwill and support calls
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