Choosing a MultiCopter Frame¶
One of the first steps in using Copter is to decide on the frame. Shown below are three options from 3DRobotics but there are hundreds of other choices. This page will hopefully give some guidance on the choices available.
ArduPilot is capable of controlling many different vehicles.
Note
This section of the wiki is a work-in-progress.
Decide what you want it for¶
Some common uses of multi-copters include:
- Taking aerial videos
- FPV (first person view)
- Sport & Social (racing, aerobatics, impressing your friends)
- More professional uses such as 3D mapping, package delivery, agriculture
- For research or personal robotics development
Ready-To-Fly, Kits or Build your Own¶
The choice of Ready-to-fly (RTF) vs Build-your-Own mostly comes down to how much time you are happy to spend building up your copter and how personalised you wish it to be. With the growing number of low-cost RTF copters on the market, there is likely little cost advantage to building your own, especially for the smaller copters and if you factor in some missteps along the way (like buying the wrong parts).
Continued Reading¶
Below are more work-in-progress pages with general information that may be useful when selecting or building a frame.