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Build a drone, end to end.

One view of the whole build — hardware, the Pixhawk flight stack, the assembly pipeline, and the resources to ship a working aircraft. A status board, not a brochure.

Guides & BOMPixhawk setup
Pipeline

Six stages to a flying aircraft.

  1. 01

    Platform

    Pick the airframe class and flight controller against the mission — payload sets the frame.

  2. 02

    Parts

    BOM, budget, and the domestic-vs-overseas procurement decision that sets your timeline.

  3. 03

    Assembly

    Frame, motors/ESCs, power, wiring harness — one labelled loom, built once.

  4. 04

    Setup · Calibration

    Firmware flash, accelerometer/compass/radio/ESC calibration, geofence + failsafe.

  5. 05

    Payload · AI

    Companion compute (Jetson), gimbal, and the perception/Re-ID layer at the edge.

  6. 06

    PoC

    First powered flight, log review, and the airspace-safety read (AVIX metadata).

Hardware

Reference hardware.

A working configuration — scale the airframe to the payload, not the spec sheet. Figures illustrative.

SubsystemReferenceNote
AirframeHolybro X500 v2X650 for heavier payload + endurance
Flight controllerPixhawk 6X / Cube Orange+Open-hardware reference; ArduPilot or PX4
Companion computeNVIDIA Jetson Orin NanoEdge perception / Re-ID
PayloadZoom + thermal gimbalDual-band, dawn/dusk coverage
PositioningRTK GNSSCentimetre-class, repeatable survey
Software · Pixhawk

The flight stack.

  1. GPLv3

    ArduPilot (Copter)

    Auditable end-to-end; derivative firmware must be shared. The clean default for research / self-build.

  2. BSD-3-Clause

    PX4

    Permissive — modifications can stay closed. Common in commercial vendor stacks.

  3. Ground station

    Mission Planner / QGC

    Open-source GCS — flash firmware, run calibration, replay telemetry.

  4. Protocol

    MAVLink

    Open, well-documented messaging between flight controller, GCS, and companion.

  5. Guide

    Setup checklist

    Frame → wiring → calibration → geofence/failsafe → first flight, handed to a technician.

    Detail →
  6. Roadmap

    Flight log review

    Read the .bin/.ulg log + AVIX airspace-safety metadata before the next flight.

    Detail →
Resources

What to take with you.

  1. Guides

    BOM · procurement · setup

    Bill of materials, budget, customs trade-off, and the setup/calibration checklist.

    Detail →
  2. E-book

    Dronology series

    The build & field methodology in print — Build Book + Field Book on Amazon.

    Detail →
  3. Decision · 1p

    PX4 vs ArduPilot

    The license decision is a shipping decision — which stack fits your program.

    Detail →
Disclaimer · 면책

Trademarks (Holybro, NVIDIA, Pixhawk, ArduPilot, PX4) are those of their respective owners — unaffiliated third-party references. Open-source components follow their own licenses (ArduPilot: GPLv3, PX4: BSD-3-Clause). All figures are illustrative and subject to verification; operation requires KC certification, national airworthiness rules, and export-control / dual-use review.