Flight Controller Comparison

There are many flight controllers on the market for multicopter aircraft. But, there are only 4 that
support Octocopter configurations and could be considered professional, or professionally featured as in
the DiyDrones APM. These are:

Mikrokopter MK from Germany

DJI-Innovations Wookong M from China
ZeroUav YS-X6 from China
DiyDrones APM from everywhere (open source hardware and software)
All except APM are similarly priced. All except MK can use any speed controller. And all support hand
flown and fully automated flight modes. The sections below detail the features of each controller
system.

Mikrokopter MK

Mikrokopter from Germany is the professional multicopter controller standard that all others are
measured by. It doesnt come in a fancy package. It is not easy to install or configure. It is not easy or
inexpensive to maintain. For professionally used multicopters it is the best of breed, still.

Basic Enhanced Professional

Includes
Base Cost
Includes in box IMU
GPS/Compass
Main Controller
XBee Telemetry Tx
Battery Monitor
PC Based ground control and configuration software
Precision
Position .5m vertical and 2m horizontal
Wind 40 km/hr.
Angular Rotation 180 deg/s
Tilt Angle 45 deg
Max Climb Rate 6 m/s
Max Descent Rate 6 m/s
Flight Modes Manual
Stabilize
Position Hold
GPS Position Hold
Navigation
Return Home
Circle on Position (POI)
Follow Me
Carefree (direction independent)
Panoramic Auto
Auto Mapping (Grid)
Features
Frame Support X4, +4, X6, +6, X8, +8, Y6, Y8, H8
Waypoints 4 waypoints in a 100m 16 waypoints in a 500m 128 waypoints distance
radius radius unlimited
Unlimited follow me Yes
Auto take off Yes
Return to home and Yes
auto landing
Free ground control Yes
station software:
telemetry and wireless
control.
Target Waypoint Lock No Unlimited Unlimited
and Follow Me
Mealtime flight status No No Yes
Camera lock No Limited Unlimited
Voltage Alert No No Yes
Joystick Control No No Yes
Ground Control Station No No Yes
on Android and Apple
iOS (no PC!)
Gimbal Stabilization Yes
S-Bus Sort of PPM direct.
Voltage Support 3-5s Lipo or speed controller and BEC specific.
Special Features and Supports up to 5 channel control via autopilot for gimbal, camera trigger
Support release, etc.
Support from manufacturer and vendors.
DJI Wookong Multi-Rotor

The Wookong Multi-Rotor is a universal commercial multi-rotor autopilot made in China by DJI-
Innovations. Whereas the Mikrokopter and APM systems are designed for very in depth and detailed
tuning, the WKM system takes the opposite approach by setting hard limits the available tuning
parameters. This both limits somewhat its flexibility and makes it by far the easiest system to configure
and maintain. Performance and stability are on par with Mikrokopter in a much simpler to use package.
WKM has all the basic stabilized manual and automated flight capabilities but none of the advanced
features like automated target tracking and circling of the other controllers.

Basic Enhanced Professional

Includes
Base Cost 1750 2850 3380
Includes in box IMU
GPS/Compass
Main Controller
LED indicator
900Mhz Telemetry TX/RX
Ground Station Software
Precision
Position .5m vertical and 2m horizontal
Wind 28.2 km/hr.
Angular Rotation 150 deg/s
Tilt Angle 35 deg
Max Climb Rate 6 m/s
Max Descent Rate 6 m/s
Flight Modes Manual
Attitude
GPS Attitude
IOC Mode Course or Home Lock
(Intelligent Orientation Control)
Auto
Features
Frame Support X4, +4, X6, +6, X8, +8, Y6, Y8
Waypoints None 1 200
Auto take off Yes
Return to home and Yes
auto landing
Click and go No Unlimited based on Unlimited based on
telemetry range telemetry range
Free ground control Included
station software:
telemetry and wireless
control.
Real time flight status Yes Yes Yes
Voltage Alert Yes
Joystick Control No Yes Yes
Ground Control Station No Yes Yes
on PC
Gimbal Stabilization Yes
S-Bus Yes
Voltage Support 3-6s Lipo
Special Features and Up to servo channels controlled by autopilot for camera gimbal, shutter
Support release, etc.
Grid mapping auto waypoint programming tools
Zero-UAV YS-X6

Zero-UAV Wi-Fi Based Multicopter System

Zero-UAV Multicopter controller is a new closed source system out of China that is making quite a splash
worldwide. It is basically a DJI clone but with Arduino (and soon iPhone) support instead of PC and
comes standard with an IP based Wi-Fi telemetry system. Resources can be found on RCGROUPS.com.

Zero UAV comes in several configurations with increasing cost and capability as shown in the table
below:

Basic Enhanced Professional

Includes
Base Cost 1200 1600 4000
Includes in box IMU IMU MC
GPS/Compass GPS/Compass IMU
Main Controller Main Controller GPS
Wi-Fi module Wi-Fi module Wi-Fi module
LED indicator LED indicator LED indicator
Data Link
Intelligent Joystick
Power Calculate
Module
Precision
Position .5m vertical and 2m horizontal
Wind 28.2 km/hr.
Angular Rotation 180 deg/s
Tilt Angle 25 deg
Max Climb Rate 4 m/s
Max Descent Rate 4 m/s

Flight Modes Manual

Stabilize
Position Hold
GPS Position Hold
Navigation
Return Home
Circle on Position
Follow Me
Features
Frame Support X4, +4, X6, +6, X8, +8, Y6, Y8
Waypoints 4 waypoints in a 100m 16 waypoints in a 500m 128 waypoints distance
radius radius unlimited
Unlimited follow me Yes
Click and go Limited to 30m Unlimited based on Unlimited based on
telemetry range (Wi-Fi) telemetry range (Wi-Fi)
Auto take off Yes
Return to home and Yes
auto landing
Free ground control Yes
station software:
telemetry and wireless
control.
Target Waypoint Lock No Unlimited Unlimited
and Follow Me
real time flight status No No Yes
Camera lock No Limited Unlimited
Voltage Alert No No Yes
Joystick Control No No Yes
Ground Control Station No No Yes
on Android and Apple
iOS (no PC!)
Gimbal Stabilization Yes
S-Bus Yes
Voltage Support 3-6s Lipo
Special Features and Only system with Wi-Fi support to common pad computer devices. Limited
Support support for other telemetry methods.
FollowMe supports any GPS enabled Android based device (phone, pad, etc).
Support through dealers only. No manufacturer support.
Ardupilot (APM) DiyDrones

The DiyDrones Aduino based APM 1 and 2 is an open source, community developed and supported
universal autopilot system for fixed wing, multicopter, and helicopter aircraft. For more info see
www.diydrones.com and jdrones.com.

The APM flight controller offers rather unique capabilities and holds a lot of promise. However, it has
some serious limitations, is difficult to tune, and should be considered a do-it-yourself developing
product. With that said it is the least expensive system on the market and has sold 2 to 3 times as many
units as all the others combined.

Basic Enhanced Professional

Includes
Base Cost Approx $600 with sonar and live telemetry
Includes in box Flight Controller
Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)
GPS
Magnetometer / Compass
 XBee Telemetry
BEC 5A
Battery Current Monitor
Precision
Position Varies with airframe and tuning
Wind 40 km/hr.
Angular Rotation Tunable
Tilt Angle Tunable
Max Climb Rate Tunable
Max Descent Rate Tunable
Flight Modes Acro (Manual)
Stabilize
Position Hold
Altitude Hold
Loiter (3D Position Hold)
Auto
Guided
Circle
Return Home
Simple (Carefree) in Stabilize, Altitude, and Loiter modes

Features
Frame Support X4, +4, X6, +6, X8, +8, Y6, Y8, H8
Waypoints Unlimited only by memory
Unlimited follow me Yes
Click and go Yes, GC Supported but different process than others.
Auto take off Yes
Return to home and Yes
auto landing
Free ground control Yes
station software:
telemetry and wireless
control.
Target Waypoint Lock No
and Follow Me
real-time flight status Yes
Camera lock No
Voltage Alert Yes
Joystick Control Yes
Ground Control Station Yes
on PC
Gimbal Stabilization Yes
S-Bus Yes
Voltage Support Requires BEC 5A
Special Features and Supports PC in-the-loop simulation using x-plane, FlightGear, and various RC
Support simulators.
 All source code is available online.
Community supported by DiyDrones.com website.

Summary
The flight controller is the most critical part of a multicopter UAS system. Each of the four controller
systems described in this document has advantages and disadvantages. Each has unique capabilities.
Any of them could meet the minimum requirements. However, only one has the history, proven
reliability, performance, and features required when considering lifting a $50,000 dollar camera system.
That is, Mikrokopter MK. It is by far the most complex and ties with APM for most difficult to install and
configure. Even so, once installed and configured properly the MK controller system is the best of breed.
It always has been and still is.

A close second place recommendation goes to the DJI WKM. It does not have all the features of the
others but makes of for their lack in ease of use and performance. What it does, it does very, very well. I
personally use DJI controllers in all but the largest multicopters simply because it just works without any
headaches.

It should be noted that the new ZeroUAV system offers some advanced and unique features and has, at
least in initial testing, proven to perform as well if not better than the WKM or MK. It is too new to
recommend for this project. Once the bugs are worked out it will be a very viable alternative if all the
advertised capabilities prove to be viable.

The DiyDrones Ardupilot APM is a full featured system but is not recommended due to the DIY
requirements, ongoing development, and difficulty in maintaining and tuning.

System Pro Con

Mikrokopter MK Standard for performance and Limited speed controller support
features Semi-closed system
Very high performance Cost related to limited range of action
Full featured Restrictive use license
Mature Difficult to install and configure
Auto-target tracking Difficult to maintain
Well supported Only supports specific radios (no PWM
Large user base support)
Full features ground station
OSD for FPV integrated
Self-supportable
DJI WKM Large installed base Too simplified and closed system
Simple to use Missing some key features all the
Full featured others provide
Any radio supported Not self-supportable repairs require
Supports any speed controller downtime for sending parts to
PC based fully featured ground manufacture for repair/replacement
station. No OSD support
 Cost
Ardupilot APM Cost Work in progress
Features Accelerometer based position hold not
Open source implemented yet.
Active support Build quality
Ongoing development Open source
Full featured ground station Very difficult to tune.
Multiple different ground stations
supported
Real-time HUD view on ground
station and FPV
Supports tracking antennas from
ground station out of box.
Supports any speed controller
ZeroUAV YS-X6 Full featured Cost
Designed to work with tablet pcs. Too new
Autotrack / followme based on Closed system
mobile phone tracking. No PC support for ground station (yet)
Wi-Fi telemetry and standard Requires full-time telemetry link
telemetry support connection (loss leads to failsafe)
Circle mode No OSD support. Must use separate
Point and Go. system.
Supports any PWM speed controller Too new. No track record