New Hardware

The all-new CUAV V5+ and V5 nano are the newest addition to the FMUV5 based family of flight controllers. The autopilots aim to be low-cost and easy to use for drone developers and commercial system integrators.

V5+ adopts a modular form factor in its design. Ships with “core” module and baseboard, it can be installed directly into your projects with the option to use deeply integrate into your setup via customized carrier board(s).

The V5+ can adapt to different environments thanks to its built-in high-performance shock absorption system, suitable for use in commercial systems.

V5 nano is designed for a smaller footprint and with an optimized interface layout, suitable for space-constrained applications.

From the community

Here are some of the reactions from the PX4 developer community:

  •  “The community has made great effort to make these flight controllers compatible, and supported by PX4 to strive for spotless flight performance for users.” – Lorenz Meier, founder of PX4
  •  “Overall great build quality!” – Kabir Mohammed, PX4 developer, MIT researcher 

The Dronecode test team flew both flight controllers extensively and their lead Tony Daniels shared these experiences so far: 

Why you like the product and would you recommend it to other users/developers and why?

  • I would definitely recommend CUAV’s V5+ and V5 nano to any regular user or developer, overall I’m very pleased with the overall product quality in look and build. Our flight performance tests feel really stable and reliable. 

What stood out that differentiates it from other flight controller products?

  • During the first flight, I noticed the stability right off the bat. Performed a full regression test on PX4 firmware, ran through all the flight modes, Position, stabilized, Altitude & Mission. The performance was great. GPS lock was lightening fast!

How straightforward was the build if you already have a working off-the-shelf frame?

  • The setup was very simple, we usually look at the documentation and read through it to understand the connectors when working on a new set up, but with this flight controller, the connectors are straightforward and less confusing than other products. The overall build took roughly about 90 minutes. We were very excited to start flying it right away. 

The Dronecode test team put together reference build logs for these units and are conducting regular flight tests on these units:

Refer to these build logs for complete setup guides:

Lauch Perk

CUAV is giving out 20 V5+ and V5 nano to “super users” in the PX4 ecosystem. The eligibility criteria is that the user agrees to provide feedback for product integration experience and willing to share usability and performance data with PX4 team and CUAV team. Please sign up here to become one of the first 20 super users. (deadline July 31, 2019).

About CUAV:

CUAV, established in 2011 and based in Guangzhou, China, is a drone technology provider with its own R&D center and production line. CUAV’s products include flight control systems, GPS positioning systems, wireless data links, and wireless digital link systems. To learn more about CUAV click here.

CUAV has official usergroup channel on PX4 slack (#cuav_usergroup), join the channel to connect with their engineers and communicate directly.