<p>I would <strong>avoid</strong> this kit:</p>
<ul>
<li>its pretty outdated hardware</li>
<li>the arms are made of thin plastic, this is likely going to break when crashed</li>
</ul>
<p>if you <em>don't</em> care about the plastic problem, you can get the frame without the hardware (so you can buy more modern one) for cheap on ali-express (its called F450).</p>
<p>if you spend a bit more time searching ali-e for comparable frames, you might find one of these kits: <a href="https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004864316433.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004864316433.html</a> it's marginally better than the F450 kit, mostly because its using carbon arms.</p>
<p>I'd like to point out to you, that you <em>will</em> need rc equipment, as full autonomous flight will need a lot of paperwork (I'm assuming EU rules as you posted french links) if you ever want to fly that outside of a hall, while if you want to fly that in the open category (de-facto category for hobby), you need to be able to control the drone.</p>
<p>that said, you want that ability either way - and if it's only to shut down the motors after your Python code crashed the drone full-speed in the next bush.</p>
<p>Generally. I would recommend connecting with builders in your region, for advice &amp; help, and because you might be able to get a few used parts for cheap.</p>
<p>PS: one of the best drone-part stores i buy from is in france: <a href="https://www.drone-fpv-racer.com/en/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.drone-fpv-racer.com/en/</a> while they aren't likely to have the kind of frame you are looking for, they should have most other things you could need.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-03-04T20:30:54.890Z
Thanks for your answer, I checked a bit Alie express and the link that you gave me ```https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004864316433.html```  So it has a carbon frame, telemetry module and plenty of other stuff. It is also very cheap and has a lot of components. But I never bought anything on Alie express, is it trust worthy? Also there is a lot of different packs, which one would you recommend (probably one with a telemetry module) but which one?
Nathan Vidal
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-03-06T06:50:17.013Z
is ali-e trustworthy: well, its a sales platform with a bunch of different sellers, and i have heard of people having trouble - myself, the only issues i ever had were easily solved by requesting to get my money back.It does take some time to be delivered from china though.

as for which pack: you have to check what suits  your usecase best, i probably would go a totally different route with a lot more customization
ppetermann
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-03-04T16:53:12.833Z
2024-03-04T16:53:12.833Z
ppetermann
<p>Python and a Raspberry Pi aren't really a good match for a drone. The Pi is a complete computer, and thus has a lot of overhead. It isn't solely focused on your programme, and can pause briefly to handle other tasks. Similarly, Python is an interpreted language and not ideal for a real-time system. I'll add that popular flight controller software (like BetaFlight or INav) are also mature products with lots of complex features that make them hard to understand.</p>
<p>I recommend looking at <a href="https://github.com/nickrehm/dRehmFlight" rel="nofollow noreferrer">dRehmFlight</a> (pronounced dream-flight). The code is simple and it runs on a Teensy, which is small, cheap and light-weight.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-03-12T15:53:28.430Z
the question was about a drone with pixhawk and raspberry pi, not for raspberry pi as flight controller - in a combination like that the pixhawk is acting as the flight controller and doing the realtime job, the rapsberry pi then communicates with the flight controller - if their goal is to build something that needs to computational power of the sbc, for example to work with map data, trigger a payload when reaching an area etc. then this is a setup that should work fine, especially for a beginner
ppetermann
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-03-07T12:13:06.097Z
2024-03-07T12:13:06.097Z
Robin Bennett
<p>I am a beginner and wanted to buy myself a little drone kit to learn to program it. I was thinking about a raspberry pi 4b and pixhawk drone, but I don't know what to buy.
I saw this thing on amazon, and I know that it is quite old but it is very cheap <code>https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B09SZ74YFK/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=AQQD305QEV0YZ&amp;psc=1</code>
and I would add by myself the raspberry pi 4b and the rasberry pi camera module <code>https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B01ER2SKFS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=AYJCVVRX88QTX&amp;psc=1</code>
I was thinking to do it like in this yt video <code>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB9YyG2V-nA&amp;list=PL_2ZLLWNjKFHxIDptncuVNmTsvjAdAjM7&amp;index=3</code>
I would like to program it with python. Is this good, if not does anybody have an alternative in the same price range? Am I missing some elements that I will need to buy to control my drone? I have a total budget of 500 euros without the RC since I would prefer to control the drone entirely with python scripts</p>

<raspberry-pi><beginner>
should I buy this drone?
Nathan Vidal
# should I buy this drone?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-03-01)

I am a beginner and wanted to buy myself a little drone kit to learn to program it. I was thinking about a raspberry pi 4b and pixhawk drone, but I don't know what to buy.
I saw this thing on amazon, and I know that it is quite old but it is very cheap `https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B09SZ74YFK/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=AQQD305QEV0YZ&psc=1`
and I would add by myself the raspberry pi 4b and the rasberry pi camera module `https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B01ER2SKFS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=AYJCVVRX88QTX&psc=1`
I was thinking to do it like in this yt video `https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB9YyG2V-nA&list=PL_2ZLLWNjKFHxIDptncuVNmTsvjAdAjM7&index=3`
I would like to program it with python. Is this good, if not does anybody have an alternative in the same price range? Am I missing some elements that I will need to buy to control my drone? I have a total budget of 500 euros without the RC since I would prefer to control the drone entirely with python scripts

**Tags:** raspberry-pi, beginner


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-03-04. Score: 1

I would **avoid** this kit:

* its pretty outdated hardware
* the arms are made of thin plastic, this is likely going to break when crashed

if you *don't* care about the plastic problem, you can get the frame without the hardware (so you can buy more modern one) for cheap on ali-express (its called F450).

if you spend a bit more time searching ali-e for comparable frames, you might find one of these kits: <https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004864316433.html> it's marginally better than the F450 kit, mostly because its using carbon arms.

I'd like to point out to you, that you *will* need rc equipment, as full autonomous flight will need a lot of paperwork (I'm assuming EU rules as you posted french links) if you ever want to fly that outside of a hall, while if you want to fly that in the open category (de-facto category for hobby), you need to be able to control the drone.

that said, you want that ability either way - and if it's only to shut down the motors after your Python code crashed the drone full-speed in the next bush.

Generally. I would recommend connecting with builders in your region, for advice & help, and because you might be able to get a few used parts for cheap.

PS: one of the best drone-part stores i buy from is in france: <https://www.drone-fpv-racer.com/en/> while they aren't likely to have the kind of frame you are looking for, they should have most other things you could need.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks for your answer, I checked a bit Alie express and the link that you gave me ```https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004864316433.html```  So it has a carbon frame, telemetry module and plenty of other stuff. It is also very cheap and has a lot of components. But I never bought anything on Alie express, is it trust worthy? Also there is a lot of different packs, which one would you recommend (probably one with a telemetry module) but which one?  
> **username_1**: is ali-e trustworthy: well, its a sales platform with a bunch of different sellers, and i have heard of people having trouble - myself, the only issues i ever had were easily solved by requesting to get my money back.It does take some time to be delivered from china though.  as for which pack: you have to check what suits  your usecase best, i probably would go a totally different route with a lot more customization  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2024-03-07. Score: 0

Python and a Raspberry Pi aren't really a good match for a drone. The Pi is a complete computer, and thus has a lot of overhead. It isn't solely focused on your programme, and can pause briefly to handle other tasks. Similarly, Python is an interpreted language and not ideal for a real-time system. I'll add that popular flight controller software (like BetaFlight or INav) are also mature products with lots of complex features that make them hard to understand.

I recommend looking at [dRehmFlight](https://github.com/nickrehm/dRehmFlight) (pronounced dream-flight). The code is simple and it runs on a Teensy, which is small, cheap and light-weight.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: the question was about a drone with pixhawk and raspberry pi, not for raspberry pi as flight controller - in a combination like that the pixhawk is acting as the flight controller and doing the realtime job, the rapsberry pi then communicates with the flight controller - if their goal is to build something that needs to computational power of the sbc, for example to work with map data, trigger a payload when reaching an area etc. then this is a setup that should work fine, especially for a beginner  

---

