Drone Electronics, An Auto pilot board for surveillance flyers (Navio2 with Rasberry Pi 2 or 3)

In my earlier post about building a flying drone I focused on the most cost effective option, The Naze32 flight controller. That build did not include any options for adding a camera for surveillance or any type of additional flight options besides auto leveling when the joy sticks are released. For those who would like something more than a racing quad copter that did flips you would be out of luck. Now i will focus on a more expensive option of a build but it has far more features to customize and to utilize for longer and higher altitude flights.

The Raspberry Pi 2 or 3 model has so many great options for development from options such as a home security system with multiple cameras, bitcoin miners, web servers, and even drone control boards. This coupled with the Navio2 auto pilot board it is the perfect flight control board.

One of the best auto pilot features this break away board offers is GPS way points. This allows you to use a computer, tablet, or smartphone to set way points you wish the drone to fly to at the altitude level you predetermine. This is done with the on board GPS module, the circular copper short tube toward the top where the name is. The video 3.5 millimeter jack on the Raspberry pi allows you to attach a camera. The Navio provides the GPS link and the attaching ports for the motors or servos. Another great future this will allow is the "return to launch" option. This can be used to command the drone to come to the launch site and land automatically with only one button.

I will include a diagram to attach motors/servos and battery in order to build your own.

I will also include a video by Ole Gulbrandsen showing how the features benefit his quad copter and make for a much stabler flight.