M4 - what is it, what can it do?

[Jdmagoo]

[kinderkram]

Here's a video of this year's Maker Faire in Hannover, Germany.

Featuring the new M4 MicroController:

[bcdebusk]

I may have missed this already, but is this an open source project?

[TheBone]

Hi Guys,

This is a very impressive work! Is it possible to get a Pre-Version of the motherboard? I would really like to use this one for my study project. If necessarily i'd take a used one in a very early version.

Greetings
TheBone

[JussiH]

M4 is not a replacement...its an entirely new approach and the first step towards a new generation of AQ HW that is powrful, affordable and versatile. But its all in very early stages of Beta and it will take a while for M4 and the other stuff to become available in general retail.

So currently V6 is the standard board and the M4 should be considered very "Beta" at the moment.

Ublox module is a MAX-7W currently. We are investigating into 8-series Ublox modules, but they only recently became available in the MAX footprint.

ESC32v3 has the same dimensions as the V2, but other than that there is not many similarities. I will publish details about it seperately, when its ready. No mounting holes.

Our HW designs and the Quatos adaptive controller are not Open source, but the main Autoquad and ESC32v2 source code is published under GPL3.

[JussiH]

The motherboard is still in internal testing, so I cant help there, sry. It will take some months before we can offer them to the public.

[HeliHenkie]

Hi all,

About four months ago I sold my AQ board, but I'm thinking about giving the AQ project another go.
I've been following the developments around the M4 and I'm wondering what will be my best choice.
Wait for the M4 to become available, or buy another AQ board with DIMU?

To be honest I don't see why someone would buy another AQ board when the M4 can do anything.....
What type of use are both boards targeted to?
I could use some advice how fo spend my money wisely .

Best regards,

Jan Willem
The Netherlands

[Max]

AQ6 still has the advantage of having multiple motor/pwm outputs right on the board. With M4 you can get 4 PWM outputs but you need to tap into the expander pads (J1/J2), so anything larger than a quad would require CAN ESCs or an adapter like the AQ "motherboard." Or if you want a brushless quad with gimbal/passthrough outputs. AQ6 also has SD card onboard (M4 requires an expander board for that), and 2 serial ports (vs. USB and one serial). AQ6 has a much larger input voltage range. AQ6 with DIMU is incredibly stable, and now very simple to calibrate as well.

The M4 is an unbeatable value though, and I enjoy my micro quad tremendously! It flies much like a full-sized one yet can take off from my desk (remember to unplug USB first! ) and land in my hand w/out danger of losing fingers. With a simple .4g home-made dipole GPS antenna I get full autonomous capabilities as well. At that size/weight crashes are no big deal, and the frame/motors cost peanuts. It's fun, and a great development/testing and flight practice tool. The fact that it could also be used on any size MR is of course a major bonus, but if you're building something larger in the first place, the AQ6 might be more practical in some ways.

That's my current personal take on it, anyway.

-Max

[aBUGSworstnightmare]

[JussiH]

And here is another example of what can be done: A 76 gram fully shrouded octo...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqtgMCuTiNA