Getting into the air ASAP

As a newcomer to the field, you probably want to get hands-on experience, to get your own AI drone in the air. ASAP (= about 9 weeks minimum).

You will need the following:

1 Buy Work laptop (maybe)
2 Buy Work tools (constant activity)
3 Organize Work area
4 Train in flight Simulator
5 build/fly an FPV (small) drone ASAP (recommended before trying to build an AI drone)
6 build/fly a Pixhawk (large) drone ASAP
7 add AI to the Pixhawk drone ASAP

1 Get a Work laptop (maybe)

You need to get a laptop just for working on drones if

You are concerned about installing unsigned SW (open source)
Your current PC is not powerful enough
You dont have Win11 and Ubuntu.

2 Buy required Work tools

If you have something like Amazon prime, then you can get most stuff you need in 1-2 days. You will need to buy stuff lie

Solder gun, hex screwdrivers, shrink wrap, etc. If you are a newbie, you will need lots of little tools.

3 Work area

You need space. Clean space. If you lose one little component, you might not be able to make progress, and buying that component might not be that easy (especially if you dont have something like Amazon.com delivery).

4 Train in flight Simulator

0a Train to fly a drone in an FPV simulator. Flying an FPV drone is like learning to ride a bike without training wheels. Its highly advised to spend at least 10 hours (over the span of a week) flying simulation before trying to fly your drone.

5 (Epic 1) build/fly an FPV (small) drone ASAP (recommended before trying to build an AI drone)

1 Buy the components (and required tools) for platform 1 (SBeeF405) in the shopping list.
2 Build and fly the FPV copter as described in part 1a: SBeeF405/INAV.

PS: Why you cant put AI on the FPV (put this also in the wiki organization page)

FPV is too small for the extra required AI components (companion computer (jetson nano), battery for the nano, and camera; see screenshot at the bottom of this page).
FPV firware does not have the required APIs (softwate such as mavlink, mavsdk, etc) required for an AI copter.

6 (Epic 2) build/fly a Pixhawk (large) drone ASAP

3 Buy the components (and required tools) for platform 2 (Pix6c) in the shopping list.
4 Build a copter with a Pixhawk FC (which has the extra lifting capability and FC functionality required to support AI). Complete directions are (WIP) in part 2a: Pix6c/PX4.

The FPV drone (small) and Pixhawk drone (large, for AI)