Getting into the air ASAP

24.0623

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).

This is the workflow:

1 Get a work laptop (optional)
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 (optional)

You need

Win11 and Ubuntu machine (I have been working on a Windows 11 i3 with 8GB ram and an i7 Ubuntu with 32GB).
Possibly a laptop just for working on drones if you are concerned about installing unsigned software (some of the required open source software is not signed, meaning there is no security certificate chain to a root certificate that guarantees who the author is; this is a security risk, albeit minor in this case)

2 Buy required work tools

The shopping list lists everything I bought in the first 6 months working on drones. I am not a fan of Amazon.com, but its indespensable for getting what you need. I spent total about $2500 for all the things I needed.
You will need to buy stuff like solder gun, hex screwdrivers, shrink wrap, etc. If you are a newbie, you will need lots of little tools. If you are missing one small thing, then you need to order from Amazon.
Consider Amazon prime, because you will often need something ASAP. I often made $10 orders, so the $15 monthly Prime membership was worth it.

Below: Just a small portion of my Amazon purchases

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 Amazone prime). Most major parts are delivered without a single extra screw, bolt, nut, or jumper.

4 Train in flight Simulator

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.

The most difficult part is acquiring the instincts for how to move the RC sticks. I broke my FPV because I was flying on wet ground. I had the terrible habit of always adding throttle whenevever I was losing control of the copter. It got to high and too close to some trees, so I panicked and moved the throttle to 0. But I forgot to cut the engines (I was always getting my switches mixed up). Copter hit the ground and the props were cutting grass. After taking the copter apart and cleaning it up, reassembly, I discovered that the ESC (engine driver) was shot. $50 minimum repair costs. Could have been avoided had I trained more on the simulator.

The simulator does not have to be perfect. What you need is to get the instincts for how to move the sticks.

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 (2) SBeeF405/INAV (1a).

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 (5) Pix6c/PX4 (2a).

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