Single-Board Computers
Single-board computers (SBC) such as Raspberry Pi or Orange Pi serve as companion computers for advanced drones: they process sensor data, run computer vision algorithms and communicate with the flight controller over MAVLink. Ideal for research, autonomous drones and AI applications. Combine them with GPS modules and sensors.
Product sorting
4 items total
List of products
Listing controls
4 items total
Single-board computers for drones, what are they for?
An SBC (Single Board Computer) used as a companion computer extends the flight controller with computing power for tasks a regular FC cannot handle:
- Computer vision: object detection, target tracking, obstacle avoidance
- Sensor data processing: lidar, optical flow, thermal camera
- MAVLink communication: controlling an Ardupilot FC via Python scripts (DroneKit, MAVSDK)
- Edge AI: inference models directly on the drone with no cloud connection
Recommended SBCs for drones
- Raspberry Pi 4 / 5: the most widespread; huge community; GPIO for peripherals; great to start with
- Orange Pi: a cheaper alternative with similar capabilities
- NVIDIA Jetson Nano / Orin: GPU acceleration for AI inference; for demanding computer vision applications
See drone sensors and fixed wing FC.