Building a Custom FPV Drone

Date: 2025-10-15 Tags: Hardware, Embedded, C++

The Quest for Low Latency

When flying FPV (First Person View) at high speeds, every millisecond counts. Standard firmwares are great, but I wanted to push the limits.

Custom PCB Design

I designed a custom power distribution board (PDB) to minimize noise in the video feed.

1. Layer Stackup: 4-layer PCB for better signal integrity.
2. Filtering: Added LC filters to the VTX line.

PID Loop Tuning

The core of the flight controller is the PID loop. I rewrote parts of the control logic in C++ to optimize for my specific motor/prop combo.

// Simplified PID Logic
float error = setpoint - gyro_data;
integral += error * dt;
derivative = (error - prev_error) / dt;
output = (Kp * error) + (Ki * integral) + (Kd * derivative);

The result? A locked-in feel that gives me total confidence in the air.