F450-class quadcopter on Pixhawk 6C and ArduPilot: component choices and a priced kit

A programmable quadcopter in the F450 class: Pixhawk 6C, ArduPilot, GPS, telemetry and an RC link, on a 4S 5,000 mAh pack, with room to add a Raspberry Pi 5 for MAVLink and Python later. Every part below is chosen to work with the others, and the reasoning is written out so you can check it.

The brief

We were asked for a complete, compatible set for this aircraft:

• An F450-class quadcopter frame, four motors of about 920 to 1,000 KV, four ESCs, and 10 × 4.5 propellers in CW and CCW.
• A Pixhawk 6C running ArduPilot, a power module that suits it, and a GPS with a compass.
• An RC transmitter and receiver, and a telemetry radio.
• A 4S 5,000 mAh LiPo and a charger.
• A Raspberry Pi 5 later, talking MAVLink to the autopilot from Python.

What you asked for, and what goes in the kit

Everything from the frame to the telemetry radio arrives together in Holybro's S500 V2 Development Kit (Pixhawk 6C, M10, 433 MHz). At our current prices it costs less than the S500 V2 ARF kit plus the same avionics bought one by one, even after the cart's bulk discount on the separate parts, and the connectors are already matched. The priced list is further down.

Why the S500 V2 instead of an F450 frame

The F450 is a good frame, and most of the thinking in this guide applies to it. But for a Pixhawk build the S500 V2 has three practical advantages.

• No soldering. The S500 V2 has a power distribution board built in, rated by Holybro at 60 A continuous and 100 A in bursts, with the motors, ESCs and propellers matched and supplied. An F450 build usually means soldering four ESCs to the frame's plate.
• Room. The wheelbase is 480 mm against the F450's 450 mm, with space on the frame for the Pixhawk, the GPS mast and later a Raspberry Pi.
• Known propulsion. Holybro sells the S500 and X500 V2 with the same 2216 KV920 motors, 20 A ESCs and 1045 propellers, so there is one manufacturer to ask about thrust and current, not three.

If your lab or course has standardised on the F450 itself, see the section on building on one near the end.

Motors, propellers and ESCs: why 920 KV on 4S

KV is the motor's speed per volt with no load. On a 4S pack (14.8 V nominal, 16.8 V full), a 920 KV motor spins a 10-inch propeller at a speed Holybro has matched to its 20 A ESCs.

You asked for 920 to 1,000 KV. The difference matters more than it looks. On the same propeller and battery, a 1,000 KV motor spins about 1,000 ÷ 920 = 1.09 times as fast at full throttle. The power a propeller absorbs rises roughly with the cube of its speed, so it takes about (1,000 ÷ 920)³ = 1.28 times the power and current. That is 28% more heat in the motors and ESCs for the same airframe, with no manufacturer data behind it. Stay at 920 KV on a 1045, and do not move to a larger propeller or a 5S or 6S pack without Holybro's thrust table for that combination.

Propeller direction. ArduPilot's Quad X layout spins motors 1 (front right) and 2 (rear left) counter-clockwise, and motors 3 (front left) and 4 (rear right) clockwise. Fit each propeller by the direction marked on it. Check every motor's position and direction with the motor test in Mission Planner or QGroundControl, with the propellers off, before the first flight.

ESC current. In hover each motor draws about 3.5 A (worked below), against a 20 A rating. At full throttle the current comes from the manufacturer's thrust table for this motor and propeller at 4S; ask us for it with your quote.

Weight, thrust and flight time

Start from the all-up weight. These are the figures we use; weigh your parts as they arrive and correct them.

Thrust margin. A camera or sensor platform wants at least 2:1: full-throttle thrust at least twice the weight. At 1,500 g that is 750 g per motor, and about 800 g per motor with the Pi. Holybro's listing for the kit quotes a payload of 1.5 kg without the battery at 70% throttle, which puts this build well inside the propulsion's capacity. Confirm it against the thrust table.

Hover power. Momentum theory gives the ideal power a rotor needs to hover, P = √(T³ ÷ 2ρA), where T is each rotor's thrust in newtons, ρ is air density (1.2 kg/m³ near sea level) and A is the propeller's disc area (0.0507 m² for a 10-inch propeller). We divide by a figure of merit of 0.5 for the propeller and 0.78 for the motor and ESC, then add the electronics.

At 1,500 g: T = 1.5 × 9.81 ÷ 4 = 3.68 N per rotor, ideal power 20.2 W, electrical power 20.2 ÷ 0.5 ÷ 0.78 = 51.9 W per motor, 208 W for four, and 213 W with 5 W for the autopilot, GPS and radios.

The pack holds 14.8 V × 5 Ah = 74 Wh, and we plan on using 80% of it, 59 Wh. The Pi case adds 7 W for the Pi itself. These are estimates from assumed efficiencies: after the first flights, take the average hover current from the log, redo the sum, and trust your figure over ours. ArduPilot also learns the hover throttle itself and stores it as MOT_THST_HOVER.

Power: battery, power module and charger

Battery. Holybro recommends a 4S LiPo of 3,000 to 5,000 mAh, rated 20C or better, with an XT60, for this frame, so your 5,000 mAh pack is at the top of the range. A 20C rating on 5 Ah is 100 A, above the four ESCs' combined 80 A, so the pack is not the limit. Mount it on the frame's battery rails and slide it until the aircraft balances on the centre of the frame.

Power module. The PM02 V3 goes in line between the battery and the frame's power board, and its 6-pin cable plugs into the Pixhawk's POWER1 port. It powers the autopilot at 5.2 V and reports voltage and current as analog signals, so set ArduPilot's BATT_MONITOR to 4 (analog voltage and current), load Holybro's calibration values for it, and then check the voltage against a meter. It is rated at 60 A continuous, four times the hover current. Keep the sustained current within the PDB's 60 A continuous rating too: the log will show your real peak.

Charger. Any balance charger that handles 4S LiPo at 5 A or more (about 85 W at 16.8 V) charges the pack at 1C in about an hour. Choose one with a storage mode, which leaves the cells at about 3.8 V each for storage. Charge in a LiPo bag, on a non-flammable surface, and never leave it unattended.

The radio links: RC and telemetry

ArduPilot's failsafes assume a pilot can take control, so the aircraft needs an RC link even if it will fly missions on its own.

• RC receiver. The Holybro Zephyr ELRS Gemini X is an ExpressLRS receiver. It outputs CRSF, a serial protocol, so it connects to a serial port, not to the Pixhawk's RC IN, which takes PPM and SBUS.
• RC transmitter. Any transmitter with an ExpressLRS 2.4 GHz module and at least eight channels. Flash the transmitter and receiver to the same ExpressLRS major version, set the same binding phrase on both, and use 2.4 GHz unless you have confirmed that another band is allowed.
• Telemetry. The kit's SiK V3 radio links the Pixhawk to a laptop running Mission Planner or QGroundControl, one unit on the aircraft and one at the ground station. The 433 MHz and 915 MHz versions are separate kits and cannot talk to each other. Confirm which band and power you may use before ordering; our telemetry radio guide covers the choice.

Wiring the Pixhawk 6C

Every Pixhawk 6C output drives ordinary PWM, and the FMU outputs (marked AUX) can also drive DShot. For the first flights, use PWM on MAIN 1–4 and run ArduPilot's ESC calibration: it is the simplest route and the one most documentation assumes. Once the aircraft flies well you can move the four signal leads to AUX 1–4 and switch them to DShot, which needs no calibration. DShot outputs work in groups, and every output in a group must use the same protocol. Our ESC guide explains the protocols.

Mount the Pixhawk at the centre of the frame, arrow forward, on the damping pads. Put the GPS on its mast, as far as it will go from the power board and battery leads, because the compass reads their current as a heading error.

ArduPilot set-up, in order

1. Install ArduCopter on the Pixhawk 6C from Mission Planner or QGroundControl.
2. Set FRAME_CLASS = 1 (Quad) and FRAME_TYPE = 1 (X).
3. Run Mission Planner's initial tune parameters for a 10-inch propeller on 4S, which sets the starting filters and limits for an aircraft of this size.
4. Calibrate the accelerometers, then the compass. Keep the M10's external compass as the first compass, and turn off the Pixhawk's internal one if calibration shows it is disturbed by the power wiring.
5. Set up the receiver on TELEM3, calibrate the radio, and put the flight modes on a switch: Stabilize, AltHold and Loiter to start.
6. Set up the power module and calibrate the ESCs. Run the motor test with the propellers off and check each motor's position and direction.
7. Set the failsafes: RC loss (FS_THR_ENABLE) and ground-station loss (FS_GCS_ENABLE) to return to launch; a low-battery action (BATT_LOW_VOLT, BATT_FS_LOW_ACT) to return to launch and a critical action (BATT_CRT_VOLT, BATT_FS_CRT_ACT) to land. About 3.6 V per cell (14.4 V) for low and 3.5 V per cell (14.0 V) for critical are reasonable starting points; adjust them from your logs. Turn on the geofence (FENCE_ENABLE) with a maximum altitude and radius.
8. The M10's safety switch must be pressed before the motors will arm, unless you turn that requirement off in the board parameters.
9. Fit the propellers and make the first hover in Stabilize, low and in open space. Then check the log: ArduPilot's guidance is that vibration below 30 m/s² is normally fine, and that above 60 m/s² altitude and position hold suffer.
10. Use a hover log to set the harmonic notch filter. With these ESCs, run it in throttle-based mode. Then run AutoTune on a calm day.

Adding the Raspberry Pi 5 later

The plan that keeps the aircraft safe is simple: ArduPilot flies and holds the failsafes, and the Pi only sends commands. If a Python script crashes, the aircraft carries on in its last mode or returns home.

• Link. Wire the Pi's GPIO serial port to TELEM2: the Pi's TX to the Pixhawk's RX, RX to TX, and a common ground. Both use 3.3 V serial logic, so no level shifter is needed. Do not connect the TELEM2 port's 5 V pin to the Pi. In ArduPilot set SERIAL2_PROTOCOL = 2 (MAVLink 2) and SERIAL2_BAUD = 921. On the Pi, turn off the serial login console, turn on the serial port, and open /dev/serial0 at 921,600 baud from pymavlink or MAVSDK.
• Power. Feed the Pi from its own 5 V, 5 A regulator (a BEC) wired from the battery. The power module's 5 V output is sized for the autopilot, and a Pi 5 under load will pull it down. A Pi 5 fed through its GPIO pins or without USB power delivery limits its USB ports' current by default; if a camera or other device needs more, raise the limit in its configuration.
• Control. Fly to the area in AUTO or Loiter, switch to GUIDED from the script, send position or velocity targets, and hand back with RTL or LAND. Keep a transmitter switch that takes the aircraft back from the script at any moment.
• Space. Mount the Pi on the lower plate or a rail under the frame, clear of the propellers and away from the GPS mast.

Our companion computer guide covers the bench tests to run before the first flight with the Pi on board. If the Pi grows into cameras and heavier payloads, the X500 V2 has the same avionics and more room.

If you must build on an F450 frame

Keep the avionics exactly as above, bought one by one: a Pixhawk 6C, a PM02 V3, an M10 GPS, two SiK V3 radios of the same band, and the ELRS receiver. The second parts list below has them, with its own add-to-cart button. Source the F450 frame, four 2212 or 2216 motors of about 920 KV rated for 4S with a 10-inch propeller, four ESCs rated for 4S with at least 20% current margin over the motor's maximum, and 1045 propellers. Take the motor's maximum current from its maker's thrust table at 4S with a 1045, not from the listing's headline figure. The PM02 V3 goes between the battery and the F450's power plate, and the ESC power leads are soldered to the plate.

Compare the two totals below before you decide. Through the cart, the avionics alone come to less than the development kit, because the bulk discount is larger on separate parts. So the F450 route saves money if the frame, motors, ESCs and propellers cost you less than the difference. What the kit gives you for that difference is propulsion matched and documented by one manufacturer, a power board that needs no soldering, and one packing list to check. We recommend the kit for a first build and for anyone who needs the aircraft flying quickly; the F450 route suits a team that already has a trusted source for the propulsion.

Before you fly in India

Ready to fly at about 1.5 kg, this aircraft is a micro drone under the Drone Rules, 2021 (250 g to 2 kg). Rule 42 exempts research and testing by educational institutions recognised by the central government, within their premises or in a green zone. Outside that, check the registration and remote pilot requirements for a micro drone, and look at the Digital Sky airspace map before flying.

Sources.

• Frame, wheelbase, mass, motors, ESCs, propellers and integrated PDB rating of the S500 V2 from Holybro's S500 V2 kits page; development kit contents, recommended battery and quoted payload from Holybro's S500 V2 development kit page (accessed 2026-09-26)
• Compass, safety switch, buzzer, connector and mass of the M10 GPS from Holybro's M10 GPS page (accessed 2026-09-26)
• Input range, current rating and output of the PM02 V3 from Holybro's product page (accessed 2026-09-23)
• Pixhawk 6C outputs, DShot on the FMU outputs and output groups from ArduPilot: Pixhawk 6C (accessed 2026-09-26)
• Motor order and direction from ArduPilot: connect ESCs and motors, ESC calibration from ArduPilot: ESC calibration, DShot from ArduPilot: DShot ESCs, and the harmonic notch from ArduPilot: harmonic notch filtering (accessed 2026-09-26)
• Companion computer serial settings from ArduPilot: communicating with a Raspberry Pi via MAVLink, and vibration limits from ArduPilot: measuring vibration (accessed 2026-09-26)
• Drone categories and the R&D exemption from the Drone Rules, 2021 backgrounder published by PIB.
• Hover power from momentum theory, as set out in J. G. Leishman, Principles of Helicopter Aerodynamics. The battery mass, wiring allowance, figure of merit, motor efficiency and Raspberry Pi power are our assumptions, not measurements. The 28% figure uses the approximation that propeller power rises with the cube of its speed.

Published 26 September 2026. Corrections to sales@vebixautomation.com.

Want the whole set quoted?

Add the list to your cart and send it, or send us the list as it is. We will confirm the kit's packing list and the telemetry band in writing and reply with a quotation you can raise a purchase order against. Ask for a quote.