How to build the YMFC-32 GPS hold quadcopter - With free Arduino code and schematics 

No more Netflix, only RU-vid movies about the possibilities of the STM32 by Joop Brokking. Really amazing job. The last one was even fun to watch, because of the fun. Haha, keeps your mind in control to understand it all. Thank you again for this learning process.

Finally! You did it ... even you could not! You yourself one of the best when it comes to low cost drones! God bless your intelligence and charity Joop! A big hug!

You are really amazing. That word gets thrown around too much, but I am truly amazed. I just finished the YMFC-AL. I wanted to pay you, so I clicked the donate link only to find you're even more of an awesome dude than I thought.

Hi, I have built your YMFC-AL last year. You are doing such a great job. Thank you.

Thanks for all your hard work Joop! I have been looking forward to seeing the outcome of your 32 bit project. Your video series has been such an excellent learning tool.

A great respect for a person like you who share his time and knowledge to those who wish to learn but can't have the enough time to learn it in school, don't have enough money to have things and don't have a good teacher but only the internet. I don't have any background in education about computer programming back in the days but with a person like you I can understand now at least a bit about programming like arduino. Thanks a lot and keep up the good work.

Thank you for your work! I used it to build a self flying drone for my scool project and got rewardet with the best grade possible. The documentation allowed three 18 year olds to develope an own variant of your quadcopter, which confirms this series value. Our formal goal was to build a "pollination" drohne and endet up with a quadcopter that tilts to a circle. Nevertheless i am proud on the outcome and thankful for your help. I am just at the beginning of learning and wish to continue. Thanks for making the beginning as smooth as possible :) ~Tim

Your project is getting an amazing shape. So much to learn from these videos. Thank you!

Finally! You did it ... God bless your intelligence and charity Joop! A big hug!

Your videos are quite impressive and the amount of details shown on them is amazing. Congratulations and thanks a lot for sharing.

Thanks for releasing this. Just put your previous YMFC-32 together and I really like it!!!

Thank you for all the effort and time Mr. Brokking.

Finally!!! You are awesome. You inspired me since 2016, and have changed the course of my life and interest significantly. Thank you so much for inspiring people with such great projects. :)

Thank you for all your hard work and dedication. Your work is much appreciated and i hope you continue to improve on the project (adding camera ect..).

Thanks a lot for all the work you have put into making these videos. Really appreciated.

Thank you very much! And Goodluck for you, Mr. Brokking!

You are a great master. Thank you from spain for your great job. I will construct your model for sure.

The great JOOP BROOKING......you are the best

These videos are amazing !!! A nice feature would be to detect the % of battery left. If the battery reaches a certain lvl, the drone makes a save auto landing. Good for if you lose control of the drone high up. -justr wait for the battery to run out and it making a self land on flat and open space with some juice to spare. Also a nice feature would be a way to clap your hands or (button) and then open your palm, so that the drone finds it's way to your hand to make a landing on.

Honnestly Mr Joob, we must all pay you back for all the videos and the hardwork u made,

Great Project, Well explained. I am just starting on the project to get upto this point but i was thinking of adding more sensors like ultra sonic and crash prevention sensors, Camera and charging dock where as the unit can land and recharge, possibly hopps from dock to dock, wireless relay between them etc. and lighting like on an aircraft etc. Also a weather dome would be good to protect the electronics from the rain. My thoughts where to set up docks on several roofs of my family that live several miles apart. The other thing i wanted to do was to be able to sit at home and set GPS coordinates to the drone and be able to see information via its camera. Other ideas i had where to add Audio alerts and small item evasion like cables and birds etc. Another good one would be to shield the blades as this drone looks like it can do some serious damage. I am just spitting out ideas for anyone to come up with. I am working on building a landing pad outside my window (I am on the 4th floor) and have it alert me that it has arrived. Maybe even tapping on my window lol. Keep up the good work.

Awesome project! I learn a lot with your videos with this project. What is the maximum altitude the drone can obtain and hold?

This is an amazing project! I learn a lot. I hope you still read the comments now and then....I have a question: in the video there is a third, i think multicolor led in the tail of the quadcopter. i can't find it annywhere in the scematics. I asume it is a 2 color led instead of the green and red one on the PCB? I don't see them working anymore in the video. Again... amazing work. Thanks for sharing.

Finaly the code and all the configs. Lets burn the oil of midnight . Joop to convert the configs and test sketch to Processing would be another great job. Congratulations.

Thank you for this great project !!

Well explanation and you are the god of drones. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.

yeah , Finally I made it. and It is flying robust...you are just great...I hope i could say thanks to you.. Many many love from Bangladesh.....

I wonder the phantom 4 pro have stereo vision sensor would this processor is that much fast to able to catch the motion and can be implemented in your ymfc autonomous flight controller?

Finally. Thanks a lot for good explanition . Well done

Great video! Will a more advanced flight controller work with your code? Or just the YMFC-32 board?

Thank you so much for share your valuable knowledge with us!! recently I made a flying wing, is your code is possible to use for fixed-wing airplanes? or do you have any suitable code for such an application?

Great project, decided to give it a go as I have a few of the exact same ST32 boards looking for work... One question, I've gone for a different transmitter/receiver setup but they do support CPPM so they should work right? Just to add (after reading some comments), the video and your site detail everything necessary to build the project... I very much appreciate all the hard work...

Really love the intro the set the curve.

Hello, What should I change to use the program on a radio in mode 1? thank you

Had a problem with two different GPS/compass modules that I tried. The first was identical to the one you used. To cut a very long story short, I got both to work by installing 4.7k pull resistors on the I2C connections. That sorted the compass problem. I built your circuit without the use of an FTDI adapter so that I could program the STM32 directly via USB but with the GPS/HMC module connected to the serial ports A2 and A3, I could not connect to the GPS. That was solved by changing 'Serial1' to 'Serial2' in your code. This was all done on the breadboard, just hope it works when built.

I have a question about the power supply in your YMFC Al drone. If you are using lipo 3s 30c, its max output voltage is 12.6V which is more than the max input voltage rating for Arduino UNO. So, how did you manage it? What can I do to prevent it from damaging my Arduino UNO.

As always Joop, Hats off🙌🙌🙌

Great videos. I made this project and even made a PCB board for it. I also made a version using a Maple Mini (since I was having difficulty programming the Blue Pill Boards). Problem is that neither version will consistently display the data on the serial monitor when running the setup program. I have tried on Windows XP, 7, and 10 machines with little success. And when I do see it on the Serial Monitor, sometime it doesn't move to the screen to test the functions as if it isn't communicating with the receiver (even though the receiver is connected and in PPM mode). All pathways on the board check out with continuity test and are in agreement with your schematic. I've tried many boards. Any ideas? Should I use a MacBook?

Hi Sir, can we use two GPS to improve the positioning accuracy to 50cm?

Hey Joop,Thanks for your excellent videos.I built a YMFC-AL quadcopter based on Arduino Uno and works fine, but I have problems with the new one based on YMFC-32 video tutorials.I have checked all the hardware functions as explained in the video uploading the hardware test program to the STM32. During startup and flight the quadcopter is extremely unstable. I changed PID settings but this behavior remains. Any idea about it? and thank you again for this learning job.

Thanks for video sir I have one question If we used NRF24l01 as tx and rx instead of ready to run tx and rx then what change in programming. Plz help me .give suggestions To build drone tx and rx using arduino nano,HC05 and NRF24l01

That's a wonderful project. Thanks for your labors. Can you prepare a user manuel in simply sape to use for this project? Thanks...

Hi Joop, Thank You for the great detailed build of this quadcopter. Have watched and read your build details for several hours now. Am going to start purchasing components to build identical setup. Have learned much electronics and getting fascinated by this. Question: Shouldn't it be possible to get a very rough idea once your build is complete, to do a bench test,, , or outside test, drone weighted down of course to calculate how much flight time you are going to have with say a 3000mah battery , by simply doing a current draw with a multimeter inline with props running say 50% power for maybe 5 minutes ,just to get a balllpark figure? I realize there is nothing like 'real world' figures,but is my theory , way off? I am going to add camera for videoing capabilities. Is there any way possible to get 25 minutes flight time out of a drone this big? Thanks again. Barry

you seems like get a lot of comments about too complicated. But!! please doing these video! I've learnt so much from these videos!! Love ya

Why is the MS5611 barometer not listed with the other components in the bill of materials for the flight controller? Or is it listed elsewhere and I have just over looked it?

FANTASTIC!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

Hi Joop, Is it possible to connect to/use the inbuilt telemetry of a Taranis 9xd plus? I'd love to start this build but it'd be a waste of time if I had to build the telemetry... Love your channel - loads of new info! :D

You're incredible man.Thanks in advanced

Hi! how i can use my futaba reciever to your proyect? the PPM converter doesnt work with futaba, how we can fixed?

thank you brother ,you are not selfish like the other.this really helps us.

while watching your video I wonder that why don't you use the receiver to power the arduino? I mean battery connect to esc then esc connect to receiver from there we can drawn the power out without using any resistor? Hope you answer me

Awesome videos , keep up the great work , i would like to ask where can i find the code for the normal STM32 quadcopter ? not the autonomous , i checked your website but on the download section for the normal stm quadcopter there is no code zip file . Thank you

So many things to learn ... Great project, wonderfull sharing

thanks very much for sharing your project. I've learnt a lot from your videos thanks a lot.

nice work, a nice feature would be to add Esp8266 NodeMCU (wifi) and SD card. which would make storing various bit of data like PID, telemetry, ect. In fact once I get started on making this I'll add it, It looks like a great project to make.

*Hey Joop It's really lovely project.*

this telemetry system will work also on *FLIP32* flight controller OR *NAZA32* please must reply

what are the stuffs required for an altitude hold

Is the orientation of the compass relative to the quadcopter (like with the accelerometer) relevant? Or does it just need to be flat / horizontal? Could you please link to some information about setting up the Flysky transmitter (and receiver) for this particular drone , this would be extremely useful! Thanks for your countless hours of work and dedication!

hey can you please make a ppm library for the stm32duino. i cant find one anywhere.

thank you so much, I really appreciate your work, sir!

Sir can u please make a video on how to create serial to i2c module for GPS which is compatible with multiwii

Really like your project a lot Joop! Thank for sharing knowledge.

Has the drone unit been assembled so where can I get it, how much does it cost?

Must I use this framework for my drone

Hello Joop When I upload the test program to stm32 and then open the serial monitor, nothing appears on the serial monitor. What is the problem??

Thank you sooo much sir for all the knowledge

Sir your project and videos are amazing also I have seen your ymfc al quadcopter and want to but also I can't fly it because I don't know how to control it ,in your website I have seen always to take off after turning it on I also do the same but still my drone at the lowest throttle starts flying or sometimes it remains on ground but goes here and there please help also can I use neo 6m in this project of this video Thanking you

Can this quad control Autonomous with raspberry pi with some commands instead of the transmitter and remote.....

thanks bro this what I'm looking for, why not put on git or another subversion bro?

Hi Joop, I have built up the first YMFC-32 self leveling and fly's well. Now I have start on the GPS model hope to have finish soon, will let you know how it goes. By the one I have design my own PCB for the latest GPS drone project that you have completed and if anyone wants a free sample PCB let me know. Your projects are excellent well done.

please suggest alternate of ACP220 or can we use NRF24L01?

Joop, many thanks for your splendid work, once again !! Just a little question about the LEDs. In the video (@7:55), we see three leds, a green and a red on top of the board and a (multicolor) led on the side. This led does not appear in the schematics.... Did you replace the red and green led by one multi/bi-coloured ?

Hi Joop, started building this version and all looks good. With everything but the esc connected - just on test board - I don't have the Telemetry coming in... Is there a way tot test the telemetry procedure ? Many thanks

I have all the parts put together to build this excluding the electronics. However I will be using FrSky SBUS so how can I post my changes to your code? I was expecting a github repo, not a zip file. Also I'm in the U.S. so have ordered some 915mhz UART comm's Lora modules to use instead of the APC220, so I will make changes to the telemetry code also.

Hi, Joop. Nice project. Thank's for shared. I would like to know if there are big change in the project if i put a Neo-6m + a module hmc5883l?

Can you intergrate this design with a NAZA M Lite Flight controller?

Does it have a return home feature?

Great job! You said this drone is autonomous and have a mode called "GPS Hold". So, can I set a route and, in this mode, the drone will fly autonomous following the commands that I have set previously?

Thank you a lot for sharing this amazing project and code, but I almost shat in my pants when you started the drone next to your hand without removing the propellers first at 7:15

can i use l3d4200 instead of mpu 6050

Great job , and what is the next? I recommend that an optimised PCB can be designed , it will effect flight time I think . Do you think add something more? Or create a community to improve with contributions like betaflight?

Hi Joop Brokking. I start working with Arduino a month ago. I'm an IT guy that worked on Linux and window servers. Today I hand change control for the data center. I took programming in college a long time ago. Questions: I want to build my quad copter. I watched your video YMFC-AL and taught you did a great job but then I saw this video YMFC-32 GPS & Return to Home. My main goal is to get back to coding, improve the code and have fun flying the drone. Down the road I would like to make a 5 inch racing drone. So do you still recommend making this YMFC-32 or is there something better? If I get slightly higher speed motors does this impact your code? How do you know how much power is required to purchase the correct battery? Any books or sites you recommend on obtain knowledge so I don't waste time and money. Thank you, Hope you continue making video... Miguel

Can I do this to Ardupilot and fs i6?

Sir please help me , the ms5611 sensor and compass is not working and other things are giving good output. It's my humble request that please recheck the setup programme ,if nothing is wrong then , I will really greatful to you if u give me the solution to my problem. I don't know why the pc13 led starts blinking when I check compass and barometric sensor. Thank you

Can you please tell what is the KV rating of motors, esc current rating and propeller size that you have used?

Did you bought that frame or did you print it ?

Can i use Atmel Controller?

Can I use Arduino uno instead of stm 32?

Joop sir, you are a great person...

hi joop, thank you for awesome serials videos. i learned a lot from them, it takes my hat off. but here has one question, my RC not supported PPM mode sending to my receiver, so can i use bonding other PINs to solve this problem? thank you again!

Hi joop,you have done exceptional work you, deserve congratulations. I want to ask you this, in your code you have set the limit of the pid output in 400. How does this value came up?With what criteria was chosen?This value has to do with angular velocity,with transmitter,with what? How do we define this limit? Thanks.

I see you use "blue pill' STM board. Do you have 128 or 64kB of FLASH? Do you ever encountered problems with hardware USB with this board? I just got one and i wonder what is actual flash memory capacity. Bootloader reports 128kB while various resources over the internet specify either 64 or 128 kByte. I also heard about problems with wrong USB resistors on those boards, mine seems to be fine when using hardware USB.

How to make your drone ELRS compatible?

Thank you for sharing. And Godspeed

Por favor alguém sabe se dá para usar arduíno uno no lugar do stm32? Dês de já obrigado?

Please reply , can I make my non gps drone to gps drone?????

love the video

Hey, I think telemetry is just for display purpose, can we make it without apc220 telemetry module?

Can we replace stm32 with arduino nano ?