Flight Controller Summary

A concise product-facing overview of the current Universal Controls STM32H743 flight-controller hardware.

Flight Controller Board

The board is a custom STM32H743-based flight-controller prototype for quadrotor control development, bench testing, estimator tuning, and future integration with standard drone peripherals.

The intended product direction is a developer kit: flight-controller PCB, firmware, Python tuning app, documentation, and a 3D-printable frame/teststand ecosystem.

Universal Controls flight controller hardware

Core Hardware

BlockPart / functionNotes
MCUSTM32H743VIT6Main flight-control MCU.
IMUICM-20948 accelerometer, gyro, magnetometerMain onboard inertial sensor for minimal flight mode.
IMU level shifting74LVC1T45 level shiftersBetween STM32 and 1.8 V IMU domain.
Main 3.3 V regulatorLM2675MX-3.3/NOPBMain 3.3 V board supply. Final load rating still needs review.
Additional 5 V regulator5 V peripheral supply regulatorTo power 5 V peripherals.
IMU 1.8 V LDOXC6206P182MRLocal 1.8 V supply for the IMU domain.
CAN transceiverSN65HVD230DRElectrical interface for future DroneCAN work.
Secure elementATECC608A-SSHDA-TPresent on board; firmware use is still TBD.

Interfaces and Supported Peripherals

ESC Outputs

Four PWM signal outputs for external ESCs. ESC motor current is not routed through the flight controller.

UART Interfaces

There are two UART interfaces. UART interface 1 is intended for the receiver. UART interface 2 depends on the selected flight mode and can be used for telemetry, bench connection, MAVLink/QGroundControl, or another supported serial role.

GPS / Magnetometer

The GPS interface is aimed at M10-style 10-pin GPS/magnetometer connections, such as Holybro M10 10-pin modules.

I2C Expansion

Shared I2C bus exposed on 3.3 V and 5 V supply headers. Logic-level compatibility must be documented per device.

DroneCAN

CANH/CANL/GND through onboard transceiver for future DroneCAN experiments.

Debug / Programming

SWD/SWO and serial debug remain central for firmware development, recovery, and testbench work.

PCB

ParameterValue
Copper layers2 layers: F.Cu and B.Cu
Board thickness1.6 mm
Approx board size75.43 mm x 53.00 mm
Board outlineRectangular prototype board