A survey of UAV hardware selection

Abstract Applications concerning unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have increased in recent years, mainly due to simple configuration, user-friendly navigation, and small weight and size. They are utilized and adopted within many contexts and services, such as mapping, construction inspection and surveillance, and search and rescue (SAR), changing the business perspective. Among different types of UAVs, multicopters or rotary-wing aircraft are the most popular, based on their vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) abilities, maneuverability, low cost, and easy deployment. Although there are many multicopter models available on the market, the prospect of building a custom one is becoming increasingly attractive since there is a variety of electronic parts to choose from. However, given that certain operations require special equipment for the effective operation of the UAV, the selection of the appropriate hardware parts is not an easy task. In this paper, a survey is presented concerning multicopter basic parts. For these parts, the most important methods are presented for calculating critical parameters in order for the total system to operate efficiently according to requirements. Finally, for critical application areas, a set of basic components is suggested for the multicopters’ efficient usage.