Control N1

Meet Control N1. Our smallest, lightest, and most versatile AutoPilot Module. At just 17.6mm × 28mm and 2.3g, this tiny powerhouse brings full ArduPilot and PX4 flight control to even the most space and weight constrained designs yet remains a cost effective solution.

• Ultra-Compact & Feather-Light - Barely bigger than a stamp — 17.6×28mm and under 2.7g -, the N1 integrates into small UAVs, ROVs, UUVs, and custom robotics platforms without compromise. Forget about frame resonances hitting the same resonant frequency as your autopilot.
• Based on the industry standard Cortex-M7 architecture H7 MCU.
• Single-Sided design - We’ve engineered the entire autopilot onto a single sided PCB, minimizing board area and assembly complexity.
• Flexible and Future-Proof board to board interface - Designed with the future in mind, our board footprint –with a connector type similar to a Raspberry Pi compute module–, exposes extra pins so you can reuse all your existing carrier/main boards whenever new hardware is available.
• Best in class sensor selection - We didn’t pick components on paper alone. Extensive testing and experience determine our picks. Expect performance ahead of the curve, especially with the thermal compensation option.
• Affordable, US Made Excellence - Proudly designed and manufactured in the USA, the N1 undercuts bulkier, heavier and more expensive competitors while delivering premium flight control features. We don’t cut corners where people can’t see, we only use Tier 1 component brands.
• Open source ecosystem - As our core tradition, we offer full compatibility with ArduPilot and PX4 communities means instant access to mature firmware, mission-planning tools, and global support.

A description of the board’s connectors placement is provided in the following drawing, a PDF version is available in the downloads section.

Control N1 uses a new socket specification which comprises 140 pins split into 3 DF40 type connectors (Hirose). We are commited to supporting this footprint in future releases.

A comprehensive pinout table is available below. The table follows the physical layout of the connectors so there are two pins per row. If you are using KiCad to capture your design, you can download the template project from our downloads section.

The serial ports are grouped into SG1, SG2, SG3, SG4, SG5, SG6, and SG7. These are arbitrary choices, but match firmware definitions. Reference documents will use these names.

Install the board on its carrier and connect via USB to start configuring parameters and connecting peripherals.

Boards currently ship with ArduCopter-master until the stable release is available. If you wish to switch to any other firmware, visit our firmware update guide or use our new flash tool.

The bootloader provides interoperability with PX4 as well, so any ground control software should be able to detect it and load firmware adequately. There is no need to change the bootloader if you want to flash PX4.

We encourage all customers to run the latest indicated version available in the Compatibility table below for your preferred flight stack.

The 3DR Control N1 is compatible with the following firmware:

• Copter
• Plane
• Rover

• Multivehicle type

Some additional resources:

• First Time Setup
• CAN Bus Setup
• Advanced Configuration

If you’d like to see N1 support from another flight stack let us know!