M5Stack Launches Its M5Stamp Fly Mini-Drone Kit, with an AtomS3-Powered Joystick to Boot
$50 drone is packed with sensors, and links over Wi-Fi to the joystick using Espressif's ESP-NOW protocol for easy remote control.
Embedded and hobbyist electronics specialist M5Stack has taken a leap into the drone market with the M5Stamp Fly, an ultra-compact quadcopter-format drone powered by the company's StampS3 Espressif ESP32-S3-based microcontroller board — and it's got an AtomS3-powered joystick to go with it.
"M5Stamp Fly is a programmable open-source quadcopter kit featuring the StampS3 as the main controller," M5Stack explains of its latest launch. "Preloaded with debugging firmware, the Stamp Fly can be controlled using an Atom Joystick via the ESP-NOW protocol. Users can choose between automatic and manual modes, allowing for easy implementation of functions like precise hovering and flips."
The compact StampS3 microcontroller board at the heart of the new drone isn't the only piece of electronics on-board: the framework, positioned between four small rotors, includes a Bosch Sensortec BMI270 six-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU), a BMM150 three-axis magnetometer, and a BMP280 barometric pressure sensor.
There's also a PixArt PMW3901MB-TXQT optical flow sensor on the drone, along with a pair of STMicroelectronics VL53L3 time-of-flight (ToF) distance sensors. There's an on-board buzzer and WS2812 RGB LEDs, plus a 300mAh battery that powers the electronics through a Texas Instruments INA3221AIRGVR for current and voltage monitoring — and if you need more, there are two Grove connectors on board for additional sensors or other hardware.
The drone is primarily designed for control using the M5Atom Joystick, a companion product powered by the AtomS3 microcontroller with an STMicro STM32 co-processor on board. Two five-way Hall-effect thumbsticks provide control, with an additional two shoulder buttons, while a pair of on-board battery sockets make it a wholly portable device — though only one 300mAh battery is included in the pack. The controller links to the drone via Wi-Fi, using Espressif's in-house ESP-NOW protocol.
The M5Stamp Fly is now available to order on the M5Stack store at $49.95; the M5Atom Joystick is listed at $29.95, but was showing as out of stock at the time of writing.