About eight years ago while attending NAB Show, the massive industry event hosted by the National Association of Broadcasters, I noticed a considerable amount of floor space dedicated to showing off the latest camera-equipped drones. Marketed then as a more cost-effective way for cinematographers to capture aerial footage, these quadcopters were still priced significantly out of reach for casual users.

But like any new technology, as it developed it became more accessible. Over the last few years in particular, drones have gained popularity in large part because of the quality of the cameras they are being outfitted with and the lengths manufacturers are going to in order to make them easier to fly (I bought a mini quadcopter last winter and promptly flew it into a tree).

This week Xiaomi announced its Mi Drone, an exciting development for potential drone customers given the company’s reputation for balancing sophisticated design and affordability.

Two important design considerations when developing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are precise motor control and small form factor and Xiaomi is using our C8051 F85x 8-bit microcontroller, joining a growing number of drone manufacturers that like its combination of fast PWM modulation and small footprint.

In addition to the highly-integrated, AEC-Q100 qualified MCUs, we offer a reference design that has everything you need to start a motor spinning in five minutes or less.

The C8051F850 Motor Control Reference Design  includes a 12-bit ADC, precision internal reference voltage, two with programmable hysteresis, and built-in hardware shutdown capability independent PWM channels.

The C8051F850 Motor Control Reference Design includes:

• C8051F850 MCU Motor Control Board
• Powertrain Board
• Motor Mount Board with Turnigy 3800 kV Series Outrunner Motor
• USB Cable
• Power Supply
• World Wide Plug Adaptors
• Quick Start Guide

We also have a Development Kit for the C8051 F85x family that provides everything needed to evaluate hardware and develop code, including a C8051F850 MCU board, wall-mounted power supply, USB cable and quick-start guide.