Development Drone for PX4 GPS-Denied Navigation and Obstacle Avoidance - VOXL m500
Development Drone for PX4 GPS-Denied Navigation and Obstacle Avoidance - VOXL m500
Development Drone Built in USA
Develop PX4 autonomous flight quickly with this open and fully programmable bind and fly development drone. This is the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ Development Drone you have been looking for! Our m500 drone is built from the popular s500 hobby kit and includes a Snapdragon™-based VOXL Flight Deck configured and tested for GPS-based autonomous flight and indoor GPS-denied navigation. Obstacle avoidance stereo cameras come mounted and calibrated. This is a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon reference drone, ready for advanced autonomy development. Our goal with the m500 is to get developers up and running on VOXL® quickly, so they can build their next great sUAS applications!
Note: The m500 typically ships within 10 business days of order.
Overview

State-of-the-Art Computer Vision Development Features
Qualcomm Snapdragon-based VOXL Flight companion computer and PX4 flight controller in a single PCB for computer vision, navigation, obstacle avoidance. VOXL is an evolution of the Qualcomm Flight Pro architecture.
Mounted and calibrated stereo sensors for depth mapping and obstacle avoidance
Mounted and calibrated tracking sensor for VIO and GPS-denied navigation
Spekrum RC satellite receiver for remote control
Flying Deep Learning/AI
The VOXL supports TensorFlow Lite for real-time AI on a drone

Technical Details
There are 3 variants of the m500 available:
- m500 with VOXL Flight. VOXL obstacle avoidance, GPS-denied navigation and PX4.
- m500 with VOXL Flight and Gimbal. VOXL obstacle avoidance, GPS-denied navigation and PX4 paired with an off the shelf gimbal for camera stabilization. Camera not included.
- m500 Core - Flight Core only, no VOXL. This is a ready to fly PX4 development drone with no computer vision capabilities.
Developers can find comprehensive details on building a developer drone at docs.modalai.com
You can find the m500 Datasheet directly.
What is Included?
A fully flight tested m500 drone as shown in pictures, except for battery and RC transmitter. Including:
- s500 frame customized with VOXL Flight Deck
- Motors, propellers, ESCs
- GPS+Mag
- 4k image sensor, stereo sensors, tracking sensor that are installed, vibration dampened, mounted, calibrated and tested
Not Included
- Spektrum RC transmitter (e.g. SPM8000 or SPMR8000)
- LiPo Battery (recommended - select XT60 connector)
Additional Accessories
- VOXL USB Expansion, Debug Serial and Fastboot
- VOXL LTE Cellular Add-on with USB Hub
- VOXL Microhard Modem Add-on with USB Hub
User's Guides
Walk-through Video
m500 Model Numbers
VOXL-M500-DK-R2-1
|
Uses the VOXL-Flight board, 4" landing gear |
VOXL-M500-DK-R2-G1-1
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adds 3-axis camera gimbal, 8" landing gear |
More Details
Required components sold separately:
- Spektrum RC transmitter (e.g. SPM8000 or SPMR8000)
- LiPo Battery (recommended - select XT60 connector)
HS Code: 8802.11.00.14
* All of the PCBAs are designed and manufactured in the US. The m500 is assembled and flight tested in San Diego, CA. Some sub-assembly components come from China. contact@modalai.com for questions.