Platform Variant Specifications

Summary¶

After reading this document, the evaluator or architect can understand the technical differentiators between all five libdrone variants and select the correct platform for their application. Each variant has a dedicated concept atom — this skeleton provides comparative context and routes to the right depth. For the procurement decision itself, read → platform-selection first.

Concept¶

The family architecture¶

All libdrone variants share a design philosophy: open hardware, FOSS firmware, EU-origin components where possible, zero cloud dependency, field-repairable. What varies is frame geometry, motor scale, battery chemistry, flight system, and primary mission profile.

The variants are not a product line — they are a platform family. An institution operating Pro and Bandit benefits from shared spare parts (FC, ELRS receiver, GX12 connectors), shared documentation, and shared pilot skills. The closer the variants, the lower the operational overhead of running multiple.

Concept: Pro¶

Pro is the reference platform — the 6-inch, 6S variant around which the GX12-7 payload interface standard and the full five-layer airframe architecture were designed. Where the other variants adapt or extend the Pro baseline, Pro defines what that baseline is. It carries the most capable payload interface in the family, the highest performance power system, and the digital FPV stack. It is the correct platform when payload capacity, 6S performance, and the full GX12 ecosystem matter more than flight time or cost.

Full concept, specifications, and payload interface detail: → pro-variant

Concept: Bandit¶

Bandit is the autonomous-capable training and light-survey variant. The fundamental departure from the rest of the family is the flight system: Betaflight is replaced with ArduPilot Copter, enabling GPS-guided flight modes, MAVLink telemetry, and QGroundControl mission execution. A pre-programmed survey grid runs without continuous pilot input. The awareness curriculum this platform supports teaches operators to think like the technology they are learning to understand.

Full concept, specifications, and mission types: → bandit-variant

For the ArduPilot ecosystem that defines Bandit: → ardupilot-copter and → ardupilot-flight-modes

Concept: Ghost¶

Ghost is the quiet, long-endurance variant. Two engineering decisions define it: large low-KV motors driving 12-inch props at low RPM reduce the acoustic signature by approximately 10 dB(A) compared to Pro — roughly half as loud to the human ear. Li-Ion 18650 batteries replace Li-Po for energy density over peak power, enabling 30–45 minute endurance. Ghost reuses the complete Bandit electronics stack and adds mandatory ESP32-S3 IFF and Remote ID.

Full concept, specifications, and mission profile: → ghost-variant

The acoustic design rationale: → acoustic-signature-design The Li-Ion battery architecture: → li-ion-batteries The CF plate arm system: → cf-plate-arms

Concept: Core¶

Core is the educational variant. 4-inch props, 4S power, under 250 g AUW places it in EASA Open A1 — students fly with minimum regulatory friction. Core is deliberately stripped: no GX12 payload interface, no digital FPV, no PC-CF arms. What remains is everything needed to teach FPV piloting and drone construction with direct skill transfer to Pro and Bandit: same Matek H7A3-SLIM, same Betaflight, same ELRS/EdgeTX stack.

Full concept and educational rationale: → core-variant

Concept: Wing¶

Wing is the fixed-wing survey companion. Fixed-wing is categorically more efficient for area coverage than multirotor — a single Wing sortie covers what would take 8–10 Pro battery cycles. The primary initial application is wildlife population survey at dawn and dusk using thermal imaging for Czech hunting associations. Wing shares the GX12-7 dual payload standard with all other payload-equipped variants — the same thermal payload works on Pro and Wing without modification.

Full concept and airframe options: → wing-variant

The fixed-wing efficiency argument: → fixed-wing-fundamentals The survey workflow: → wildlife-survey-operations

Reference¶

Family comparison table¶

Procedure¶

Variant selection guidance¶

→ platform-selection provides the full decision matrix against operational scenarios. The short version:

• Autonomous GPS missions, ATAK integration, awareness curriculum → Bandit
• Long endurance, low acoustic signature, EMCON operations → Ghost
• FPV pilot education, drone construction teaching → Core
• Large-area thermal survey, wildlife monitoring → Wing
• Payload research, commercial operations, 6S performance → Pro

Rationale¶

Version 2.0.0 of this skeleton strips the inline specification prose that existed in v1.0.0 for each variant. That content now lives in dedicated variant atoms (bandit-variant, ghost-variant, core-variant, wing-variant). The skeleton's role is comparative context and routing — not specification. Any fact that belongs to a specific variant belongs in that variant's atom, not here.

Connections¶

requires: - platform-overview - pro-variant - bandit-variant - ghost-variant - core-variant - wing-variant related: - platform-selection - ardupilot-copter - acoustic-signature-design - fixed-wing-fundamentals - sk-platform-brief - sk-bandit-awareness-curriculum leads_to: - platform-selection - pro-variant - bandit-variant - ghost-variant - core-variant - wing-variant