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Mode comparison

The six estimator modes at a glance. Use this page as a buying decision when you know the hardware you have or the scene you intend to fly.

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Quick decision

If you can only read one row of this table, it is this one:

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Full comparison

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Hardware tier guide

The table below is the inverse view: pick your board, see which modes it can run. “Marginal” means the mode runs but at reduced frame rate or with visible CPU pressure; the operator should expect tracking quality to suffer under load.

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Trade-offs

OpenVINS vs VINS-Fusion. OpenVINS is a filter-based MSCKF; it runs lighter and recovers faster from motion. VINS-Fusion is a sliding-window bundle-adjustment estimator; it is tighter in feature-rich scenes but heavier on CPU. The default on any board with enough compute is OpenVINS; VINS-Fusion is the advanced option when the flight profile spends a lot of time in low-feature environments. Rangefinder vs rangefinder-free OF. With a rangefinder you get the lowest drift and the highest quality multiplier. Without one you can still fly GPS-denied but the EKF de-weights your samples and the operator-visible quality drops by roughly 40 percent on average across the scale ladder. The rangefinder is cheap insurance. Hybrid vs single estimator. Hybrid is the most resilient mode and the most expensive one. Two cameras, two estimators, twice the CPU. Worth it for missions that mix indoor low-altitude segments (OF strong) with corridor flight (VIO strong). Single-estimator modes are simpler and fine for most flights.

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Where to go next

  • Modes for the full per-mode reference including pre-arm matrix and fallback ladder.
  • Hardware for tested camera and rangefinder picks.
  • Features for the use cases each mode unlocks.