Guessed, sourced and measured

Not every number in Lothal is equally certain. Lothal tries to tell you which is which, on the screen where the number appears.

Three kinds of number

• Sourced. Every part in the catalog carries a source that says where its figures came from: a manufacturer’s thrust table, a product page, a scale reading. Motor thrust is fitted from published thrust tables. These are the most trusted figures, and still only as good as their source.
• Computed. Most numbers on the rows are computed from the parts: hover throttle, flight time, lead voltage drop, hardware mass. A computed number that rests on an assumption carries a ~, for example ~4:30 flight or ~20 g hardware.
• Guessed. Some figures have no source yet, and Lothal says so in words where you edit them: the printed-part fit clearance (0.20 mm is a guess), the camera uptilt that opens at 25°, the gust settle time on the Field (A guess, not measured.), a board’s UART count when only its class is known. The frame’s vibration frequency is scaled from a reference that has not been measured, so the overlay draws it as a band, not a line.

Custom parts are different again: Lothal knows only what you typed. A build with one gets a note that the part is unchecked.

How to read a ~

~ means “estimate”. It is not a warning. It tells you the number is good for comparing two builds and for deciding, and not a promise about the real drone.

The 80% goal

Lothal aims to leave you with at least an 80% idea of the drone you want to build: every component, what to print and what to buy, and how it will fly, so you can experiment before you spend money. The bar is being confident enough to decide, not a guarantee. A real drone can behave differently because of something the model does not include yet.

When Lothal cannot honestly give a number, it leaves the space empty or says why, rather than inventing one. The Receiver & link row has no range figure for exactly this reason.

Related

• Fit checks and warnings
• What Lothal does not model yet
• Parts catalog