Developer

Ardupilot Mega Design

One of the biggest limitations I've run into with the ardupilot hardware is the use of functions that need to disable the interrupt register to do precise timing such as pulsein() or similar functions. Would the 1280 have the same issues?
Have you guys considered a dual processor design for the Ardupilot? I can image I2C connected chips would give you the ability to offload the radio input and give you multiple UARTS.
Are there any other design considerations for the next generation board or for an alternate design?

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3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on October 27, 2009 at 10:11am
ArduPilot Mega will be a three-processor board: a 1280 for logic, an atmega328 for IMU and an atmega328 for failsafe/RC signal reading (replacing the attiny on the current board).
Permalink Reply by Nan on November 4, 2009 at 4:08pm
Chris, is it absolutely necessary to add 3 processors to the board? It is possible to use a real time operating system (RTOS) like FreeRTOS to achieve real time response. but I am not sure if an atmega1280 can handle the load though.

3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on November 4, 2009 at 4:13pm
That's not the direction we chose. We're not big fans of RTOS's, which impose a lot of overhead for little benefit that we can see. Competent programmers can multitask without OSs.
Permalink Reply by David Ankers on December 20, 2009 at 2:25am
Whoa, easy there Chris, FreeRTOS is excellent, adds very little overhead and taking about programmer competence makes no sense. It's an architecture choice and sometimes a very smart one, might be worth reading about it, it is not really an OS despite its name.
Permalink Reply by Garrett Newhart on February 11, 2010 at 10:35pm
Hey, I'm just curious how Mega will compare with ArduPilot in terms of power usage and weight. Thanks.

DeveloperPermalink Reply by jasonshort on October 27, 2009 at 10:31am
Great news! I was ready to make a custom DP board to work around these problems, but I'll hold off now.
Permalink Reply by bGatti on October 27, 2009 at 1:15pm
Assuming these three boards, er processors, will have nothing more in common than (+ - DAT CLK) It would seem immeasurably more flexible to layout the board so that these sections can each be broken off.

Benefits:
1. Upgrade the IMU without replacing the rest.
2. Locate boards as they best fit in the plane.
3. Leave the servo board in the plane (It has the most wires attached)
4. Sell Failsafe Servo unit or IMU for other applications.
5. Add magnetometer board to the suite
6. Add anything to I2C Bus: Downlink, Logger, VideoOSD, Sensor payload.

3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on October 27, 2009 at 1:23pm
The IMU is modular (attached to the main board) and can be upgraded. The other microprocessors are all on the main board, but it will be cheap and "disposable" if you want to upgrade as the chips continue to improve, just like the current ArduPilot. The board will support shields, for additional expandability.

As always, the design will be open source, so if you don't like the way we did it, you can do it differently yourself!
Permalink Reply by Faisal Shah on October 27, 2009 at 2:12pm
Will all the unused pins on the processors be available on a connector/header? That would be useful for expansion.

DeveloperPermalink Reply by jasonshort on October 27, 2009 at 1:24pm
I think a single board solution and breakout boards are different products aimed at different needs. For my current plane and needs, a single board would be preferable.
Permalink Reply by Dr Mike Black on October 27, 2009 at 3:27pm
Hi all,

Been sitting here playing with a 1280, and wondering if this could be used to create a mega AP somehow trying to nail the imu into it somehow, obviously C & J are way ahead again....

what sort of time scale are we looking at for the Mega?

been having immence fun with our project Ardu (throttle problem not withstanding) and would love to get into that one..

News guys?....got us dribbling here!!!

regards,

Doc.

AdminPermalink Reply by John C. on October 27, 2009 at 4:30pm

I'll +1 for an update.

I'm right on the verge of ordering all the parts, but wondering what of the current parts will be reusable with ArduMega.

ie: XYZ sensors is obviously downlevel, as would be the current Ardupilot board.

uBlox should work on Mega.

What about the airspeed shield? integrated to mega?

ArduIMU is really cool, but seems to hold no value when mega is out.

I guess if I know I'm only throwing away $25 for the main ardupilot board, I'm OK with that until mega comes out, just to get started with learning, cabling, GPS and airspeed (without the XYZ sensors).

I want to get started now! But the market is kind of "frozen" right now for me.

Thanks!

John C.

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