Hey all. I have an arduino uno and am looking to buy a mega2560. I want to create my own autopilot with either one of these. I understand I may run out of memory with the uno. I also have a 10-dof IMU in mind and would like to keep the ability to choose my own instruments (just cause, no real reason). I am trying to bridge the gap between the actual arduino board and what was released as the Ardupilot boards (APM 1.x?). Whats the best way to work with the servos? How much of the existing code (APM or otherwise) could I leverage? What are some of the challenges that I will face?
My background is in aero and mech engineering. Know how to program. Can somewhat recall flight mechanics and controls. I am an RC pilot with too little time to fly. My experience lacks in the electrical engineering space, such as IC and stuff.
My main goal for this project is to learn. An added bonus is that I may have an autonomous airplane at the end of this.
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If you want to make your own autopilot from scratch with little previous experience its probably going to take a few years and at they end you still won't have an autopilot as good as the APM.
Looking at the Ardupilot code would be a good starting point, you could probably even build your own board that would be compatible with the code. But really, why spend months prototyping your own when you can just order one for $200?