I posted something similar over at the Ardupilot forum, but I don't know that they're really about addressing newbie questions.
I've spent a couple months just researching in preparation for my first quadcopter project. My quadcopter is the payload of a rocket which will release it at an altitude of approximately 1 mile, where I need it to autonomously descend with enough stability for an onboard camera to detect targets on the ground before it lands. I will likely have a transmitter in case of emergencies, but it shouldn't be used.
I spent about 6 hours yesterday trying to find information on programming flight controllers, much of which I spent at ardupilot.org reading up on Copter and Mission Planner. I was hoping someone with actual experience could tell me if what I'd like to do is possible before I invest in a Pixhawk and spend hours figuring out how to code Mission Planner. Specifically, I need to plan the following:
1) Track the altitude of the quadcopter, identify apogee, begin spinning motors after a 500 foot fall from apogee.
2) Stable descent.
3) Turn motors off upon landing.
Do these look like instructions that can be provided through Mission Planner? The complete parameter list, which I'm going through, is quite long. I'm not exactly sure how they're incorporated into Mission Planner either, and I feel like I'd be spending several hours fooling around with Mission Planner trying to figure that out. So, I'm really hoping someone here with a little experience could save me that time with a simple yes/no (and maybe a little encouragement as well- I've been at this for 6 hours).
Also, and this part is more for the diydrones folks, considering that my flight plan seems pretty simple, is Pixhawk and Mission Planner overkill? Is there a cheaper flight controller that would allow me to plan a flight like this? Thanks :)
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