I settled on an eFlite Taylorcraft as a good platform for testing the APM. The cabin is large and the wing has a window on top. I left the cabin side windows out to so I could reach in to flip the CLI switch and insert a USB cable when needed.
I used the laser at TechShop SF to cut a thin piece of clear plastic on which to mount the APM and all the sensors. (Attached is the Corel file.)
The goal was to make all of the LEDs, wiring, switches, and USB ports visible and accessible without removing any portion of the plane. This setup has worked very well.
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You might want to make sure the GPS doesn't get swamped by the close proximity of the RX and Xbee.
I move the gps on my plane quite far back, had some issues with it losing lock.
(MediaTek)
Very nice installation. I have the same plane as RC. It is a little twitchly with the short coupling of the rudder. It will be intersting to hear how your flight testing goes. Please make sure you report back.
Really interested in hearing more!!
Darryl
BTW, that's a SiFR III GPS shown in the picture (available through Sparkfun). I tested it in place of the MediaTek, hoping for faster GPS locks. (It cuts the lock time roughly in half to about 35 seconds, though it's 4x bigger so if weight is an issue, you don't want to go there.) I wasn't sure if the SiFR would be compatible, so in case anyone else wonders... it slips right in. (I'm testing a Ublox next.)
Very neat and practical!! Best of luck let us know how it goes.
Excellent and thanks for sharing! I've done my share of work at that TechShop, too. Have you been to the one in SF?