Microsoft has release a full featured version of Visual Studio 2013 free for open source projects or personal use and small business users.

This is great news for the the Visual Micro Arduino IDE plugin. The Visual Micro guide for APM is located here and Visual Micro can be downloaded from here

Until now, developers who did not own a copy of Visual Studio have been able to use Atmel Studio for their Arduino/APM development (Atmel Studio is based on Visual Studio 2010).

Visual Studio 2013 brings a number of additional benefits over Atmel Studio such as great code visibility and powerful code explorers.

Visual Studio Community 2013

Visual Studio is currently the only IDE capable of debugging any Arduino project and is also aware of the special APM Serial communications system called FastSerial.

Debugging a drone project requires functionality that exceeds what a normal windows/linux debugger can provide. For example, setting a debug trace and reporting message in a fast loop would normally produce too many messages to be of any use.

The Arduino debugger in Visual Studio allows TracePoints (or BreakPoints) to be conditional based upon any arduino code (as would be expected by any serious debugger) but it also goes one step further by allowing messages to be limited to any specified rate such as 1 per second.

Another important feature of the Visual Studio debugger for drone projects is the ability to allow variables to be altered without the need for the program being debugged to stop execution (break). The VS debugger has a powerful feature that automatically queues requests to alter variables allowing the request to be processed when the code reaches the specified execution point.

Below we can see multiple "intelligent" messages have been configured to display execution information from an Arduino while the Arduino program is running. The text of these messages do not reside on the Arduino and therefore do not consume vast amounts of limited Arduino memory

Read more here

Arduino for Visual Studio Professional is the only 100% compatible Arduino plugin. Visual Studio Pro can be obtained free for 3+ years

Watch this transformer on YouTube

Microsoft and Arduino are normally worlds apart but on Friday of last week, ArduPlane was used as an example on "Channel 9". You can read the full article here

Today's Hardware Friday post. Oh yeah, that's some goodness...

Channel 9 is a Microsoft Blog

It is possible to explore and use the APM hardware without having to adopt the ArduPilot or ArduCopter code.

The DIYd open source community has provided a full set of examples which enable us to easily see how each hardware element works.

These examples will be found on the "File" menu in the Arduino IDE, or in the "Micro Explorer" in Microsoft Visual Studio.

There are a few additional benefits of the Visual Studio system compared with the Arduino IDE such as the ability to explore examples without the need to create a new project. This becomes very useful if we are writing or extending drone software and a quick reference guide.

Arduino for Visual Studio Professional is free

In May 2012 a unique serial debugger for Arduino was released in beta and has recently been updated to include the ability to change the values of variables while an Arduino is running.

In the image above you can see the entire code of a very crude (rubbish) Arduino program that is running a debugging session. You can see that the trace messages and variable values are different to those defined within the compiled program.

Approximately 300 people have joined the beta program. Feed back has been really great.

The debugger integrates seamlessly into the Visual Studio IDE providing conditional breakpoint, trace and expression watch features. Unlike a conventional debugger, the Arduino is not required to break (pause) to enable variable values to be altered (optional).

We can use any available Arduino code to conditionally apply breakpoints.

Complex or simple debug messages can be generated without the need to include the text of the messages in the final Arduino program. For most users this prevents the programs from becoming "bloated" with text/debug messages

APM FastSerial is fully supported. Debug using xbee is also supported but you should not fly a debug version without first becoming very familiar with how the debugger works. (If you are unsure then talk it over with us in the Forum). The image below shows a running apm debug session that is sharing the main serial port with the apm code. This is optional, we can share or use any arduino serial port (in most cases) or use other Arduino technologies such as SoftwareSerial.

The Arduino debugger is currently being distributed for free to anyone who would like to join the beta program. You can join the program by registering for the Visual Micro forum and including a request for the debug tool.

If you don't have a copy of Visual Studio Professional this article explains how to get a 3 year licence for free.

If you do use the debugger for an apm project (or with an apm example) then you will find a few tips for configuring an apm debug session here

The debugger is an upgrade to the free Arduino plugin for Microsoft Visual Studio Professional. Further reading, small wiki and a YouTube example can be found at visualmicro.com

The debugger optionally supports open source visualizations allowing us to create graphical controls that represent the various sensors of our Arduino projects

This WallChart.pdf is a first draft of an idea to provide diagrams of the relationships between the different modules of any Arduino drone project that new users can stick on the wall.

The pdf shows a map of how the various parts of the ArduPilot program interlink. You will see that currently the code diagram is very busy. How could all this information be presented in a more structured manner in a single snap-shot?

How to Create Your Own Code Diagrams - ArduPilot Example

If you have Window XP or Windows 7 then you can easily create your own code diagrams using the Arduino plugin for Microsoft Visual Studio Professional . 

The plugin is free, you can read how to get a free legal copy of Visual Studio Professional from here.

1. Open ArduPilot.pde or (.ino) in Visual Studio and right click anywhere in the code.

2. Visual Studio will open a new code window containing the diagram explorer tool. Progress will display while the code diagram is being automatically created.

3. The code diagram will automatically appear when the visualization is complete. If required, you can edit the diagram, change the layout and remove items by using the mouse or diagram toolbar controls

About Arduino Compatibility in Visual Studio 

Visual Studio is a simple installation and provides 100% Arduino compatible compile and upload combined with intellisense and code explorer tools.

If you are unsure how easy the plugin is to use then you can read what users have to say in the What do you think section of our forum. If you have been using the plugin for a while then please then please support the product by joining the forum.

The Class Diagram features of Microsoft Visual Studio provide the facility to show graphically any area of an Apm program. This is an ideal way for new users to understand how ArduPilot and ArduCopter code is designed. 

Reference

Microsoft Visual Studio provides a 100% compatible development environment for Arduino and Apm. It is also used to create the diydrones GCS. The Arduino plugin for Visual Studio is free and available from here, Visual Studio can be downloaded for free via here

As a huge follower of Fabio and his excellent FreeIMU I thought it time to post an update. I am looking forward to playing with the final release. For those who don't already know Fabio, he is a pioneer and well worth following.

Extract from the blog...

First flights of FreeIMU v0.4

Read more of Fabios blog here

 The FRAC Centre in Orléans, France will for the first time host an exhibition to be built entirely by flying robots. Titled "Flight Assembled Architecture," the six meter-high tower will be made up of 1,500 prefabricated polystyrene foam modules. The exhibition has been developed by Swiss architect Gramazio & Kohler and Italian robot designer Raffaello D'Andrea, to inspire new methods of thinking about architecture as a "physical process of dynamic formation."

The installation involves a fleet of quadrocopters that are programmed to interact, lift, transport and assemble the final tower, all the time receiving commands wirelessly from a local control room. The tower, which will boast a height of 6 meters (19.7 feet) and a diameter of 3.5 meters (11.5 feet), will be constructed within a 10 x 10 x 10 meter (32.8 x 32.8 x 32.8 foot) airspace, in which up to 50 vehicles can be tracked simultaneously at a rate of 370 frames per second with millimeter accuracy. This "Flying Machine Arena" was developed by D'Andrea, and features a state-of-the-art motion capture system.

Each quadrocopter is fitted with custom electronics and onboard sensors to allow for precision vehicle control, whilst also providing the opportunity for pre-programmed flight paths, which could include arcs and spirals. Furthermore, the fleet management technology helps avoid collisions by taking over when the flying robots get too close to each other. The same technology is also used for automating routine take-offs, landings and vehicle calibration and charging.

The Flight Assembled Architecture exhibition will be on display at the FRAC Centre from December 2 through to February 19, 2012.

Check out D'Andrea's Flying Machine Arena and the impressive quadrocopter moves in the video below.

Fast Transitions of a Quadrocopter Fleet Using Convex Optimization

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwK7WvvUvlI&feature=player_embedded

Source gizmag http://www.gizmag.com/flying-robots-to-build-6-meter-tower/20639/

It was already possible for students and teachers to obtain a free version of Visual Studio 2010 Professional but now this Microsoft offer has been extended to a number of other groups. One group being any individual who is thinking about becoming a web developer.

The extended Microsoft offer provides immediate download and 3 year license for a huge range of products such as Visual Studio 2010 Professional. This appears to open the door to Visual Studio to just about everyone in the arduino community.

To take advantage of the offer you will need to sign up for the free Microsoft WebSiteSpark program. Once you have signed up you will see a big button allowing you sign up for downloads. The big button actually signs you up to the microsoft developer network (msdn).

On msdn you will see a large list of available downloads on your msdn downloads page. Choose a Visual Studio 2010 Professional download from the list and install it. To the right of each "download link" is a link that will show your personal license key for the selected product (keep it private).

http://www.microsoft.com/websitespark/

The addin is already blogged about so I won't go into any detail. The Visual Micro site provides download and  information about the addin. The picture below provides an idea of available features.

The addin makes developing arduino faster, easier and more enjoyable. However there is also a massive gallery of other useful tools for Visual Studio. You can view the Visual Studio Gallery here http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/

Waiting for my new copter legs I decided to see how the Jani copter could be adapted. The frame fits very well on the Gaui. I still have parts to add to the top but it works. I tried larger motors and 10" props but I need to raise two of the motors for this to work. So the picture shows the standard 10a esc and Gaui motors

Sonar and IR to follow. I liked the esc calibration of the Gaui so I have implemented this in my ardu copter code. This means the copter will not start if you have never calibrated the esc's and after that will not start if throttle is not in the lowest position.

Next job automatic PID adjustment!

I haven't heard much talk about Jasons sim which is strange because the more I use it the more I realise how good it is.

It is certainly the best tool to use when building your own gcs. Auto mode works brilliantly and "fly by wire" is a bit of fun. The sim automatically returns to base and then loiters once all the way points have been reached. Switching back to "auto" mode starts the sim again.

Below you can see the turns which the sim produced. The telemetry included the correct lat, lng, pitch, roll, climb rate, and speed

It was exciting for me to see Jasons Sim working in 3D, so I thought I would share a pic

>> With the minor modification shown below which adjusts the climbrates

// guess the climb rate

// --------------------

if(pitch_sensor >= 0){

climb_rate = (pitch_sensor * (CLIMBRATE_UP/100) * (long)dTnav) / 90000L;

}else{

climb_rate = (pitch_sensor * (CLIMBRATE_DOWN/100) * (long)dTnav) / 90000L;

}

current_loc.alt += climb_rate;

I have a lot of work still to do adding graphic controls and mission planning via GSM/google. Both board options have an oboard SD card, both support touch screens, both run at 100mhz from a 5 volt supply. There are some much faster 3.3v versions (with 5 serial) due later this year that will make connecivity simpler.