Now that Pixhawk, our new 32-bit autopilot, is shipping, I dug up all of its predecessors just to remind myself how far we've come. That takes me back -- that first ArduPilot was designed by Jordi and manufactured by Sparkfun, long before 3D Robotics was even a company. I still have a fond spot for APM 1, which was the first board 3DR made and is still supported today.
Three of the biggest changes were the shift from thermopile to IMU stabilization between ArduPilot and APM 1 (2010), the shift from mostly fixed-wing UAVs to mostly multicopters with APM 2 (2011), and the shift from 8-bit platforms to 32-bit platforms with Pixhawk (2013).
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It's pretty incredible what progress has been made in the last few years. I started out in the APM 1 stage with a grandfathered JDrones quad, and I thought that was impressive! My roommate and I have since built a research lab, UAV program, and now a competition team for the AUVSI Pax River competition, all based around Ardupilot and the community it has formed. You've built something pretty amazing here, and I'm glad to be a part of this community!
Sorry, correction!
I meant @ShadowAir
@Shadow warrior:
I would suggest you approach certain probable organizations and propose your project idea. If they like it they can offer you the costs involved. Chances are high, as this is the time for this technology everyone wants embraced!
Great going. Hope to see Pixhawk 2014, coming soon, with some cool features not yet available with all the other platforms (All-In-One) !!
Infrared sensors: For object avoidance
Image sensors (cemera): For face recognition and other cool things!
Optical flow sensors: Indoor stabilization supported on PixHawk.
I firmly believe, this is possible with our new ARM board with RT OS capability :)
CLiff-E: I loved that one! We're planning to bring back blimps next year, WAY advanced.
BUT WAIT, what ever happened to....
2008: Blimpduino!
@Darrell: thanks!
Nice video Robert, my goal in 2014 is help you in the development with my T-Rex 700E if you want.
Here's another interesting comparison:
2012:
2013:
Pixhawk is shorter than the APM version with side pins, which is the standard model. In the picture above, I shot it with the version of APM with top pins, which is shorter than the side pins but no longer made (because it's a hassle to insert cables from the top in most airframes).
@Hein, A quote from 3DR marketing wrt. Pixhawk
"it's the same size as APM (actually slightly shorter)"
So your wrong. It is not getting larger, you are just looking at it from the wrong angle
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