I'm delighted to announce the release of the first public beta of ArduPilot Mega 2.0. This is a significant upgrade to APM 1.02, and now delivers on full 2-way in-air communications, including real-time mission planning and autopilot control.
[UPDATE:Arduino-free code uploading added to features]
New features/changes include:
- --Full support for the MAVlink protocol, which is now APM's default communications method.
- --Auto-detection of GPS modules. No more requirement to tell APM what GPS module you're using--it will figure it out and configure the module appropriately!
--2-way telemetry. Dozens of commands can now be sent from the Ground Station to the UAV while it's in the air. (see example from HK GCS at right)
- --2-way Mission Planning. You can script and change missions in real time while the UAV is flying!
- --Supports APM boards with the ATMega2560 chip, which has twice as much memory as the current board. The DIY Drones store will begin selling these new boards when the final version of APM 2.0 is released.
- --Mission Planner now uploads firmware and checks for new versions online. No need for Arduino (unless you want it)!
- --Magnetometer fully supported.
- --Current sensor fully supported
- --Support for the latest HK Ground Control Station and QGroundControl ground stations.
- --Mission Planning and configuration can now be done wirelessly. No need to use USB if you don't want to.
- --No more fiddling with a configuration file in Arduino! The software comes ready to go, right out of the box
- --New command-line tests allow you to check failsafe operation, Xbees, radio inputs and more.
- --New versions of HK GCS and the Mission Planner operate in MAVLink mode, allowing for wireless operation and compatibility with other MAVLink devices, including those running the Robot Operating System (ROS)
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Huge props to the whole development team: Doug Weibel (project leader), Michael Smith, Jason Short, James Goppert, Michael Oborne (mission planner), Paul Mather (GCS), Lorenz Meier (MAVLink integration), Randy Mackay, Ryan Beall, Darren Corley, Joe Holdsworth, and countless others who have contributed with flight testing and bug catching!
Remember that this is an initial beta release, so there may be bugs and undocumented bits. After the beta-testing period (usually about six weeks) we'll release APM 2.0 final version, and retire APM 1.02.
Loading the code automatically:
Just download the Mission Planner and select "Upload Firmware" from the Tools section of the menu. Make sure APM is plugged into your USB port and you've selected the right port from the Mission Planner menu. Click on "Update Check" and the program will search online for the latest version of the code and load it to APM.
If you want to do a simulation with Xplane, follow the instructions below. That will soon be a firmware option with the Mission Planner, too.
Loading manually (Optional)
[UPDATE: Ignore this section if you don't want to fiddle with the code. Arduino is no longer required to load the code!]
Download the zip file, unzip it to your desktop. You will have two folders inside your APM 2.0 folder, as shown:
Make sure you're using the latest Arduino (0022). Set your Arduino Sketchbook location to the APM 2.0 folder, as shown below. You must exit Arduino and restart it for this to take effect. Within Arduino, open up the ArduPilotMega.pde file within the ArduPilotMega folder, and that will open all the other files. Before you compile, don't forget to select the right board (Arduino Mega 1280 or Arduino Mega 2560)
(Note: in the final version of APM 2.0, you will not have to use the Arduino IDE at all: the Mission Planner will load the firmware for you and check for more recent versions. The Arduino IDE will just be available in case you want to modify or inspect the code. UPDATE: this is now live)
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Additional instructions:
--If you're doing flight simulation with Xplane, instructions for doing it with APM 2.0 are here.
--Make sure you're using the latest Mission Planner and HK GCS. In the Mission Planner, make sure you select APM 2.x modes (MAVLink), shown at right.
Known issues:
1) Mission Planner won't write waypoints on Port 0 in HIL mode. Instead, write the waypoints via your Xbee (port 3); remember to change the Mission Planner baud rate to 57k when using the Xbee port.
2) Uploading mission commands is still not fully documented. We'll get to that this week
3) There may be some issues with datalogs not recording. We're looking into it.
4) The manual still describes the 1.02 software. We'll change that to 2.0 during the beta test period, so by the time we release the final of 2.0 the manual is fully updated.
5) This has been mostly tested with 900 Mhz Xbee modules and the XstreamBee adapter, which work great. However, there is an issue with the 2.4 Ghz Xbee modules, which have a slightly different hardware configuration that conflicts with that adapter when sending data upstream. A short term workaround is to solder a jumper from the adapter's CTS to V+ pin. The next version of these adapter boards will include a more graceful fix.
If you find any bugs, please file a report in the Issue Tracker. The dev team will not be responding to bug reports filed in blog comments
Comments
As far as my GCS goes, here's what I know *could* be problems (some I'm sure of). I'll work on this tonight if the wife allows.
1) Saving and loading missions. Lat, Long, Alt and the first parameter *should* work, the other parameters won't save or load.
2) Comma instead of period for decimal place. This can cause problems just about anywhere and I haven't tested that in a while.
3) I have not tested with the latest *official* 2.0 beta code...but with the code I was running from a couple days ago had some unusual results when writing and then reading the altitude command in the mission planner. I sent it as parameter 7 and it came back as parameter 1 (I think). Something odd there. Also, I probably need to tell people I'm converting units automatically in my waypoints tab. If you specify 100 and you've selected feet as your units. Then it will convert to meters before it sends. So when you read it back, there might be a bit of a conversion loss as it had to convert back from meters to feet and decimal points are thrown away.
I am having a similar issue i believe with hkgcs. 2.0 is not having the instruments move anymore, made me frantically check everything. but the apm planner gcs is showing response. Im not sure if something on my side is the problem or not, pretty default setup but im also not getting a airspeed reading so i assume its just the perils of running beta.
@Chris - Got it, i think this got me confused.
Will get one my self very soon. hopefully, Turnigy 9x is in stock by then.
The current APM boards have a Atmega1280 chip, so we call them APM1280. The next boards will have an Atmega2560 chip, thus APM2560. We'll start shipping the APM2560 boards when the APM 2.0 software reaches final release, which will probably be in 4-6 weeks.
But we'll still recommend the APM1280 boards for most people, because other software such as ArduCopter and the ArduPirates code does not yet run on the AMP2560 boards.
The APM 2.0 software runs identically on both boards.
@ Chris
Exactly, thanks again for all your help :)
Darren: sounds like some of the MAVlink messages are being sent to the wrong port. Should be pretty easy to find and fix. This is what beta testing is for!
Please do file an issue. We'll review the issues at this week's dev meeting.
I have a strange issue with HK and 2.0, the AHI guage doesnt appear to move. with mavlink gcs over telemetry port. But (and this is the strange part) if I launch APM Planner and open APM2.0 GCS Mavlink, on the usb port, all of a sudden, the AHI in HK GCS comes alive... I also am not getting any compass reading.
If I open the APM Planner GCS on the telemetry port, I get both AHI and Compass (although it shows negitive heading numbers for 180-360 degrees... which may be why HK's compass isnt working for me.
I will open a issue tracker, But I dont know if this is a HK issue or APM... since one works and the other starts working (its like its sending a start command for that data stream)...
That did the trick for the GPS data, thank you!!
Still not seeing any of the instruments move though, any thoughts?
#define GCS_PORT 0
in the APM_Config.h file. It won't work if you're doing a HIL sim on that port, of course.
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