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ArduPilot Mega 1.4 with ATmega2560 will be available on Friday, April 8

Posted by Sam Kelly on April 6, 2011 at 1:30pm

3689398972?profile=originalHi guys, just letting you know that the ArduPilot Mega v1.4 with the ATmega2560 will be available at the DIY Drones store starting Friday, April 8. Here's the product page: http://store.diydrones.com/product_p/br-ardupilot-01.htm

 

Here's what will be changing in the store/products:

- ArduPilot Mega 2560 supersedes ArduPilot Mega 1280.

- The only difference between the two boards is that the new board uses the Atmega2560 microprocessor, while the old one uses the Atmega1280. The 2560 has twice as much flash memory (256K, vs 128K, hence their names). That extra memory is not currently used by any DIY Drones software, but is available for possible future code and expansion.

- The main reason for the change to the Atmega2560 is to sync up with the Arduino roadmap, which transitioned from the Arduino Mega (1280) top the Arduino Mega2560 earlier this year. This will not only ensure that our boards are compatible with the latest Arduino code, but also ensure that we will be able to source components reliably in the future.

- The 1280 version will still be available from us for a while. SparkFun will also continue selling the 1280 version.

- The "Full ArduPilot Mega kit" will now only be available with the ArduPilot Mega 2560.

 

The 2560 board will be required for APM 2.0 (not true, I should have triple checked this first), so the release of this board was timed to coincide with the new APM code getting close to Release Candidate status. Keep in mind that the 1280 version is still required for the ArduCopter and ArduPirates code!

 

Compatibility table:

 

Hardware:

--All DIY Drones hardware (shields, sensors, etc) work indentically with both boards

 

Software:

--APM 2.0 code and beyond: Supports both APM2560 and APM1280 boards

--ArduCopter 2.0 (aka ArduCopterMega, ACM) and beyond: Supports both APM2560 and APM1280 boards

--Future DIY Drones code (ArduRover, boats, etc): Supports both APM2560 and APM1280 boards

--APM 1.02: Requires APM1280

--ArduCopter RC2: Requires APM1280

--ArduPirates 1.6: Requires APM1280


Tags: ardupilot mega, atmega2560, oops
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Comments

  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson April 12, 2011 at 1:01pm
    Phillipe, I think the store is just waiting for some female-to-female cables, which should be another week or so. If you can do without them, you can just order the parts separately now.
  • Philippe Petit April 12, 2011 at 12:59pm

    Hello, i just wanted to ask whether there will be some Full ArduPilot Mega Kit`s in the shop available soon. Or might it be faster to order the parts separatly? What do you think?

    Thanks a lot

    phil

  • catalin grigoras April 8, 2011 at 12:40pm

    i have one  from 2 months ago, i already tested it with apm 1.02(with a little bit of editing) and works like a charm.

     

  • Sam Kelly April 8, 2011 at 8:20am

    @ Grips: kits will not be available at the same time as the 2560 boards, we expect to have the kits in stock in approximately two weeks.

  • Moderator
    Grips April 8, 2011 at 8:09am

    I checked the website but I'm not sure the kit is updated or not to make my order?

     

    http://store.diydrones.com/ArduPilot_Mega_kit_p/kt-apm-01.htm

     

  • Moderator
    Grips April 7, 2011 at 4:35pm
    Chris: That hit the nail directly on the head. Thanks a million.
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson April 7, 2011 at 4:16pm
    Grips. That has been much discussed elsewhere, but you can see an overview in the ArduCopter manual:
    http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/Quad_LoadingPage
  • Moderator
    Grips April 7, 2011 at 4:03pm

    This isn't the spot but can someone point me to where the APM 2.0/Arducopter 2.0 code and the Ardupirates 1.6 code differ? I don't know the difference I've been led to believe that the Ardupirates code would be better for my X configured hexacopter for aerial videography/photography.

     

    Any truth to it? Can someone point me in the right direction?

  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson April 7, 2011 at 2:37pm

    Chad: I've updated the post to explain what's different. (Short answer: nothing that affects most users)

     

    Matthew: the two boards work the same. There is no need to upgrade.

  • Matthew McGinnis April 7, 2011 at 2:22pm
    I bought mine a week ago. I wonder if there is an upgrade program. I haven't even flown mine yet. Still figuring it out first.
This reply was deleted.