ArduPlane home page

Convert any RC airplane into a fully-autonomous UAV!

Just add the APM 2 autopilot to any RC aircraft and it becomes a fully-programmable flying robot with a powerful ground station and Mission Planner.

Features include:

Return to Launch with a flick of your RC toggle switch or a mouse click in the graphical Ground Station
Unlimited 3D GPS waypoints
Built-in camera control
Fully-scriptable missions
One-click software load, and easy point-and-click configuration in the powerful Mission Planner. NO programming required!
Replay recorded missions and analyze all the data with a graphing interface
Supports two-way telemetry with Xbee wireless modules.
Point-and-click waypoint entry or real-time mission commands while the UAV is in the air
Fly with a joystick or gamepad via your PC--no need for RC control!
Built-in failsafe will bring your aircraft home in the case of radio loss

All instructions and software are here.

APM 2 is an open source, Arduino-compatible, pro-quality autopilot. It is the most advanced IMU-based open source autopilot available today, and provides an entire UAV control system with scriptable missions with 3D waypoints, in-flight uploading of commands and powerful ground station software.

APM 2 supports any kind of of vehicle with a one-click change of code. Available code include ArduPlane (fixed wing), ArduCopter (rotary wing), ArduRover (ground vehicles) and more.

Everything you need to create an ArduPlane UAV:

* APM 2.5 autopilot with GPS ($179)

* [Optional] Telemetry kit ($75).

You'll also need a at least a five-channel RC radio setup, a soldering iron, a mini USB cable and of course something that flies! (We're partial to the SkyFun delta wing (right) and
Bixlee 2 powered glider (left) or its equivalents ourselves).

Resources:

Manual
Source code/firmware

Note: ArduPilot Mega requires no programming, but it's open source and you're welcome to modify it if you'd like. If you are going to play with the code, you can use the free Arduino IDE to edit and upload the code to the ArduPilot board.

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Comments

Jonathan Choo July 4, 2010 at 9:09pm

when are the codes for the ardupilot mega coming out?
3D Robotics

Chris Anderson July 4, 2010 at 5:57pm

Uwe, I fixed that in the library. I'm going to edit the manual to show people how to install the libraries properly first. That demo will then depend on them, rather than carrying it's own library files with it (which clash with the standard libraries if you have them installed).
Uwe Gartmann July 4, 2010 at 5:16pm

There must be something with copy/paste.
Uwe Gartmann July 4, 2010 at 5:10pm

:-)
3D Robotics

Chris Anderson July 4, 2010 at 4:48pm

Uwe,

Surely you mean:

for (ch=0;ch<8;ch++)

yes?
Uwe Gartmann July 4, 2010 at 4:29pm

@Matic, Chris: I tested this code today and found some issues. To catch channel #7 you must change the FOR loop in the ISR routine like this.

for (ch=0;ch<<b>8;ch++)

the signals corresponds to this channels:

ch0:z-gyro, ch1:x-gyro, ch2:y-gyro, ch3:temp, ch4:x-acc, ch5:y-acc, ch6:z-acc, ch7:aux (pitot)
3D Robotics

Chris Anderson July 4, 2010 at 1:30pm

Matic, that's because I just now added it ;-)
Matic Peric July 4, 2010 at 1:19pm

Chris thanks. I was already on that page, but somehow I missed that.
3D Robotics

Chris Anderson July 4, 2010 at 1:14pm

Matic, there's a demo program that tests those and displays the data. It's referenced in the manual at the bottom of this page.
Matic Peric July 4, 2010 at 12:42pm

I just bought an ArduPilot Mega board and the new Mega IMU shield. Now I'm trying to find a sample code on how to read data from gyros, accelerometers and magnetometers. I don't need the whole autopilot code right now, cause I'm just testing some data for now. I've seen the 2.6 code, is that usable with the new shield?

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