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Posted by Chris Anderson on May 1, 2010 at 3:30pm

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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.

 

 

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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).

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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!3689354440?profile=original (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

  • Tim Carmichael July 16, 2010 at 12:55am
    Nevermind, I just found the info regarding the behavior of the C LED here: http://diydrones.ning.com/profiles/blogs/ardupilot-mega-home-page?x...
  • Tim Carmichael July 15, 2010 at 4:08pm
    Are there different flash patterns on the C LED on the Mega IMU Shield and what do they represent?

    I have my UBLOX GPS module connected and the C LED is flashing a steady red.
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson July 14, 2010 at 4:51am
    @Jonathan. Not sure I understand the question. The manual says "You'll need at least a 5-channel RC unit. 7 channels or more is highly recommended." Hopefully most of your questions are answered in the manual, and reading that before asking questions is highly recommend.
  • Jonathan Choo July 13, 2010 at 11:21pm
    @chris so if i'm getting a 10channel transmitter possible?
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson July 13, 2010 at 10:45pm
    @Tim. APM uses a different sensor fusions algorithm called the Direction Cosine Matrix (DCM). Fucntionally equivalent to the Kalman but more more computationally efficient. See this for more. The alpha code that will be released later this week will do stabilization.
  • Tim Carmichael July 13, 2010 at 4:13pm
    I have a couple of quick questions:

    1. Does the APM use a Kalman Filter?

    2. Is there some code available in addition to the pre-Alpha code that would be useful just for stabilization?
  • stm10 July 13, 2010 at 1:56pm
    @John Church, thanks. That's what I've been working with so far. We'll keep fingers crossed indeed!
  • Christopher Beasley July 13, 2010 at 1:49pm
    Is there some way I can put up a quick cockpit display on my laptop and stream data to it from the APM/IMU?
    I'm looking for attitude indicator, heading, airspeed, alt, etc.

    Just getting my system up and running and so far it passes all tests. Working on the Media Tek GPS now.... got it soldered to the adapter board, cabled up, blue light blinking.
    Thanks Chris, Jordi and all the team members!
    Newbie Beez
  • stm10 July 12, 2010 at 7:54am
    Any idea of the exact release date of the software manual with the code?
  • Jonathan Kobayashi July 12, 2010 at 7:22am
    If we have a Paparazzi GPS (LEA-5H), do we still need the GPS adapter? I'm guessing that we do because the GPS adapter changes the 3.3V GPS to the 5V the microcontroller needs.
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