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

Florian Schulz August 25, 2010 at 12:37pm

Loaded the new ArduPilot Mega v1.0.3 alpha code, now everything is fine :-)

Greetings,
Florian
Daniel R Ramirez Rebollo August 25, 2010 at 12:24pm

I just posted a new disscusion hope you guys can help me
Florian Schulz August 25, 2010 at 12:04pm

Hi all,

I have a question regarding the uBlox GPS. In the adruino serial monitor I only get an invalid home position.
I checked the U-blox with the U-Center, everything fine, get gps fix. Uploaded the firmware for ArduPilot.

In the sketch file APM_Config.h I add this: #define GPS_PROTOCOL 2

Someone have an idea whats wrong?
The light A and C are on, also if the GPS is not connected?

Thank you,
Florian
Ritchie August 25, 2010 at 2:44am

Sorry for this. I even have that page open in safari on my iPhone I skimmed the text not realising the significance.
3D Robotics

Chris Anderson August 24, 2010 at 5:52pm

Ritche, this is all in the manual. Please take a few minutes to skim it and you'll understand better.
Ritchie August 24, 2010 at 5:20pm

When the telemetry "prints" as Chris Said what does it print?
Is it a string of values delimited by something for the ground station to unravel or is it "alt:56" etc?
Or can you point me to the protocol in thep pde?
Developer

Michael Smith August 24, 2010 at 5:03pm

@ritchie - can you be more specific about what you want to know? The default telemetry protocol is documented on the wiki, but there are other options.
Ritchie August 24, 2010 at 5:03pm

Cheers Chris. I was hoping to see the actual output or the code that will do the output. So I can understand it and read it.
3D Robotics

Chris Anderson August 24, 2010 at 4:53pm

Ritchie: the telemetry outputs via serial print commands. We have a custom serial library that's much faster than the stock Arduino Serial.print() functions.
Ritchie August 24, 2010 at 4:47pm

I havent bought the XBee modules yet but will do shortly. I'd like to know how the telemetry outputs whether its a line of text or the code in the pde doesn't matter

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