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

Developer

Michael Smith October 3, 2010 at 10:36am

Dean, what line number? i.e. where is this error being reported?
3D Robotics

Chris Anderson October 3, 2010 at 10:10am

Dean, you were only supposed to remove the slashes before the #, not before the comments at the end.

We're trying to make this clear to non-programmers, but maybe it's still a little confusing? Maybe I'll spell it out a bit more, like this:

//#define GPS_PROTOCOL GPS_PROTOCOL_MTK // You must uncommment this line by removing the slashes in front of the # and select either the default (GPS_PROTOCOL_MTK) or one of the following other supported GPS modules if you're using one of them instead
Dean October 3, 2010 at 5:39am

I just tried to compile the new public beta release of the code and I am getting an "expected constructor, destructor or type conversion before '(' token" compile error. It appears that it might have someting to do with the GPS receiver selection, despite the fact that I uncommented the necessary line in APM_Config.h
James Adams October 1, 2010 at 9:57am

Pretty sure it wasn't soldering errors as everything was working for quite some time. As I got thinking about it, my servo output died about the same time, and I found I had fried my MUX. Might have something to do with it. When I get a new MUX in I'll see if I can take the jumper out.
Terence Gronowski October 1, 2010 at 5:07am

James, did you make errors in soldering? See the Sparkfun website with the soldering tutorials.
James Adams September 26, 2010 at 5:23pm

Figured it out. I’ll explain in case anybody else has these problems. Somehow the servo connector pins were no longer connected to the main ground plane. So I just added in a jumper from one of the servo ground pins to the input power pin ground (since it was close by).
James Adams September 26, 2010 at 4:11pm

Uh oh,
I was just reprogramming and doing some basic testing when I noticed if I unplugged the usb cable, nothing would work. I got digging and discovered that my oil pan was only getting about 1.0 V! I pulled off the oil pan and noticed that the pwr led is off! The mux led is the only one that is on.
Did I magically fry my board? Any ideas?

I wasn’t poking any wires around or anything that could have shorted it as far as I remember. Just reprogramming and doing some tests.
Developer

Michael Smith September 26, 2010 at 1:28pm

Please file issues on the GoogleCode page for any problems you run into with the setup CLI, or if you have more suggestions for what it should be able to do.
Dean September 26, 2010 at 12:59pm

Thanks for your help Michael. I created my own APM_config.h using the example as a guide, but I was concerned that the control limits were no longer specified in this file. Now I know why.
Developer

Michael Smith September 26, 2010 at 11:35am

@dean - note that APM_config.h is not actually supplied. There's an example version but you need to supply your own.

Stick wiggling is now handled by the new interactive setup mode. After you have compiled and uploaded the code, slide the switch on the IMU to the 0 position and start the Arduino console. Make sure you have the console line endings set to "Carriage Return". Use the 'setup' command to visit the setup menu, and be sure to use the 'factoryreset' command at least once to get your EEPROM updated.

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