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

The Old Flyer January 13, 2011 at 9:53am

Chris,

Does the DIYDrones store have any decals or stickers to put on our airframes so we can show the public the truly awesome nature of our UAVs?
The Old Flyer January 6, 2011 at 9:51am

What is the nominal current drain of the APM and 4 HS45 type servos? With Ublox GPS and XBee?

When I power my system with a 10Amp Castle Creations BEC it works well but when I use the 5 volts from a typical 45Amp ESC, the servos chatter and the APM never goes into startup.
Rupert Kent January 3, 2011 at 2:24am

There is a problem with the 27 Dec release of APM discovered at the weekend. APM has been rolled back to the Dec 13 release. Your problem could well be related.
Earl January 2, 2011 at 7:43pm

I am running the 12/27 version of the APM ziped software..

Xbee to ground Xbee at 38400

er9x transmitter displaying GCS data.

I have a heck of a time to get the GCS data to work on powerup on the first try. In fact, it takes many tries to get it working.

I have the latest MTK FW in the GPS.

I even tried to watch the data by removing the xbee and watching the data from the APM directly.

I get 6 to 9 lines od data then the data stops. GPS lock light stays on and the red led on the APM is on.

Any ideas ????

Earl
flying toh December 2, 2010 at 5:58pm

Hi all,

I have a question to ask. I have use a joystick on the ground station to control 2 servos for camera mount that is connected to APM out 4 and out 5. It is transmitting by Xbee using baud rate at 38400(is it correct?). I use C# to 2 sets of value over to APM Xbee. It is able to move smoothly with no vibration.
But when I compile the code with ArduPilotMega beta code. Its kept on vibrating. Anyway to reduce the vibration?
3D Robotics

Chris Anderson November 30, 2010 at 9:20pm

Donglass: Glad to hear it and thanks for the kind words! Don't forget to add your airframe (Stryker) to this list.
donglass November 30, 2010 at 9:05pm

WELL DONE! Just wanted to comment to all contributors, to a job well done on the manual, etc. Got my ArduPilot on Mon evening, couple hours putting it together & on the computer, it's installed in the airframe (Stryker) and working well. Thanks to all who helped out to develop a top-notch product
Rupert Kent November 26, 2010 at 5:00am

@Dean: It is normal for the GPS to show only the 3D position info (Lat/Long/Alt) when in CLI mode. There is no satellite, velocity or DOP information. Cheers, Rup
Dean November 24, 2010 at 6:45am

After a month of struggling with trying to figure out why I had no GPS data, I discovered the following tip in the APM manual. I tried this and it solved my problem. As they say, RTFM. Thanks again to everyone who has tried to help me figure out my GPS problem over the past month.

From the APM Manual:

Note: in the 1.0 Beta code there is a slight bug in the MediaTek setup routine, which requires you to reset your board after a cold start before the GPS lock will be registered. So if you're using the MediaTek GPS, wait until the blue lock LED on that module goes solid, then press the reset button on your APM board or shield. This will do a warm start of the board, and the LED behavior should be as shown in the table above.
Dean November 23, 2010 at 7:37am

When I run the GPS test in CLI mode, I always get 0 back as the number of satellites despite obtaining good position fixes. Am I the only one that is experiencing this, or is this a bug in the code? I am using a MediaTek GPS receiver that I had to reload the firmware onto. I do not have GPS data when actually flying, and I have been trying for weeks to get to the bottom of the problem. Perhaps I just need to purchase a new GPS receiver?

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