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ArduPilot Mega now available as an all-in-one kit

Posted by Chris Anderson on March 13, 2011 at 8:00am

3689393964?profile=originalBy popular demand, ArduPilot Mega is now available as an all-in-one kit for $250. It includes everything you need for a functioning autopilot with GPS, even including RC cables.

 

We'll soon be offering wireless telemetry options for this, too, along with a ArduCopter version that comes with a magnetometer. A pre-soldered version of APM will also be available in a month or so, once we put in place a rock-solid testing process.

 

In the meantime, you can buy APM pre-soldered with code loaded and tested from uDrones for $349.

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Comments

  • Darren March 18, 2011 at 6:47am

    Here is the main use for my ftdi cable though...

    3692183626?profile=original

  • PeteD March 15, 2011 at 7:37pm
    ah k. Forgot IMU has FTDI on board.
  • Darren March 15, 2011 at 5:33pm
    I haev loads of reasons for owning a ftdi cable, upgrading firmware on ublox, and xbee, configuration changes on xbee and ublox, direct connect to telemetry port for hil on usb and gcs on ftdi to the groundstation with no need of running xbee's, um... plus more but you get my drift. But to include? I dunno, but I bought mine with the APM board before the IMU had came out. so it was required :)
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson March 14, 2011 at 10:08pm

    dydx:

    1) Why would anyone need an FTDI cable? APM is USB native.

    2) The DIY Drones factory makes its own APM boards now.

  • Developer
    Jani Hirvinen March 14, 2011 at 7:52pm
    dydx, it does not need any FTDI cable just normal USB cable is enough. IMU board has FTDI adapter onboard.
  • PeteD March 14, 2011 at 7:37pm

    This is a great idea. A couple of questions:

     

    - Was consideration made to include the FTDI programmer cable? Most people starting out will need one of these too.

    - Is the APM purchased from Sparkfun and included in the kit or does the store now make these too?

  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson March 14, 2011 at 9:16am
    Dave, it's no harder than an Arduino shield. APM has a whole suite of tests to check every part of your hardware. It's all interactive and pretty easy to use.
  • Dave Lehman March 14, 2011 at 8:03am

    I have put together a few Arduino shields, but i'm not a pro solderer, by any means. Is it reasonable that i'd be able to put together this kit properly, or would you advise me to wait for the pre-soldered version?

     

    I'm willing (and interested) to try, i'm just worried about my ability to properly test it afterwards to ensure everything is running properly. I don't want to have long-term issues due to my soldering ability (never mind my flying abilities!). Are there self-tests that can be run to verify all systems after assembly?

  • Paul Marsh March 14, 2011 at 7:41am
    I knew there was a reason I was holding off buying my APM!  This will make life much easier.  Thanks.
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson March 13, 2011 at 8:41pm
    dydx: we're just selling the electronics, which are not export controlled by themselves. It's not an autopilot without code. If you want to buy it with code loaded, you need to buy outside the US at udrones.com
    http://udrones.com/
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