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3D Robotics

ArduPilot Mega Now Available!

Posted by Chris Anderson on April 28, 2010 at 1:00pm


It's available now from Sparkfun! $59.95.


And cool home page promo on the Sparkfun site here.


Here's a quick FAQ for people just now coming to the site, or hearing about ArduPilot Mega for the first time:

  • It is designed to work with an IMU "shield" (board that fits on top) that contains all the sensors. That board will be available by the end of May. The latest info on the shield is here.
  • You'll need two right-angle 3x8 connectors to attach your RC gear.
  • The ArduPilot Mega code will build on ArduPilot 2.6 and be available in about a month.

We recommend this board just for people who want to beta test or tinker. For regular users who want a plug-and-play (ish) experience, it's best to wait a few weeks for us to release the IMU shield, code and documentation. (The Sparkfun board will also be tweaked a bit, with mostly cosmetic changes to make some pin labeling clearer, in the next batch.)

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Comments

  • Diymaker May 2, 2010 at 12:30am
    Wow, wish like to get one and build my own quadcopter
  • John Ihlein April 30, 2010 at 10:39am
    Thanks Chris, got the RC connectors. I was more interested in the headers that will be used to connect to the IMU shield, if that's known at this time. Only want to solder once if I can. Thanks.
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson April 30, 2010 at 10:19am
    @John. Post now updated with link to needed connectors.
  • Bryce Wilkinson April 30, 2010 at 10:14am
    Thanks everyone. @Ryan, I don't think It's expensive. I'm going to be ordering a ton for me and my friends. I was just curious why it cost's more.
  • John Ihlein April 30, 2010 at 8:40am
    Just ordered 2 boards from Sparkfun. Is there a list of headers somewhere that need to be purchased for connecting to the upcoming IMU shield? I've got a pretty good idea of what is needed, just wanted to cross check before ordering.

    John
  • Moderator
    Alex April 30, 2010 at 6:11am
    Great news that its finally released!!! but I read on sparkfun that it says code supports autoland and auto takeoff, is this something that is going to be added to the next code release? or is it just saying we have the option to write our own autoland code for the board since IMU shield has pressure sensor?
  • Javier Robaina April 30, 2010 at 2:45am
    Hi, this is my first participation on this website, but I have enough time reading, I've been waiting a long time to ardupilot mega project to start in a UAV, I would like to know how to stabilize the mega Ardupilot, if necessary or infrared sensors on the contrary, the IMU can be used as the standard Ardupilot and which would be the necessary components to complete the project, not if I'm wrong, I think you need is: MEGA Ardupilot, IMU, GPS, do not know if I'm wrong and lack a component, a greeting from the Canary Islands.

    Excuse my English, but do not write in English and use a translator of google.
  • jaron April 30, 2010 at 1:43am
    With the ArduPilot Mega (40 x 69 mm) you get an Arduino Mega (54 x 112 mm) + additional features + a smaller form factor. And you wouldn't believe it but it costs 5$ less!

    Congrats to everybody who was involved into this project.
  • Developer
    Jordi Muñoz April 29, 2010 at 11:38pm
    Bryce, I asked the same question time ago, Why Arduino Mega ($64.95) cost a lot more than the Original Arduino Board ($29.95)?

    If you watch carefully ArduPilot costs $24.95, and ArduPilot Mega $59.95, do you see a relation?

    Atmega1280 is more expensive and is very difficult to handle and test... They test every pin.... Also as bigger is the board, more shipping costs (weight) from China and the factory charges by area, every square inches is an extra $$! I see many, many reasons why is more expense...

    But in general this board is really, really cheap... Not to mention the code...
  • Andrew Burns April 29, 2010 at 11:24pm
    Significantly larger main microcontroller, significantly larger failsafe controller, larger boards which will cost more, many more tracks which would have required a lot more effort to route etc... It's still fairly cheap when you consider the total package will likely cost the same as the current total ardupilot package.
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