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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

  • Patrick May 12, 2010 at 3:11am
    The board itself isn't actually dimensionally smaller...

    The advantages are not only the capability to attach more servo's, but that there is a more powerful processor on board, and a heap more I/O (especially 4 serial ports, so you can dedicate one to GPS, one to Telemetry,etc).
  • Taylor Cox May 10, 2010 at 1:17pm
    So what are the main benefits of using the arduMega? Is it just the fact that it is a more compact design and you are able to attach more servos?
  • Yogianandh Naidoo May 10, 2010 at 7:29am
    Thanks... can't wait :-P
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson May 10, 2010 at 7:23am
    Just stay tuned. We'll make your life a lot easier in a few weeks ;-)
  • Yogianandh Naidoo May 10, 2010 at 7:22am
    Mmmmmhhhh..... Sounds messy. Thanks for the heads up though. I'll have to do alot more reading now. Any other suggestions? I'm working on a masters research project to automate a 550 sized electric powered RC helicopter. The plan is to use it as an urban search and rescue robot. I'm a mechanical engineering graduate, so I'm struggling a bit with the electronics.
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson May 10, 2010 at 7:13am
    We'll only support the upcoming shield. You could use another sensor board but you'll have to modify the software yourself.
  • Yogianandh Naidoo May 10, 2010 at 7:03am
    Finally! A cheap helicopter VTOL autopilot is looking within reach... Do you have to use the upcoming shield, or will an IMU 6DOF v4 Sensor board from Sparkfun work? Does anyone know if and how?
  • Luis Ramos May 3, 2010 at 8:13am
    Boas Pedro eu comprei o meu material lá e duas semanas depois tinha cá tudo sem os problemas de alfandega que normalmente tenho!! agora mando vir o material de uma loja na alemanha que envia por UPS maravilha!
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson May 2, 2010 at 3:18pm
    @Roger. Jordi has said that the only non-cosmetic differences is that the production version has a fuse to prevent reverse polarity burnouts. So you shouldn't have to change anything (just be careful plugging in power)
  • Roger A May 2, 2010 at 3:12pm
    I had bought two beta versions of the board - can someone define what changes need to be made to the beta boards to bring them in-line with the release versions?
This reply was deleted.