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ArduPilot Mega v1.0 Alpha 1 release

Posted by Doug Weibel on July 14, 2010 at 2:05pm
The ArduPilot Mega development team is pleased to announce the public release of ArduPilot Mega v1.0 Alpha 1 test firmware. It is located here


If you are ready please feel free to test the code. The best place to start is with the manual which is located here

Please note
  1. There are libraries that you will need to install in your Arduino IDE for this firmware to work.
  2. This code is under development so there are lots of holes. Currently it supports MANUAL, STABILIZE, FLY_BY_WIRE_A, AUTO, RTL, and LOITER flight modes, a small number of a larger set of commands that will be implemented, and on board data logging. Currently it does not support any gps other than ublox, absolute or differential (airspeed) pressure sensors, magnetometer, battery voltage measurement, telemetry or uplink (some downlink available through Serial0), take-off or landing, and a bunch of other stuff
  3. The code is not compatible with the ArduPilot configuration tool. There is a waypoint (command) writer tool available in the tools directory of the repository, but no documentation available yet.
  4. The code is not currently compatible with the ground station.
We have successfully tested all flight modes. However this is an alpha release of code still under development. If you are expecting to just download it and have everything work, you are jumping on board too early. If you want to start learning about setting a UAV up with this system and learning about the features and options of the code then give it a go!
Tags: ardupilot, mega
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Comments

  • Developer
    Doug Weibel July 17, 2010 at 1:15pm
    @woranon - http://code.google.com/p/ardupilot-mega/source/browse/Trunk/Tools/A...

    Note that you need to install the APM_RC library...
  • woranon July 17, 2010 at 1:04pm
    Hi all,
    i recently recieved arduipilot and arduino imu shield and i already soldering it together, i plug the USB and can saw the message from board. i wish like see the raw PWM values which function i should call. plase give me some example. thank a lot.
  • Developer
    Doug Weibel July 16, 2010 at 6:25am
    Earl - I'd recommend just setting up a separate code.google.com repository for yourself. That will keep others from getting confused about what code is what in the regular repository.

    The Ground station team will be reworking the ground station to use a new binary communication protocol to support 2 way comm, etc. I don't know if the GCS will support the old downlink text stream going forward.
    Google Code
  • Developer
    Doug Weibel July 16, 2010 at 6:20am
    @Jason - I did put a .zip in the downloads :)
  • Earl July 14, 2010 at 10:45pm
    yes I use Tortoise SVN, then I can make the Earl folder under branches folder.
    Earl
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson July 14, 2010 at 10:34pm
    Earl, can you use SVN (Tortoise SVN)? If so, we can give you commit access to the SVN archive.
  • Earl July 14, 2010 at 10:20pm
    Can I have a spot under branches Earl to put the code I modify?
    I now have #4 from above covered. GCS displays data well.
    I am at VA hospital tonight but will be back to the ranch by tomorrow night.
    Just some tests to see why I am doing this stuff at my age,
    I keep telling them a UAV retirement home is hard to find,
    maybe I'll build one on the ranch. need good cook and very goog lookin nurse who can dispence wackey weed.ESC Motors Props Donuts LiPo's in many flavors, ans steady hands to solder and other things.Oh, did I mention it will bee a nudie UAV camp if you bring your oun good looking nurse to join thr staff.
    Earlhttp://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/ardupilot-mega-v10-alpha-1#
  • Earl July 14, 2010 at 9:12pm
    Where can I put my code revision with the standard GCS output ?
    Earl
  • Developer
    Mark Colwell July 14, 2010 at 8:18pm
    Congratulations Doug and crew, Thanks for getting alpha rev published, now we can get some flight testing done !!
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson July 14, 2010 at 3:49pm
    Please note that the Manual is still a work in progress. What's there now will get you started, but I'll have a chance to at least document the current code properly this weekend.

    As Doug noted, this is just for the VERY BRAVE folks who really want to get in on the ground floor and help us find bugs and other problems with the code. We're releasing this primarily for feedback from testers, especially in-air testing, which we need a lot more of. .

    In short, don't put this in a plane you care about. For those who just want to fly missions, we recommend waiting for the beta release (probably in about a month) or even better 1.0, which should be out in September.
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