OK - After working with a small group of Alpha testers, I guess we are ready to open the flood gates and make a public release of ArduPilotMega!
Here is what you need to know:
- This is an Alpha release - expect there to be bugs. If you don't want to deal with bugs, wait for the Beta. There will still be bugs in the Beta (probably), but a lot less.
- For the Alpha release we will NOT be providing a .zip download. The code will be changing frequently as we find and fix bugs. You should use a SVN client to get the most recent revision to the code. Look below for a mini tutorial. If you don't want to mess with SVN, please wait for the Beta release.
- Read the ArduPilot Mega manual. It is located here. Expect the manual to change on a daily basis. Recheck it frequently.
- Please understand that there is a HUGE amount of functionality in ArduPilotMega. Most of it is still untested in actual flight, and some specific commands are not fully implemented.
- We have made extensive use of libraries. You must either add these to your Arduino install or we would recommend using the great new "Sketchbook checkout" put together by Michael Smith which will handle getting the libraries for you and keeping them current. See the SVN mini tutorial below.
- There is some functionality in place for the Legacy ground station. There is also functionality in place for the new ground station, however the new ground station is not ready yet.
What has not been tested:
- Airspeed Sensor and associated control laws
- Magnetometer
- NMEA
- Most of the commands
- Use of many of the options in the config file
Good luck and happy autonomous flying!
Mini SVN Tutorial
This is a quick tutorial on how to use Tortise SVN to download the ArduPilotMega code using the "Sketchbook checkout" and how to keep your copy up to date.
- Install the TortiseSVN client on your PC. Get it here.
- On your PC open a window for the directory into which you would like to store your local copy of the code. Right click in the window and choose SVN Checkout.
- Fill in the URL of repository with: http://ardupilot-mega.googlecode.com/svn/Sketchbook/trunk/
- The checkout directory field should contain a folder name of the folder you are in appended with \Sketchbook
- Click OK. This step downloads all the firmware and library files you will need. If you have a slow connection this step can be glitchy. If you get an error that one or more libraries you can use the SVN update feature to correct this after the checkout completes.
- You should now have a Sketchbook folder which contains folders for ArduPilotMega, libraries, and Tests.
- Open the Arduino IDE. Go to Preferences in the File menu. Change the Sketchbook location to this new Sketchbook folder. Now choose Sketchbook from the File menu and choose ArduPilotMega.
- You are now ready to compile the latest code.
- To update your local working copy to the latest revision, go to the directory containing your Sketchbook folder, right click on the Sketchbook folder, and choose SVN Update. With this one step you will get the latest code for ArduPilotMega and all the libraries downloaded to your PC.
Comments
I’m glad you explained this, as I hadn’t realized that. I will definitely invest in a new RC.
Still looking forward to uploading of commands though ;)
James
Uploading commands will probably be enabled in the Beta, which will be released at the end of the month. But we very much do NOT recommend that you use that as your only way to switch between modes. If you've got a software/hardware problem, your plane will crash if you can't use the built-in failsafe processor to regain control via a RC toggle. 7 Channel RC sets cost $60. That's a small price to pay to save an entire UAV from fly-away/destruction.
Can commands be sent over telemetry? Such as can I send an CMD_AP_MODE over telemetry and everything will work (I would test it right now but I’m at school for the week)? Reason being that I only have a four channel radio so it looks like it’s just sitting in AUTO mode at the moment. I was hoping to be able to set the mode and such using a program I wrote for my computer to send commands according to button pushes or hotkeys.
Thanks
The LED's are still messed up. You will get the little light show during IMU calibration, but that is all you can rely on at the moment.
expected construtor, destructor, or type conversion before '(' token
with // GPS selection highlighted yellow
Any ideas?
Thinking I had old bits not messing I restored the entire directory but its gone from working to not.
Also is the correct LED behaviour going to happen whilst plugged into the computer?
My ABC has only the C flashing is this part of the issues section LED thing?
inconsistent newlines
Inconsistent line ending style
Seems to be a common problem and I still havent seen or found a common link to solve it permanently. The easiest way to resolve it is to simply delete the files that will not update then go out of the folder and update the entire folder. This will "restore" the file deleted with the updated one.
Tony
Tell Arduino that the Sketchbook folder is the sketchbook.If you are still having problems, please ensure that you include the output from the Arduino error window when you file your issue.
If you are using a prebuild of Arduino 0019, it's best if you hold down shift when clicking Verify, as this will give better error messages.
It should not be inside your sketchbook folder.
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