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ArduPilot now available to buy!

Posted by Chris Anderson on January 6, 2009 at 9:00am

Great news! ArduPilot is now available to buy at Sparkfun. The price is $24.95 (or buy 100 at $19.96 each ;-)). Note: there is a limited number available now, but Sparkfun can make more pretty quickly so get your order in now and they'll be filled from backorder in the order they were received.

[Update on availability from Sparkfun: ~15 coming out of production today/morrow. 63 more PCBs ready. Waiting on xtals (probably about a week).]

You'll also need an EM406 GPS module, and for all but the most stable planes, an FMA Co-Pilot, so unless you already have those items, the total cost of the autopilot will be around $155.

Huge thanks to Nathan Siedle at Sparkfun for helping us get through the production snafus and otherwise taking this project under his wing. Now let's win his autonomous vehicle competition with an ArduPilot-guided plane!

Tags: ardupilot
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Comments

  • Kyle Sanders February 5, 2009 at 6:58am
    Does bridging the solder jumper send power through the regulator rather than directly in? I was looking at using a 6v cluster of 4 AA batteries, and if I'm not mistaken, the new batch of boards should be able to step that down to an acceptable power level, correct? If I do make that solder jumper, will the board still be able to receive power from an ESC if I go that route in the future? Sorry for the amateur questions!
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson February 2, 2009 at 10:19pm
    The new version of the board doesn't have a power select jumper. It defaults to RC power, but if you bridge the solder jumper you can use a stand-alone battery (the board has its own power supply).

    Yes, it can work with both a double throw or triple throw switch.
  • John February 2, 2009 at 8:45pm
    Will the MUX work with a double throw switch instead of a triple as mentioned in the code ? (AKA Spektrum DX6.i gear switch)
  • John February 2, 2009 at 8:44pm
    What happened to the jumper power select pins? It's absent on my Ardupilot board (second Sparkfun real ease). Keep up the good work folks.
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson January 22, 2009 at 8:49pm
    Well, first load the ArduPilot code with Arduino. Plug in the Rx, power it on with an ESC and check that the CTRL channel toggles the MUX LED on and off. Also when your GPS gets a lock (red LED on the module blinks) the white LED should go on on the board.

    Basically, just follow the instructions on the ArduPilot home page!
  • corey January 22, 2009 at 1:37pm
    mine has the same material on it, right in the same spot. did you have a chance to test yours?
  • Michal B January 21, 2009 at 2:54pm
    Take screwdriver and scratch it off ;) It doesn't look like soldering pewter.
  • Moderator
    Sgt Ric January 16, 2009 at 1:34pm
    I remember in 2002 when the IARC aerial robotics competition came to calgary, and several teams had there UAVs seized at the border because of export regulations.

    I din't want my ArduPilots to suffer the same indignity.

    P.S. I'm gloating again by saying my 2 were also in the the first batch.
    I can't wait to get them in the air, but 3 feet of snow and -20 Celcius weather isn't helping the outlook.
  • Moderator
    Sgt Ric January 16, 2009 at 12:37pm
    I rec'd my 2 ArduPilots and GPS'es on Tuesday... and thats in Canada!

    Amazing speed, especially since CanadaCustoms takes forever for anything electronic.

    Incredibly Sparkfun had declared them to be UAVs on the Customs documentation, so how they snuck through and were not siezed, I don't know.
    I thought Chris had said something a while ago about maybe being exported as an electronic kit of parts, and therefore not sounding like a full UAV might work, but apparently someone was asleep at US Customs this week and let them through. Yeah!
  • Michal B January 16, 2009 at 12:25pm
    I was fast enough to order one of first 7.
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