Helicoblast over at the ArduPirates RCG thread answered a frequently-asked question on the various ArduPilot code bases with this great graphic. The only small corrections I'd make is that the software the DIY Drones dev team (left column) is currently working on, which is an effort to sync up with ArduPilotMega (APM), the very mature full UAV code on fixed wing aircraft, is actually code-named ArduCopterMega (ACM). It will be released with the month as ArduCopter 2.0.
Also, ArduCopterNG (next generation) and ArduCopter RC2 (release candidate 2) are actually the same thing. RC2 was just the public name for NG. The big blue arrow to the right means that further development of RC2 was handed off to the ArduPirates team while the DIY Drones dev team did a restart based on the APM architecture to achieve full UAV functionality with ArduCopter 2.0.
The ArduPirates code, which is what we recommend people use until ArduCopter 2.0 is released, is here.
Comments
I'm finding RC2 to be pretty stable and flying well.
We (DIY Core team) handed ArduCopterNG development for ArduPirates long time ago and we are not actively develop that code anymore. So naturally it their code looks a lot better now than earlier ArduCopterNG codes that we worked.
Like Chris said, DIY Core team is working with ArduCopterMega code now and that is based on fully featured ArduPilotMega code. But ACM is not yet on a stage that where it can be released for wider use. It is still having high status of "only core developers". And so we do not give any support not guides for that yet.
And like said.. Ardupirate code is now official NG branch and there will be official release from them soon too.
I hope that this cleared a bit more.
Very nice diagram!!
In my opinion (just from videos and wiki) Ardupirate code looks better than the ''official'' arducopter code.Is that true?Why thats happen?
Thanks for the catches--now fixed. The Xbee adapters are now made and sold at the DIY Drones stores, too, although there are reasons to sometimes choose the Sparkfun USB adapter instead. No reason to use the Adafruit one anymore, however--are there still links pointing to that, too?
Likewise for the FTDI cable. Pls let me know if you find any links pointing elsewhere for that.
Here's the one that I was looking at, on OilPan board, points to sparkfun:
http://store.diydrones.com/product_p/br-0013-01.htm
Good to know DIYDrones also carries the APM.
Adafruit was indeed where I got my XBee carriers. Sparkfun, the XBee units themselves. And the older ArduPilot. And FTDI cable.
We'll get there.
Chris, perhaps part of the confusion on the APM is that the store doesn't always link to itself for that item. For example, on the ArduCopter Quad v1.0 KIT, Partial Electronics page under the "You Still Need" section, the link for the APM is to SparkFun.
I've spent a lot of time looking at that particular page while waiting for it to restock. :-)
Ground Loop: DIY Drones does make and carry its own APM board. Unless you want Xbee modules there's no need to go to Sparkfun/Adafruit/Digikey etc for any Ardu* autopilot electronics.
We list all the parts you need right in the tabs above. I'm concerned that we're not going a good enough job at this if you were confused.
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