Posted by Jordi Muñoz on January 22, 2010 at 2:30pm
I know some of you want to help and also for those that can't wait to put their hand's on the ArduPilotMega board here is your opportunity: You can be a Beta tester!The final version of the board will almost the same, just some small corrections like an extra set of resistors pads i added just in case that will be removed in the final version, right now are just bypassed.The requirements for being a beta tester are:-Have and know how to use an AVR ISCP Programmer (i recommend the AVRISP MKII), to upload new HEX's just in case we decide to change the PPM encoder firmware.-Windows XP/Vista/7.-Have a FTDI cable programmer.-Know how to use Arduino Environment and some basic programming skills.-Have a clue what digital electronics means (If you are a regular user or a certified noob, i don't recommend this board to you right now).-Willing to share your experience!-Have $38.90 dlls $44.90, i'm giving the board almost to the production cost (for low quantity's). The final version may cost up to $65 dlls!If you are ok with all this, you are welcome to get one board right now:http://store.diydrones.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BR-ArduPilotMega-01The boards come with firmware (for AT328) and bootloader (for AT1280).I will be posting news&updates on the comments.I have a basic firmware that reads and decodes the PPM signal and display the 8ch PWM's into the terminal:APM_demo.zipThe folder "PPM_Decoder_AT1280" is located the code for Arduino IDE. On the folder "PPM_Enconder_AT328" is the firmware for the PPM enconder, if you have Windows and the AVRISP MKII just double click on the .bat file and press any key and it will upload the hex to the board, make sure to connect your programmer on the "AT328 port".PPM Encoder configuration:-MUX is controlled by input CH5.-Throttle FailSafe is input CH3 (Futaba).The Eagle Files of the Board are here:ArduPilotMega_v10.brdArduPilotMega_v10.sch
Havent quite figured out the IO yet, but did get the ublox feeding data in on Serial1.
Q: Has anyone figured out what pins are the RBF (bind plug) seems to be my next thorn.
Also, do we still need to solder a jumper wire to monitor the throttle port, what was D13 on the original AP?
I'm playing with the beta mega and I'm wondering, does anyone have the mapping of the Arduino software pins to the actual hardware? For example, I've found that for controlling servos, these are the mappings from the Arduino's "pin" to the actual output on the mega board:
Sat down this morning and broke out the soldering iron, and wohoo! its working right out of the box. 2.5 code loaded, config tool uploaded a flight plan, and serial monitor output indicates the right number and coord of the 4 waypoints. Now if I could just get gblox to lock up (inside:) and/or get the header set to 5 "gps sim" working. But enjoy the pic anyway :)
Really nice looking board Jordi! I'm constantly impressed by your work. By the time we think about something that would be nice to have, you've already got it finished :-)
Ok, that sounds good. I'm planning on beginning to write some code for the beta board using the 2.5 version as a base. My current plan is to connect the ArduIMU that I've been working with to the Mega board via i2c. I had originally planned on modifying the Atmega328 based ArduPilot code to use the ArduIMU using this connection, which would free up the serial port on the ArduPilot allowing for 2 way communication(the IMU would handle com to the gps). However, I figured I might as well get started on the Mega, as the extra power will prove useful.
I realize this will be outside the development of your core group, however any findings I make could prove to be useful to the project. And even if I can't get it to work as I plan, it will still be fun to tinker with :-)
You're just going to have to be patient. We'll release the board and code when they're ready over the next month or two, first in beta and then release candidates and then V1.0. The people who are working on are those who have participated in the current versions of ArduPilot, ArduIMU, the GCS, the PPM converter, etc. It is an evolution of our current code bases.
The board is super young, is not officially released yet, theres not even a shield ready... the only code is to test the very low level stuff of the micro... Looks good so far...
By now you can read the 8 channels and pulse 8 servos if you need it. ;-)
Thanks Randy, this is what I had assumed. So it looks like "a lot of people working on development" for the mega code, however I'm unable to find any posts or links describing it's current state, or who is working on it. Does anyone have any more information?
Comments
Q: Has anyone figured out what pins are the RBF (bind plug) seems to be my next thorn.
Also, do we still need to solder a jumper wire to monitor the throttle port, what was D13 on the original AP?
Arduino PIN / Mega's hardware pin
12 = OUT2
13 = OUT3
8 = OUT4
3 = OUT6
2 = OUT7
Cheers,
Rusty
I realize this will be outside the development of your core group, however any findings I make could prove to be useful to the project. And even if I can't get it to work as I plan, it will still be fun to tinker with :-)
You're just going to have to be patient. We'll release the board and code when they're ready over the next month or two, first in beta and then release candidates and then V1.0. The people who are working on are those who have participated in the current versions of ArduPilot, ArduIMU, the GCS, the PPM converter, etc. It is an evolution of our current code bases.
The board is super young, is not officially released yet, theres not even a shield ready... the only code is to test the very low level stuff of the micro... Looks good so far...
By now you can read the 8 channels and pulse 8 servos if you need it. ;-)
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