Hello All,I have started into an ArduPilot project to satisfy my curiosity and to draw my 12 year old daughter out of her novels and into some practical math and science. My intent is to start with a straightforward ArduPilot set-up with the current hardware and software.The airframe I chose is the SuperStar EP. We finished assembling it last night. It is stock (for the present) except I am running a 3 cell 2200 mAh LiPo instead of the stock NiCad. With 200 grams less weight and considerably more voltage the SuperStar performs quite nicely. We are just back from 2 quick flights at the local schoolyard. My daughter learned what happens when you land in grass that is 4 times as tall as your tires :)Tonight we will begin assembling the autopilot hardware. Again I am going with the "stock" setup - DIYDrones IR sensors and shield with airspeed, and EM406 gps.I have not ordered parts yet for downlink and groundstation. I was not planning to implement that right away, but judging from some posts I have seen it may be highly desirable for debugging purposes. I'd appreciate any opinions on that as well as on using the hardware ground station versus a laptop setup.Best Regards,Doug
That's great that your 12 YO daughter is showing an interest. I've tried getting my 12 YO son into R/C planes for the past 6 years but he couldn't care less; model trains were his thing.
This hobby has it all! Aerodynamics, electronics, programming, robotics, mechanics------. Hope your daughter gets the bug.
Welcome and congrats on a great start! I'd begin with the laptop/software version of the ground station (mostly because it's cooler and will impress your daughter!). But remember you'll need the two Xbee modules and interface boards to make it work.
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Good luck Doug!
This hobby has it all! Aerodynamics, electronics, programming, robotics, mechanics------. Hope your daughter gets the bug.