This is a Arduino-compatible autopilot board using the ATMega1280 processor. ArduPilot Mega is a fully programmable autopilot that requires an
IMU "shield" and
GPS module to create a functioning Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The board comes with all the surface-mount parts already soldered, but requires the user to solder on connectors. RC interface firmware is already loaded, but the autopilot software must be downloaded and loaded onto the board by the user.
APM can be used for either airplanes or rotary wing aircraft, including quadcopters and other multicopters and traditional helicopters. The autopilot hardware is the same, and you can load whichever firmware is appropriate for the aircraft you've got via the free Mission Planner. (You may choose to add other sensors to improve performance for specific airframes, such as an airspeed sensor for airplanes or a magnetometer for mulitcopters).
All details and instructions can be found at each project's home page:
Airplane home page
Multicopters and helis home page
Features:
- Designed to be used with autonomous aircraft, quadcopters and helis
- Based on a 16MHz Atmega1280 processor.
- Built-in hardware failsafe that uses a separate circuit (multiplexer chip and ATMega328 processor) to transfer control from the RC system to the autopilot and back again.
- Includes ability to reboot the main processor in mid-flight
- Dual-processor design with 32 MIPS of onboard power
- Supports 3D waypoints and mission commands (limited only by memory--approximately 600-700 waypoints with current code, but can be adapted for more)
- 128k Flash Program Memory, 8K SRAM, 4K EEPROM
- Comes with a 6-pin GPS connector (EM406 style).
- Has 16 spare analog inputs (with ADC on each) and 40 digital input/outputs to add additional sensors
- Four dedicated serial ports for two-way telemetry (using optional XBee modules) and expansion
- Can be powered by either the RC receiver or a separate battery
- Hardware-driven servo control, which means less processor overhead, tighter response and no jitters
- Eight RC channels (including the autopilot on/off channel) can be processed by the autopilot.
- LEDs for power, failsafe status, autopilot status
Resources:
