ardupilot
- Thread starter emm
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GlassKnees
Well-Known Member
It is indeed an obsolete flight controller and is no longer sold/supported by 3DR. That doesn't mean that it's no good - you can still buy cheap clones, in fact I just ordered two. And the firmware is still available with Mission Planner, which is a free download. It is a great f.c. but due to its lack of memory space, it cannot accommodate the latest firmware that fits in a Pixhawk.
thank you for your reply
do you have an idea about naze32/flip32 ? i'm thinking about using it wirh a raspberry pi 3
GlassKnees
Well-Known Member
Sorry, but I've been a 3DR bigot. I don't have any experience with any other flight controllers.
can you please refer me to where you bought the two boards from ? cuz i'm intrested in using Mission planner as it appears to have good options , but i'm confused about the flight controller to use with it ( pixhawk is expensive for me so i'm just looking for a low cost autopilot )
GlassKnees
Well-Known Member
I bought my flight controllers from Amazon. They are fairly cheap - $35 - $45 U.S. I use the APM 2.6 and use an external GPS/compass. If you want GPS you might want to consider buying a "bundle" consisting of the flight controller, GPS, APM power module, etc.
Regarding 3DR I found an article that describes the what happened to the company- it isn't pretty: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/10/05/3d-robotics-solo-crash-chris-anderson/#7cbbf09a3ff5
I have to admit that the main reason I use APMs is because of Mission Planner. However all is no longer supported. The only software improvements being made are from individuals.
I've had trouble finding a replacement GPS for one of my quadcopters - just returned one from Amazon that failed calibration. I have a new module on order that will fit in the 3DR plastic case, but will have to cut the opening for the leads as the plugs are not positioned exactly where they were on the original board. I'm also bidding on a used 3DR GPS on ebay...
Regarding 3DR I found an article that describes the what happened to the company- it isn't pretty: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/10/05/3d-robotics-solo-crash-chris-anderson/#7cbbf09a3ff5
I have to admit that the main reason I use APMs is because of Mission Planner. However all is no longer supported. The only software improvements being made are from individuals.
I've had trouble finding a replacement GPS for one of my quadcopters - just returned one from Amazon that failed calibration. I have a new module on order that will fit in the 3DR plastic case, but will have to cut the opening for the leads as the plugs are not positioned exactly where they were on the original board. I'm also bidding on a used 3DR GPS on ebay...
thank you for the information
apart from mission planner , don't you know an other software that offers navigation and path planning (to eventually support other hardware flight controllers ) ?
p.S : does a software like mission planner do the whole job when talking about an atonomous mission ? i mean , what's left for a person to do or program , when working with autopilot+ mission planning software
excuse me for the too many questions , i'm a newb , and i barely have an idea about what to do
GlassKnees
Well-Known Member
I do know that DJI offers the creation of waypoint missions, though I believe you do it "on the fly" - I don't really have any experience with it.
Mission Planner will allow you to control all aspects of a waypoint mission. You can specify the altitude along each leg, you can specify what the aircraft is supposed to do when it reaches a waypoint (hover, circle around the waypoint, etc.) and you can specify direct or spline waypoints (spline waypoints are mainly for fixed wing aircraft though I use them a lot for my quadcopters to provide a smoother path). You can create "points of interest", where the nose of the aircraft will be pointed as it flies from one waypoint to the next, and you can create "rally points", which are basically alternative landing sites. You can add a last waypoint at the end of your mission and set it to RTL, and the aircraft will return to the launch point and land autonomously. You can also control other parameters, such as horizontal speed between waypoints, as well as climb and descent speeds.
Here are a couple of videos I shot from my quadcopter.
- The shakiness in this video is due to the use of a 2 axis gimbal. A three axis gimbal will remove minor yaw movements and produce a much smoother video:
A lot of work went into Mission Planner and it would be a shame to have it go away. I haven't seen anything else that has the functionality and polished interface.
Mission Planner will allow you to control all aspects of a waypoint mission. You can specify the altitude along each leg, you can specify what the aircraft is supposed to do when it reaches a waypoint (hover, circle around the waypoint, etc.) and you can specify direct or spline waypoints (spline waypoints are mainly for fixed wing aircraft though I use them a lot for my quadcopters to provide a smoother path). You can create "points of interest", where the nose of the aircraft will be pointed as it flies from one waypoint to the next, and you can create "rally points", which are basically alternative landing sites. You can add a last waypoint at the end of your mission and set it to RTL, and the aircraft will return to the launch point and land autonomously. You can also control other parameters, such as horizontal speed between waypoints, as well as climb and descent speeds.
Here are a couple of videos I shot from my quadcopter.
A lot of work went into Mission Planner and it would be a shame to have it go away. I haven't seen anything else that has the functionality and polished interface.
nice videos especially the second one
sounds like mission planner is the best , i'm considering one of the low cost hardware that works : PXFmini, it's designed for the raspberry pi board ( which is my main board choice ) , the problem is with the other necessary parts that come along with it , like GPS module (antenna and reciever) , power supply and others .. they are expensive (http://erlerobotics.com/blog/product/pxfmini/ )
thank you for your suggestion, but it's too expensive for me , i still need other expensive parts like sensors and cameras , so i'm looking for cheap autopilot