Ardupilot

ArduPilot
Developer(s) DIY Drones team
Stable release 3.2.1 / February 2015
Preview release 3.3.0 Beta1 / February 2015
Operating system Cross-platform Windows, Mac OS, Linux
Type Unmanned aerial vehicle
License GPLv3
Website http://www.diydrones.com, http://www.ardupilot.co.uk, http://ardupilot.com

ArduPilot (also ArduPilotMega - APM) is an open source unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platform, able to control autonomous multicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, traditional helicopters and ground rovers. Ardupilot is an award winning platform that won the 2012 and 2014 UAV Outback Challenge competitions . It was created in 2007 by the DIY Drones community.[1][2] It is based on the Arduino open-source electronics prototyping platform. The first Ardupilot version was based on a thermopile, which relies on determining the location of the horizon relative to the aircraft by measuring the difference in temperature between the sky and the ground.[3] Later, the system was improved to replace thermopiles with an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) using a combination of accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers.

Today, the ArduPilot project has evolved to a range of hardware and software products, including the APM and Pixhawk/PX4 line of autopilots, and the ArduCopter,[4] ArduPlane [5] and ArduRover[6] software projects.

The free software approach from Ardupilot is similar to that of the PX4/Pixhawk and Paparazzi Project, where low cost and availability enables its hobbyist use in small remotely piloted aircraft, such as micro air vehicles and miniature UAVs.

2012 UAV Outback Challenge

In 2012, the Canberra UAV Team successfully took first place in the prestigious UAV Outback Challenge. This challenge began in 2007 to showcase and promote UAV's significance to Australia in search and rescue missions and promoted growth in aerospace, government, and civilian applications. The CanberraUAV Team consisted of Arduplane Developers and the airplane flown was controlled by an APM 2 Autopilot. The intended mission that was developed for the UAV Outback Challenge was to locate and deliver medical supplies to a "lost" hiker. The CanberraUAV team and all subsequent teams failed to meet the requirement to drop a bottle of water on an intended target. However, the CanberraUAV team were placed first based on a points system.

Customizability

The customizability of Ardupilot makes it very popular in the DIY field. This allows for a multitude of uses such as multicopter and fixed plane drones. This customizability also allows a variety of additional parts to be used by the use of different connectors and transmitters to allow for different uses depending on the operator preferences. The Ardupilot has been successfully integrated into many airplanes such as the Multiplex Easy Star,Easy Glider Pro, and the Bixler 2.0. The customizability and ease of installation has allowed the Ardupilot platform to be integrated for a variety of missions. The use of Mission Planner has allowed the Ardupilot board to be used for mapping missions, search and rescue, and surveying areas.

Features

The opensource format of ArduPilot has allowed for simple use of many open source platforms created by Jordi Muñoz and Chris Anderson. The features are:

References

  1. ↑ Developer | APM open source autopilot
  2. ↑ Drones Makers Get Help From the Open Source Crowd
  3. ↑ Developer | APM open source autopilot
  4. ↑ ArduCopter
  5. ↑ ArduPlane
  6. ↑ ArduRover

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, December 28, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.