This blog record is about using Carambola with Arducotper to get live telemetry data from quadcopter.

Carambola is low cost, open-source WiFi (21.5 dB / 2.4GHz) embeddable platform from…

I have been working on a hexacopter for aerial videography and photography.   The hexacopter is equipped with a ArduPilot Mega with sonar, gps, magnetometer and a camera gimbal.  After hours of tuning, I got the Scout Hexa really dialed in.

I really happy with the stability of the Arducopter code.  Here is a video demonstrating some of the ArduPilot…

Here some videos samples of 8 full AUTO-LANDING tests flights that I have done with the firwmare ArduCopter v2.4xp1 (JLN mod). I have updated the official ArduCopter v2.4 firmware with a special Auto-Landing mod that I have developped and tested successfully in the previous…

Here a video of a long duration LOITER (GPS position Hold) with my QRO quadcopter piloted by the ArduMega v2 board and the firmware ArduCopter v2.2 B4xp1 (with JLN mod). The flight is very stable and secure.…

Here a video about the HIL tests of the firmware ArduCopter v2.2 b2xp2 (with JLN updates) with an Helicopter in H1 mode (Raptor 30 type) on the AeroSIM-RC simulator.

The tested features are:

- STABILIZE mode,

- LOITER mode (GPS position Hold),

- RTL (Return To Launch),

- AUTO mode (GPS…

ArduCopter in action: Testing the QuadCopter (HIL mode) on X-Plane v9

Here a video a the ArduMega board (2560 or 1280) with the firmware ArduCopter v2.1.1b (JLN update for X-Plane) connected on the X-Plane simulator throught the APM Planner in HIL mode. The QuadCopter QRO has been modelized for X-Plane v9.0 (or greater) so as get a closest replication of a true QuadCopter UAV.

This is a very good method for testing all the features of the ArduCopter…

Had a great time maidening Andreas' new RiteWing Zephyr II with the APM.  The Zii flies very nicely, and works well with APM.

We flew in manual, stabilized, fbw-a, and auto modes.  We reduced the default speed from 45 to 35, which gave a nice smooth flight with a comfortable airspeed for our flying site.

There's some onboard video as well.…

In this video you will find a full test of the ArduCopter v2.1 that I have done with my QRO (Quad Rotor Observer) done on december 17, 2011.…

Here a video of a full autonomous navigation in AUTO mode of the QRO (Quad Rotor Observer) with the firmware Arducopter v2.0.56a. The waypoints have been recorded in flight with the Switch on Ch7.

Successful tests of modes: ALT_HOLD, LOITER, AUTO, WP_SAVE, STABLE, SIMPLE.

The heading is locked with the help of a 3 axis magnetometer, the altitude is only locked by a barometric pressure (no…

Here a video of a new serie of tests of my quadcopter (QRO) during a full autonomous flight in RTL and LOITER mode (GPS position Hold)  with the firmware Arducopter v2.0.54 + stability patch. The altitude is only locked by a barometric pressure (no sonar and no optical flow sensor).

The quadcopter autonomous flight is really stable and safe, the Jason' stability patch on the…

APM 2.0 is the culmination of almost a year of hard work. We wanted to make it perfect and we…

Hello to All,

I have done successful tests flights with the version of the ArduCopter v2.0.51 (original firmware version, not modified). I have used a hands build quadcopter frame (550 mm wide) . In spite of the windy and gusty weather (wind 18 Km/h gusting 22 Km/h), I have been very suprised by the stability of my quadcopter with this new firmware (thanks to Jason and to the DIY Drones team).…

Long time since my last post!

I'm glad to announce the new ArduIMU V3 that will take the place of the very successful ArduIMU v2 (flat version). We called it flat version because ArduIMU V2 was created in a time where 3 axis and even 2 axis gyros were not so common and we had to place some of the…

I've written my own Ardustation software for talking to the APM using MAVLink. The software is based on my previous version (for APM v1.x), which was in turn based on code written by Michael Smith.

On october 1st, 2011, my MAJA drone has done successfully a full autonomous flight under flight plan with the ThermoPilot v5, an updated version of the Arduplane v2.23. The video of the flight is recorded with a GO pro HD wide on board. This test flight is a part of my ThermoPilot project (Autonomous Thermal Hunter glider).

The flight of the real…

Today I maiden my wooden hobbyking Quadcopter and it went fine!

I have flown rc helicopters quite a bit, but that was a couple of years ago. Then i heard an interview with Chris Anderson on Leo Laportes podcast 'Triangulation' and I was intrigued about the drone part of the hobby.

Me and a friend ordererd two ArduPilots and got into it again.

 …

A 10 Km full autonomous flight of the MAJA drone with an ArduPilotMega

The MAJA drone has successfully done a 10 Km autonomous mission under flight plan on May 28, 2011. The purpose of my mission challenge is to succeed in a full 10 km autonomous navigation under a flight plan (FPL) with only the steering of the ArduPilotMega and its firmware (v2.2f JLN).

- All the 8 waypoints of the MAJA drone has been defined so as to be…

Successful 3.5 Km autonomous flight of the MAJA drone with a GoPro HD

The MAJA drone has done a successful 3.5 Km autonomous mission under flight plan on May 2011.

The FPL is composed of 5 waypoints and the MAJA drone autopilot runs the FPL during 2 loops. The full flight have been recorded with a GoPro HD wide camera. The MAJA drone is fully steered with an ArduPilotMega (APM v1.4) autopilot with a 9D0F IMU and the…

Made in China!

Don't know what to say.…

Successful flight of the MAJA Drone with the ArduPilotMega

The MAJA Drone built and tested by Jean-Louis Naudin, a true UAV with full autonomous flight capabilities done on May 2011.

 

Avionic setup:

 - Ardupilot Mega (Atmega 1280 @16 MHz), 32 Mips

 - Full 9DOF IMU,

 - Built-in 16 MB Data Logger,

 - Airspeed and absolute pressure sensors (Bosh),

 - triple axis magnetometer HMC5843,

 - 10Hz…