DIY apm-compatible (sort of) boards?

I already got quite a few different types of Arduino boards and plenty of sensors.

I was wondering, since the APM is based on mega2560, it should be possible to piece together my existing components into a system with similar function to APM and run the ArduPilot code , after modifying some constants for pinOUT differences. the point is not about saving money (maybe it will save a little bit), but more about fun and learning to understand how APM works during the process — otherwise “building” a UAV just becomes “buying the modules and plug in the sockets”.

of course one big disadvantage is that the weight may be significantly greater, if it works at all.

anybody tried this so far?

thanks

It is possible to do certainly. I have done something similar but not with an Arduino… See Here and flight testing here

Bear in mind that the 8 bit AVR code isnt being actively developed currently, which is something of a shame. In fact it has been moved to separate branch and is I believe looking for maintainers. There is still scope for an Arduino compatible version, but maybe with a 32 bit Arduino board?

If you havent used Ardupilot before however, I would say it would be best to start with a standard APM board. If you want to do a DIY one, then you will have a benchmark to test against.

regards
Andy

Nice, did u have to make any changes to (the avr branch) code to get it working?

From a software havking perspective, it wont be as much fun if it works out of the box, maybe i could try to minimize the existing functionality and maybe only enable it to fly a straight line etc. So code will be much simpler

[quote=“skyscraper”]It is possible to do certainly. I have done something similar but not with an Arduino… See Here and flight testing here

Bear in mind that the 8 bit AVR code isnt being actively developed currently, which is something of a shame. In fact it has been moved to separate branch and is I believe looking for maintainers. There is still scope for an Arduino compatible version, but maybe with a 32 bit Arduino board?

If you havent used Ardupilot before however, I would say it would be best to start with a standard APM board. If you want to do a DIY one, then you will have a benchmark to test against.

regards
Andy[/quote]