Setting up Mission Planner with APM 2.8

Hardware Other Hardware
1

Hello,

I’m working on a project where I have to (allegedly) fly a multicopter using Mission Planner.
What I have to do is first set up a path for the drone to scan some area, and pin point a target location seen on camera. Flying it back to home position to charge it with some equipment and setting up a new path to reach the target, while at this time of flying, there are some calculations (while reading some data from the autopilot and GPS) using a Raspberry Pi on the drone in order to know the right moment to release an object on the target (just activating a servo motor).
My quesion here is, how do I connect the Mission Planner to the autopilot? I must note that I can only work with 2.4GHz frequency in my country so I can’t use those 433/915MHz telemetry modules and nor can I find ones of 2.4GHz.
Also, what other hardware do I need for this project? (except what I already have - APM 2.8, RPi4, M8N GPS module and a servo motor.)

I’m new to all of this and would really appreciate any help.

  • By “allegedly” I mean that I don’t really have to fly the drone eventually, just create the system with all the connections needed and writing the codes.
2

First get rid of the APM 2.8. It’s long obsolete. It would be a mistake to start a project like this with that old dog. After you do that you could use an ESP8266 WiFi radio if your range requirement is relatively short.

3

Hi Dave,
As I said, I don’t have to fly the drone eventually, just making the needed connections and writing the relevant codes. Moreover, my budget is small and I have my deadline due to the end of July. I’m trying to make it as simple as I can, while not emptying my pockets on the way.
Bottom line, I guess the APM would make good enough. So any solutions using it would be blessed.

4

I use apm 2.8 and it works fine for me! Yes, there are important fixes in New versions but for most people its fine. What’s exactly your issue?