ArduCopterA multicopter is an aerial vehicle whose motion is controlled by speeding or slowing multiple

downward thrusting motor/propeller units.

Written By: Dozuki System

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PARTS:Multicopter frame including motors, ESCs and propellers (1)

6+ channel RC transmitter and receiver-Turnigy 9x (1)Futaba 7C or Spektrum DX8 can be also used

APM 2.6 (1)

uBlox GPS (1)

4,000 mAH LiPo (1)

charging station for your batteries (1)

Mission Planner: free, open-source software compatible with APM:Copte (1)

A Laptop or a Tablet (1)

3DR Radio Telemetry Kit (1)

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Step 1 — ArduCopter

Crashes can happen, because ofpilot error or hardware or softwaremalfunction.

It is very important to have excesspower available.

Especially while you are learning, itis recommended that you avoidexpensive, stiff, ultra-sharp carbonfiber props.

If you are flying anywhere near otherpeople, you are putting them at risk!

Always ensure the battery cable isNOT connected to the powerdistribution board or harness untilyou are ready to fly.

The APM and PX4 flight controllerswe use incorporate a motor armingsafety feature.

Get used to switching back toStabilize mode from other modesand reassuming full manual control.

Important primary response to acrash, inadequate landing orunknown flight controller state.

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Step 2

When testing or flying any of the(waypoint) navigation modes (usingGPS):

1.Ensure that your GPS has “Lock”before arming and takeoff.

2.Check that your home position onthe Mission Planner is in factcorrect.

3.If the GPS does not accuratelyreport your home position, rebootand wait for 8 or more satellites (notjust 3D lock) and check again.

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Step 3

Always follow the law:

1.Our personal use of MultiCopters(models in general) is continuallyunder attack by those who fear‘drones’ and invasion of privacy. Ifyou break the law, or invadesomeone’s privacy, or put them inharm’s way, you threaten the futureof our personal use of models.Please, understand the law and therights of others – and flyaccordingly.

2.Most countries have a prominentmodel aircraft organization. In theUSA that is the AMA. Review theAMA safety code. Working with theFAA and other governmentorganizations, the AMA hasestablished (and continues toupdate) rules for UAV’s and for FPVflight. If you are in the USA (or not),read these documents!

The AMA has a strong lobbyinggroup that will help protect ourrights. Get involved and supportyour country’s model aircraftorganizations – and help protect ourright to fly.

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Step 4

Avoid sudden or extreme transmittercontrol stick deflections.

Your copter should be more or lessstable on the horizontal planewithout any control inputs.

Be especially careful of large throttleinputs, as a copter can gain (or lose)altitude very rapidly.

Because MultiCopters aresymmetrical it is especially easy tolose Visual Orientation.

Always have Stabilize mode as the(Go To) one of your mode switchoptions.

High or unexpected winds or gustscan make flight considerably moredifficult.

ArduPilot specific safety modes:RTL, FailSafe and GeoFence.

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Step 5

On your first takeoff after tuning orhardware setup:

1.In stabilize mode advance thethrottle very slowly until the copter isalmost hovering.

2.If the copter is trying to flip overturn it off and correct the problem.

3.A motor could be turning the wrongdirection.

4.Or a wrong direction prop could beinstalled.

5.If it tries to rotate on it’s axis or flyoff in some direction.

6.The transmitter or RC setup inMission Planner may be incorrect.

7.A motor or ESC may not beperforming properly.

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Step 6

8.The wrong props may be on thewrong motors.

9.When all problems are fixed itshould be fairly easy to get thecopter to hover a foot or 2 above theground.

10.If a stable and stationary hover afoot or 2 above the ground cannot beachieved, land and fix the problemuntil it can.

When flying FPV “First Person View”(with a video camera), Have yourmodes set to: STABILIZE, SIMPLE,and RTL.

Make sure your battery can’t fall out.

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Step 7

1.Assembly Instructions for APM orPX4: Assemble your copter, wirepower components, and connectAPM and RC receiver.

Mounting your GPS orGPS+Compass module

Installing an external compassmodule

Vibration Dampening

DJI F3300 FlameWheel AssemblyInstructions

Connecting RC Inputs and Motors

2. Install Mission Planner: Beforeprogramming your APM autopilot,follow these instructions to installMission Planner onto your WindowsPC.

3.Load Copter Firmware onto APMor PX4: Load your APM autopilotwith the latest copter firmware.

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Step 8

4. Hardware Configuration: UseMission Planner to configure radiocontrol, calibrate the compass andaccelerometer, and select yourcopter’s orientation.

5. ESC Calibration: ESCs must becalibrated before they can be used.This section guides you throughcalibrating ESCs automatically andmanually.

6. Motor Setup: This page showsyou how to test the spin directions ofthe motors, set them correctly, andattach propellers.

7. Battery Information: Learn aboutusing LiPo batteries for your copter.

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Step 9

First Flight

1. Setting up the Flight ModesThere are 14 flight modesavailable in APM:Copter, 10 ofwhich are regularly used. You canset these up by doing thefollowing:

Turn on your RC transmitter

Connect the APM/PX4 to theMission Planner

Go to the Software > FlightModes screen

Note as you move yourtransmitter’s flight mode switch(channel 5) the green highlightbar will move to a differentposition.

Use the drop-down on each lineto select the flight mode forthat switch position ensuringthat at least one switch positionis left assigned to Stabilize

Optionally check the SimpleMode checkbox for that switchposition (Simple mode isdescribed here)

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Step 10

When finished press the “SaveModes” button. ( see image 1 )

In general when first starting to useAPM:Copter you should progressthrough the flight modes in the orderlisted below, being sure that you arecomfortable with each beforeprogressing to the next. Click on anyof the flight modes below for moredetails.

Stabilize, Alt Hold, Loiter, Drift,RTL, Auto

everything else including: ACRO,Guided, Circle, Position, LAND

Most transmitters provide a 3position switch but you can findinstructions here for setting up a6-position flight mode switch.

If you do not wish to use themission planner you can also setthe flight modes through the CLI(command line interface).

With some small codemodifications you can set-upcustom flight modes which arecombinations of existing flightmodes as described in thedeveloper section (Here!)

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Step 11

2. APM/PX4 board LEDs and their meaning

2.a APM 2.5 board (See image 1 and video)

2.b APM 2.0 board (See image 2)

2.c PX4 Sound meaning. The PX4 buzzer plays tunes to indicate various states. Click on thedescriptions below to download and listen to the associated tune. Description:

Start up OK, Start up Failed, New IO board firmware found (restart with safety button pushedto upload), New IO board firmware loaded successfully

No SD Card, Armed, Disarmed, Low Battery, GPS glitch

2.d PX4/Pixhawk LED & Sounds (See image 3 and video)

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Step 12

2.e 3DR GPS+Compass Module

The 3DR GPS+Compass module has two LED indicators: one for power (solid red) and one forGPS lock (flashing blue).

( See image 1 )

3. Pre-Arm safety checks

3.a APM:Copter 3.0.1 (and higher) includes a Pre-arm Safety Check which will prevent yourCopter from arming if any of the following issues are present. ( See image 2 )

If everything else seems OK except that when you try to Arm with the throttle down and to theright, it will not actually arm and the motors will not spin, it has probably failed the Pre-ArmSafety Check. You should also notice that the the red arming light will double flash.

3.b Video detailing the Pre-arm Safety Check. Watch video

3.c Disabling the Pre-arm Safety Check ( See image 3 )

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Step 13

3.d To see what has caused Pre-Arm Safety Check failures: ( See image 1 )

3.e Fixing specific Pre-Arm Check failures: ( See image 2 )

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Step 14

4. Arming and Disarming

4.a Arming the motors ( See image 1 )

Link: this page, AutoTrim

4.b Disarming the motors ( See image 2 )

5. Getting Off the Ground – Tips for New Operators

5.a First flight ( See image 3 )

Link: (Here!)

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Step 15

5.b Tips for your first flights ( See image 1 )

5.c Warning about low batteries ( See image 2 )

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Step 16

6. Rate Roll and Pitch P tuning

Although there are many gains that can be tuned in APM:Copter to get optimal performance butthe most critical is the Rate Roll and Pitch P values. This page covers how to tune this gainduring your maiden flight. This alone will likely get it flying reasonably well at least in Stabilizemode.

Rate Roll P and Rate Pitch P can be tuned in flight using your transmitter’s channel 6 tuningknob by following these instructions: ( See image 1 and 2 )

Note: while you are moving the tuning knob the values update at 3 times per second. The needto press the Refresh button in the mission planner in steps #6 and #7 above is just because theAPM:Copter is not sending the updates to the mission planner in real-time.

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Step 17

7. Measuring Vibration

For good altitude hold and loiterperformance it is important thatyour vibration levels are low. Theinstructions below will shows youhow to measure the vibrationlevels. If you find they are out-of-tolerance you should follow theadvice found on the First TimeSet-up sections VibrationDampening page.

Please follow these steps toensure your vibration levels arewithin tolerance:

Connect your APM/PX4 to themission planner

Go to the CONFIG/TUNING >Advanced Params screen andset the Log bitmask toDefault+IMU. This will enablethe capture of theaccelerometer data to thedataflash logs.

Press the “Write Params”button ( See image 1 )

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Step 18

Fly your copter in Stabilize mode and try to maintain a level hover (it doesn’t need to be perfectlystable or level)

Disconnect the Lipo, reconnect your APM/PX4 to the mission planner

Download the latest dataflash log using the Terminal screen (more detailed explanation of workingwith dataflash logs is here) ( See image 1 )

After the download has completed, close the “Log” window and push the “Log Browse” button andopen the latest file in the log directory (it’s last digit will be the Log number you downloaded so inthe example above we downloaded Log #1 so the filename will end in 1.log) ( See image 2 )

When the Log Browser appears, scroll down until you find any IMU message. Click on the row’sAccX and push “Graph this data Left” button. Repeat for the AccY and AccZ columns to produce agraph like below. ( See image 3 )

Check the scale on the left and ensure that your vibration levels for the AccX and AccY arebetween -3 and +3. For AccZ the acceptable range is -15 to -5. If it is very close or over theselimits you should refer back to the Vibration Dampening page for possible solutions.

After all the above is complete, go back to the Mission Planner’s advanced parameters page (youmay need to press the “Connect” button again) and set the Log Bitmask back to “Default”. This isimportant because especially on the APM logging requires significant CPU resources and it’s awaste to log these if they’re not really needed.

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Step 19

8. Setting Throttle Mid

If you have a slightly overpoweredor underpowered copter thethrottle required to keep thevehicle in a stable hover may beunder 40% or over 60%.

Although this is fine while flyingpurely stabilize mode it can leadto a rough transition to autopilotmodes (Alt Hold, Loiter) wherehaving the throttle outside of the40% ~ 60% deadzone will beinterpreted as meaning you wantthe copter to climb or descend.

For this reason it is a good idea toadjust the Throttle Mid parameter(also known as THR_MID) so thatyour mid throttle while in stabilizemode is closer to 50%.

Please follow these instructions toadjust your manual throttle to sothat your copter hovers at 50%throttle:

Fly your copter in stabilizemode in a stable hover for atleast 30 seconds

Disconnect your lipo batteryand connect your APM/PX4 tothe Mission Planner

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Go to the Terminal screen anddownload your latest dataflashlog file (more details on

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working with dataflash logs canbe found here)

Step 20

After the download has completed, close the “Log” window and push the “Log Browse” button andopen the latest file in the log directory (it’s last digit will be the Log number you downloaded so inthe example above we downloaded Log #1 so the filename will end in 1.log) ( See image 1 )

When the Log Browser appears, scroll down until you find any CTUN message. Click on the row’s“ThrOut” column and push “Graph this data Left” button. ( See image 2 )

While referring to the scale on the left of the graph, estimate approximately what the throttle levelwas during the hover. In the example above (which was an unnecessarily long flight) the midthrottle appears to be about 550.

Note: if the average throttle is below 300 (i.e. 30%) then you have a very overpowered copterand it would be best to add a some extra weight (i.e. a bigger battery perhaps) or reduce thepower in some other way (smaller motors, move from a 4S to a 3S battery, etc)

If the average throttle is above 700 (i.e. 70%) then you have a very underpowered copter. Youshould consider increasing the power of the motors and ESCs or use a higher voltage battery(i.e. switch from a 3S to a 4S battery).

Open the Mission Planner’s Software > Standard Params screen and update the Throttle MidPosition (THR_MID) to the value estimated above (you’ll find it near the bottom of the list)

Push the Write Params button ( See image 3 )

On your next flight you should find the throttle is closer to mid while flying in stabilize mode

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Step 21

9. Save Trim and AutoTrim

Wind of course has a strong effect on your copter and will push it around. However you mayalso find that while flying in stabilize mode, even in a windless environment your copter tends toalways drift away in the same direction. This can largely be corrected using the “Save Trim” or“Automatic Trim” functions.

9.A Save Trim

Save trim is the simpler method and involves essentially transferring your radio transmitter’strims to the APM (video demo here).

1. Check that your CH7 switch goes above 1800 on the MissionPlanner’s Hardware >Mandatory Hardware > Radio Calibration screen. ( See image 1 )

2. Set the CH7 Option to Save Trim on the Software > ArduCopter Pids screen and press the“Write Params” button. ( See image 2 )

3. With your CH7 switch in the off position, fly your copter in Stabilize mode and use yourtransmitters’s roll and pitch trim to get it flying level.

4. Land and put your throttle to zero

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Step 22

5. Release the roll and pitch sticksand switch the CH7 switch high forat least 1 second.

6. Reset your transmitters roll andpitch trims back to the center and flyagain and it should fly level now. If itdoes not repeat steps 3, 4 & 5.

9.B Auto Trim

With auto trim the roll and pitchtrim are captured as you fly in astable hover.

1. Find a wind free environmentwith sufficient space to fly yourcopter without crashing intosomething.

2. Hold throttle down andrudder right for 15 seconds oruntil you see the small red,blue and yellow leds flash in acyclic pattern.

3. Fly your copter for about 25seconds in a stable hover

4. Land and put your throttle tozero and wait for a fewseconds (the trims are beingsaved to eeprom)

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Step 23

5. Take off again in stabilize modeand check if your copter is flyinglevel now. If not repeat steps 2, 3and 4.

Note: you can also test theseprocedures above are operationalon the ground with your batterydisconnected. Connect your APMto the mission planner andobserving the Flight Data screenas you simulate completing thesteps above.

Note2: you can manuual set thetrim through the mission planner’sAdv Parameters List page. Rolltrim is AHRS_TRIM_X, Pitch trimis AHRS_TRIM_Y. Both valuesare in radians with left roll andforward pitch being negativenumbers.

Note3: it’s nearly impossible toget rid of all drift so that yourcopter remains completelymotionless without any input.

9.C Video demonstrations of SaveTrim and Auto Trim

Video 1

Video 2

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Step 24

Advanced Configuration & Tuning

Compass Set-up (Advanced) – all the compass set-up procedures explained

Failsafes – protection for loss of radio contact, low battery, loss of GPS lock, loss of contactwith the ground station

Fence – protection against fly-aways

PPM Encoder information

General information on the PPM Encoder

Updating your APM’s PPM Encoder firmware – important if you purchase your APM before Mar2013

Updating your APM’s PPM Encoder firmware (2) – same information as above

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Step 25

Using the stand-alone PPM Encoder

Ch7 & Ch8 Auxiliary Functions – features that can be invoked from the Ch7 and Ch8 switches

Tuning – main tuning guide for APM:Copter

Attitude Tuning (i.e. more details on Roll and Pitch Tuning)

Altitude Hold Tuning

Loiter and Navigation Tuning

APM: Copter parameters:

Full parameter list

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Step 26

Standard parameter list

Command Line Interface (CLI) – for those who don’t like graphical user interfaces

CLI for radio and flight mode setup, test overview

CLI for testing radio input

CLI for dumping contents of eeprom

Testing your APM’s accelerometer and gyro sensors

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Step 27

Mission Planning and Analysis

1. Here are some of the featuresof Michael Oborne’s MissionPlanner:

Point-and-click waypoint entry,using Google Maps.

Full ground station formonitoring missions andsending in-flight commands.

Select mission commands fromdrop-down menus

See sensor output and testautopilot performance

Download mission log files andanalyze them

Configure APM settings foryour airframe

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Step 28

See the output from APM’s serial terminal

2. Installing the software

Follow the instructions here to download and install the Mission Planner.

3. The Mission Planner functions:

Using a Ground Station

Planning a mission with waypoints and events

Dataflash Logs

Telemetry Logs

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Step 29

Diagnosing common problems using the Logs

Flying with a joystick/gamepad instead of RC controller

Geotagging Images with the Mission Planner

Python scripting

Other Mission Planner features

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Step 30

Optional Hardware Configuration

In Mission Planner, select Hardware > Optional Hardware to configure additional (optional)hardware including the 3DR radio and widely used power module. Follow the links below for set-up instructions:

3DR Radio (telemetry)

3DR Power Module for measuring battery voltage and current or Non-3DR voltage and currentmonitors

Android Ground Station

Sonar

Optical Flow: Mouse sensor based optical flow sensor orPX4Flow optical flow sensor (not yetsupported by APM:Copter, Plane, Rover)

On Screen Display

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Step 31

Camera Gimbal and Shutter (with additional information here)

Servo

External Compass

GPS + Compass module

External LEDs

Joystick or Gamepad instead of RC transmitter

Relay Switch

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Step 32

Traditional Helicopters

ArduCopter supports conventionalelectric helicopters including allthe same features asmulticopters. The majority of theset-up is the same as formulticopters but please follow thelinks below for helicopter specificinformation.

Suggested Parts List

Mounting the APM/Pixhawk

Connecting your RC input,servos and motors

Set-up through the missionplanner

Videos: Helicopter Demonstration,Arducopter 3.0.1

Altitude Hold Testing, Fast ForwardFlight

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Step 33

SingleCopter and CoaxCopter

Warning the SingleCopter isentirely new and Experimentaland the CoaxCopter is not yetimplemented in Our Firmware!

As this is VERY new many of theSingle copters shown here useeither mil-spec or very simplestabilize mode controllers.

1. The First Video of aSingleCopter using an APM 2.5

Watch video

2. SingleCopter

A SingleCopter is an aerialvehicle with one centralrotating propeller thrustingdownward past 4 controllablevanes.

The 4 control vanes (one ineach quadrant) permits thecontrol of the vehicles roll,pitch and yaw.

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Step 34

The vanes also permit real time compensation for the motors direction of rotation.

Altitude is controlled by adjusting the motor / propeller speed. ( See image 1 )

An innovatively designed and quite successful hobbyist SingleCopter ( See image 2 )

3. Connecting the Flight Controller to the SingleCopter:

Connect the APM, PX4 or Pixhawk servo output channels 1-4 to the SingleCopters 4 control finsas shown.

Connect the APM, PX4 or Pixhawk servo output channel 7 to the ESC for the brushless motorthat powers the main single rotor

The 4 fins are attached to four arms and it’s a bit like a Plus quad.

Looking down on the APM from above as in the attached diagram. “servo1″ would be attached tothe APM’s output channel #1, etc. ( See image 3 )

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Step 35

4. Load the Firmware

For the time being, the user needsto compile the source codethemselves.

Add this line to the APM_Config.h:#define FRAME_CONFIGSINGLE_FRAME

In the near future this will beadded as a downloadable binaryto firmware.diydrones.com andlikely as a Mission Plannerloadable icon.

And another SingleCopterVideo Showing excellent resultswith a simple stabilize onlyflight controller:

Watch video

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Step 36

5. CoaxCopter

A CoaxCopter is an aerial vehiclewith two counter rotating centralpropellers thrusting downwardpast 2 controllable vanes (oneside to side and the other fromfront to back) that permit controlof roll and pitch.

Yaw is controlled by varying topand bottom propeller speedsrelative to each other.

There are two variant motorconfigurations of the CoaxCopter:

A contra-rotating motor pairwith both Propellers on top andthe shaft of the bottom motorpassing up through the hollowshaft of the top motor

And two motors mounted backto back with one propellerabove and the other beneathwith appropriate support struts.

Both variations are illustratedbelow.

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Step 37

6. Connecting the Flight Controller tothe CoaxCopter:

Connect the APM, PX4 orPixhawk servo output channels 3and 4 to the CoaxCopters 2control fins servos 3 and 4 asshown.

Connect the APM, PX4 orPixhawk servo output channel 1and 2 to the ESC for thebrushless motors that power themain dual rotors.

The 2 wide fins are attached totwo cross arms and works a bitlike the elevator and ailerons of afixed wing plane.

Looking down on the APM fromabove as in the attacheddiagram.”servo3″ is attached tothe APM’s output channel #3, etc.

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Step 38

7. Load the Firmware

Warning CoaxCopter is not yetimplemented do not attempt touse.

For the time being, the user needsto compile the source codethemselves.

Add this line to the APM_Config.h:#define FRAME_CONFIGCOAX_FRAME

In the near future this will beadded as a downloadable binaryto firmware.diydrones.com andlikely as a Mission Plannerloadable icon.

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This document was last generated on 2017-06-25 07:57:57 AM.

Step 39

Hardware Overview

This section provides an overviewof the APM and PX4 autopilothardware.

1. APM 2 Overview

Disabling the Built-in GPS onAPM 2 to use an External GPS

2.APM 2.5 and 2.6 Overview

Board Connections

3. PX4 FMU Overview

Wiring, PX4 IO BoardOverview, Analog Pins

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