Published: Dec 25, 2013 at 19:24 UTC Merry Christmas (or Newtonmas if you prefer) everybody. Today I'm very happy to release the first version of my favorite side project, GoDrone. GoDrone is a free software alternative firmware for the Parrot AR Drone 2.0. And yes, this hopefully makes it the first robotic visualizer for Go's garbage collector : ). At this point the firmware is good enough to fly and provide basic attitude stabilization (using a simple complementary filter + pid controllers), so I'd really love to get feedback from any adventurous AR Drone owners. I'm providing binary installers for OSX/Linux/Windows: But you may also choose to install from source. Depending on initial feedback, I'd love to turn GoDrone into a viable alternative to the official firmware, and breathe some fresh air into the development of robotics software. In particular I'd like to show that web technologies can rival native mobile/desktop apps in costs and UX for providing user interfaces to robots, and I'd also like to promote the idea of using high level languages for firmware development in linux powered robots.

If you're interested, please make sure to join the mailing list / come and say hello in IRC: Subscribe to this blog via or or get small updates from me via . Last Update: Dec 25, 2013 at 19:24 UTC Parrot Parts (or either a full AR.Drone 1.0 or 2.0 for disassembly) Tools / optional Parts Using a PPM Reciever Using a PPM Encoder Prepare FTDI UART connection cable Flash Firmware on PX4FMU Throttle cannot be raised The PX4 autopilot can be used on AR.Drone 1.0 or AR.Both versions of the AR.Drone share compatible center frame and motor controllers. This is a quick and easy way to build a light, stable quad rotor without having to design your own, or shop around for parts; the entire vehicle can be sourced from just two suppliers. The instructions below guide you through the process of assembling the PX4IOAR shield and mounting it on an ARDrone frame. These PX4 autopilot parts are required: 1x PX4FMU + PX4IOAR Kit (comes with all required spacers, PX4IOARMT battery board, velcro straps, vibration dampers and screws)

1x RC Receiver: List of compatible RC receivers 1x Radio modem: List of compatible radio modems 1x min. 2GB microSD / microSDHC / microSDXC card: List of compatible memory cards Power supply and cabling: Turnigy 1800 mAh 3S1P ePower EXP eco 1500 mAh 3S1Pparrot ar drone preis DesirePower 25C 1800 mAh 3S1Pparrot ar drone unable to join network 5 pack XT 60 connector and silicone wirear drone parrot brasil 1x Parrot Central Cross (Mfr Part# PF070008AA) (Parrot Store Link) 4x Parrot Motor Set for AR.Drone 2.0 (Mfr Part# PF070040AA) (Parrot Store Link) 1x Parrot Propellers for AR.Drone 2.0 (Mfr Part# PF070045AA) (Parrot Store Link) 1x Parrot Gears & Shafts for AR.Drone 2.0 (Mfr Part# PF070047AA) (Parrot Store Link)

Some shops are now selling the AR.Drone Shell, that is just the AR.Drone airframe with out the AR.Drone Mainboard, or Nav board. You can get one from Unmanned Tech, or BYOD 1x Charge Lead for XT 60 batteries (HobbyKing) 1x Balancer adapter for XH plugs (HobbyKing) 1x Parrot Mounting Tools for AR.Drone 2.0 (Mfr Part# PF070048AA) (Parrot Store Link) These pictures show the step-by-step assembly on a finished AR. You can connect a PPM receiver directly, or using an encoder as described below: The PX4AR is designed to use a PPM capable receiver for manual flight control, through connector J3. J3.1 - PPM input The following shows the correct connection between the PX4AR and the FRSky D4R-II. J3 pads and the D4R pin spacing is sized to fit a standard servo connector (recommended). J3.1 Connects to Ch1 (Purple) J3.2 Connects to Ch1+ (White) J3.3 Connects to Ch1- (Black) The D4R also requires that a jumper is connected between CH3 and CH4 to enable PPM mode, as shown

You will need the following: Simply connect the +5V, GND, and SIGNAL to the designated locations on the board as described in the picture below Please download and install QGroundControl 2.0 and follow the steps in the video. When selecting the airframe, please choose the AR. Before you fly the ARDrone, you need to adjust the scaling factor of your battery (specially if you are using a batter other than the ARDrone batter), otherwise you will get battery warning beeping sounds. The controller gains provided automatically during setup should work just fine. For advanced users: please refer to the multirotor_pid_tuning page to learn how to tune your system This section shows how to set up the AR.Drone Airframe for convenient RC-Flight and Testing. At the end you will have a wireless MAVLink connection to a ground control station + a NuttShell terminal on a FTDI adapter. In addition to the part list on top of the page you further need: 1x Xbee Adapter or similar for the helicopter + 1 module on the computer side

1x DF13 5 Position Connector Solder the DF13 5 Position Connector to a header according to the picture below. Go through the 9-Step Quickstart tutorial for Developers in order to be familiar with flashing the FMU. Now plug the microSD card into the PX4FMU + the Xbee module and the DF13 5 Position Connector into the PX4IOAR Board. After powering the quad you should be able to connect via a ground control terminal (Xbee link) and a serial terminal (DF 13 cable on UART5) to the onboard electronics of the AR.Drone setup while flying with the RC remote. If you are using XBee Pro (speed up to 250kb/s) and you want to increase the XBee link speed from the default 57600 to 115200, then this is what you can do (warning this might not be the best way to do it!):Copy the /etc/init.d/rcS file to /fs/microsd/etc/rc.txt and modify it so that it does almost exactly as rcS, but change the baud rate to 115200, and remove the part at the beginning where the script calls /fs/microsd/etc/rc.txt (otherwise the script will keep on calling itself).