The APM 2 BoardThe APM 2 board comes from the factory already soldered and ready to have the firmware of your choice loaded by the Mission Planner. Here's a quick tour of your board:
Your RC receiver channels will plug into the Inputs and your servos or ESCs will plug into the Outputs. Up to eight channels in and out are supported out of the box, although both of these can be expanded if needed by following instructions later in the manual. The connectors that are soldered on at the factory should be right for most people, but if you want to add more sensors, there are nine ports on the left side (A0 to A8) for that. Here's where to connect optional external sensors and controls (not all are supported by all codebases):
The APM2 schematics and board files are here (Eagle format). Alternative ways to power your boardThe board comes from the factory setup up to be powered by your RC system, with RC input and output power shared. On the bench, you'll probably be powering the board via your USB cable while you set it up and test it. But in your aircraft, you'll need to power it with your onboard power system, which is usually your LiPo battery going through an ESC. In the case of a multicopter, this will probably come through your Power Distribution Board (PDB), which will break out the 5V output from the one of the ESCs. In the picture below, the red and black wires are the 5V power cable coming from a PDB. You can plug them into any two pins along the 5V and Ground (middle and outer) rows of pins on APM 2's Output side. The other cable, which in this case is a four-wire cable with orange and white wires for a quadcopter, is the signal cable to the PDB, which are the wires that APM 2 will use to command each of the ESCs.
It's also possible to power APM 2 from two seperate sources, one powering the RC system on the input side, and the other powering the output side (servos or ESCs). This is determined by a jumper on the JP1 pins (see below). If the jumper is on, which is the factory default, the board is powered from the Output rail. If the jumper is off, the board is powered from the Input rail, but the Output rail will need its own power source. This configuration is used if you want to have two seperate power sources in your aircraft, one powering the servos and the other powering the electronics. Warning: Do not exceed 5v of input voltage, or you will fry your board.
Difference between APM 1 and APM 2The main functional differences between APM 1 and APM 2 is in the sensors. AMP 2 has the advanced Invensense MPU-6000 gyro/accelerometer chip, which has its own sensor-fusion processor. It also has a high-precision pressure sensor for altitude measurements. Thanks to improving chip technology, we have been able to combine several other functions into fewer chips, including the USB interface/PPM encoder and switching to digital sensors to omit the analog-to-digital converter chip in APM 1. Fewer chips means smaller, cheaper boards, and fewer things to go wrong. If you've previously had an APM 1 board, you will also note a few external differences, mostly designed to make the board smaller and more reliable:
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It could be more clear as to which direction is forward on the board. I just see FWD on one partial view of the board which indicates the ABC status lights would be on the back instead of the front of the board like on APM1.x
I prefer on the back since that is the side I'm usually starting off from.
SD card front, GPS Back
How/where is the XBEE hookup?
sanjaya: in the manual: http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/APM2telemetry
Thanks! The XBEE pins should be called out on this page too, though.
If I connect an external GPS, would the built in one be disabled ?
Camera Pitch/Roll seems to be on A9/A8 not as indicated on 10/11 (Version 2.4)
A5 is the connector for the Piezo for audible arm/disarm/low voltage alarms
A6: HIGH = DISARMED, LOW=ARMED
Please, i'd like to install 4 strip of 3 led (one for arms) that normally have a tension forward of 12v with resistor already included. Can you learn me where and how i have to connect these in the APM2? Thanks
What is the right way to power APM2 with a BEC? I the jumper is off, the BEC can hook to input rail and board powers up, but what is the right way to power the output rail? Should the BEC plug in somewhere in output rail as well?
Where is the pinout!?!
Ok, I see the schematic is here: http://stuff.storediydrones.com/APM_v2_Eagle.zip
Hello! Where can I find the board and holes dimensions (in millimeters)? thanks!
The wiki says to power it on the bench use USB, but in the aircraft use the LiPo? and the 5V supplied by one ESC. What if I want to connect the USB cable while it is powered up with the LiPo?? Is it safe? Is there a jumper I need to add/remove?
Hi,
I'm a bit confused with powering the APM 2.0: 1. I currently have the jumper ON though I am still able to power the APM through the RC receiver (5V battery plugged to receiver) - I thought it would only work this way if the jumper is OFF? 2. If I would like to use one power source for both APM and ESCs, I understand I need to have the jumper ON (or do I? - see above), but can I only use 5V battery? My motors require 12V (using 3s) and I read that using more than 5V will fry the APM. I guess, the question then becomes: if I have 12V battery for ESCs, do I leave the "To APM" red/black cable UNPLUGGED and powering it through receiver using 5V batt to avoid damaging it? If so, don't I need common GND cable between APM and power distribution board? I'm using http://stuff.storediydrones.com/HexaPDBAssemblyInstructions.pdf) Can someone throw some more light into this please? I'm totally confused... Cheers Tom
Alright - don't bash me - I think I just figured it out!!! Of course I need the ESCs to get the power from PDB! So that answers question no.2 Now it still doesn't explain the question no.1 - I need the EScs to find out but tell me if I'm right that regardless whether the jumper is ON or OFF, you can power the APM from the Rc receiver, BUT you can only power the APM from ESCs when it's ON? (so once yuo pull the jumper it will NOT supply the power from the ESCs anymore, right?)
If I connect an external GPS, would the built in one be disabled ?
Is it also possible to use the APM 2 as a standard arduino for other projects?
Hello, Is it possible to connect the Ardupilot Mega MinimOSD Rev. 1.1 to the AMP2? If so what pins do you connect the OSD on?
Yes, the MinimOSD instructions are in the manual above: http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/OSD
@ analogue
Thank you. I saw that manual for the MinimOSD but I am unsure what pins the "APM Telem Port" are on the APM2 purple board? In other words, what hardware location on the AMP2 do I connect the jumper wires from the "IN, OUT, +5V, and GRND" from the MinimOSD?
I bought an APMP2 kit and have not been able to find an assembly guide.In fact, the GPS locks, but no data outputs, even in test mode gps. Have I miss a solder or a specific connection on one board?
I am also having problems powering my APM 2.0. I have all of my 3DR ESCs connected to the hexa PDB. I have even confirmed that the red and black female pin that comes out of the PDB and is labeled "to APM" is putting out 5V of power. However, when I plug that cable into the output side of the APM and plug the battery into the PDB, nothing happens. No lights come one, there is no response. I have confirmed that the APM is working because it lights up when I plug it into the USB. Help! How do I power my APM through the PDB?