Mini APM in a X5 Flying Wing

[MrBen]

Was thinking of ditching the Eagle Tree Guardian and getting a mini APM for my sons plane as I have still yet to dabble in the realms of APM

I can get a mini apm with a Ublox gps/compass for £75 from a UK seller.

Gav, what did you order and how much did it cost you for your tek sumo?

[gavnthat]

I ordered the mini APM, ublox GPS/compass, current sensor, think it came to £70 posted so £75 from UK is a good deal, will be good if you get one its always nice when someone using the same stuff helps to set it up better especially someone with more fixed wing experienced.

[MrBen]

Gone ahead and ordered it, came to £73 with delivery, should have it tuesday. Mine doesn't come with the current sensor not sure what features other than OSD need that? Im going to be using a tiny OSD anyway which has its own current sensor.

[xxpitt]

if it does rth then it seems a good option

[gavnthat]

I ordered a minim osd with that lot aswell knew I had forgotten something lol yeah the current sensor is for the osd and it also powers the APM so you don't need a ubec. The minim plugs straight onto the telemetry port of APM and gets all its info from there so you don't need another GPS for home arrow and distance to home etc it also shows apm flight modes and other stuff on osd its what I have on quad.

[xxpitt]

sounds ideal to me

[MrBen]

Would be good to see the flight modes etc but I have always been fussy on what the OSD layout looks like and Im not particularly fond of minim, however they are cheap enough perhaps I should fit 2 OSDs and a video switcher there is already a hole pre-formed on the x5 for a downward facing camera on the x5 too.

Yes Dave it has RTH, Stablisation, Waypoint Mission etc etc

[gavnthat]

I have only ever used minim on a quad but I think the plane version looks way better, if you flash it with minim osd extra you can change everything on the osd, layout what is shown and where etc there is also a cool thing where you can set up 2 osd screen layouts and switch between them by changing in and out of a flight mode really quick, you can also clear the screen completely of osd, you cycle between them screen 1, screen 2, blank screen. its really handy because I used to have 1 screen with everything on it gps co-ordinates wind direction compass rose heading all the extras and another screen with just the basic stuff on so you can fly with an uncluttered screen but then have all the information there if you want it. being able to see the flight modes is good because you can setup 6 flight modes on half switches and know what mode your actually in lol

[gavnthat]

Balls just realised I forgot to order a case after looking at your pic 

[gavnthat]

where did you get it from Ben might have to get a case. Mine is the mini arduflyer v1.0, I think they are all pretty much the same boards sold by different people arent they ?

[MrBen]

I got it from makeitbuildit but I dont see any casings listed separate

I'm now wondering if it does planks now, maybe a fw flash or something. Anyway I have emailed Philtrum to ask him.

[gavnthat]

It does its just the same as an apm, plug it into mission planner choose model type and flash latest firmware, piece o piss to do. setting up my crius aiop because its a port of apm i had to use arduino and change stuff in the code and allsorts, apm is easy just plug it in and clicking buttons 

[MrBen]

Sweet, just noticed in the description on BG it states fixed wing too

Description

New MiniAPM V3.1 Mini ArduPilot Mega 2.6 External Compass APM Flight Controller

Features:

- Use APM firmware and ground station, no need to modify
- No onboard compass, which makes this version ideal for use with multicopters and rovers
- 8-CH output and 8-CH input
- Can connect to external GPS, compass, telemetry system and PM module
- 12-CH function interface
- Size: 35*35mm
- Dimensions:1.38 in x 1.38 in x 0.31 in (3.5 cm x 3.5 cm x 0.8 cm)
- Weight : 0.71 oz (20 g)

Technical parameters:

Factory number: MINIAPM
The hardware version: V3.1
The GPS module: does not contain
Support mode: fixed wing helicopter rotor
Net weight: 22g containing wire and shell

[MrBen]

Im sure these images will become a handy reference too

[Tecnic]

Should have said, I have a spare Mini with GPS/Compass unit right here brand new (no case)

Plus shed loads of pics

You may well have to solder a wire accross on the GPS/Compass board to  supply power to the compass (it requires 3.3v)
The mini APM has the one socket which is for GPS and Compass but the GPS/Compass unit you hae has two plugs for the full size APM units