After a year of learning to fly my first quad with a kk2 controller, and progressing to a Naza Lite (and making ALL the mistakes along the way) I feel this is the next step. What this thing can do is incredible and I want to say, "thank you VERY much" for a really fantastic series of videos giving an insight into what this board can do.

i just finished this series, many thanks for wonderful effort you have put in it. really amazing.

I know I have thanked you before in some other video somewhere else, but thanks again. Your channel is the first place I go when I want to learn a new flight controller or other piece of equipment. Your videos are so well made and I swear I am attending a college course.

Perfect presentation ! Thanks much. So far the best series of APM !

i totally agree with xceleratedbil. great gift you give us in this series. very much appreciated!

Just a HUGE thank you for posting this series . Don't think I'd have ever got off the ground with out them . I hope you are a lecturer or teacher in your profesional life . If not you missed your way . Clear and excellently explianed and I'm not the type to gush . I owe you pint mate cheers.

Just a Thank you for the series of videos that have taken out the mystery (fear) of the APM2.6 which I have had in my drawer for a few months while I persevered with the KK2. I am now a very happy convert to the APM2.6 and can't believe what I have been missing all this time. Thank You again and keep up the good work

I have been flying a kk2.1 board for a bit more than a year and have found that I needed a new system with more features. This video series realy took the fear out of using and setting up a new flight control system. I just wanted to thank you for the good work here.

I just finished watching all eight videos. Nice job and thanks for doing it!

Fantastic series. I feel like I'm ready to build one of these now. Thanks.

Thanks for this series, it is amazing. Lots of work and good work. Congratulations!!

Thank you so much for this, I have been having so much trouble with my sky viper v2450gps trying to do autonomous flight with it.

when setting heights from the start if you wanted to make sure it went above a big tree into an open field, how would you make sure it didn't hit the tree? would setting the first way point make it climb to the height of say 20 meters when starting at "H (for home)" for a quad copter before moving to that position?

Perfect, thank you.

This will be great to use, as soon as I track down my quad that decided to run away from home. 2 weeks of build time and tuning to make perfect. And 10 minutes to disappear into the sky. Going on a hike tomorrow. If i find I will post the kmz. Sorry, I just felt like sharing.

Hi Painless. After planning a short mission, I checked the loiter turns radius (as you suggested), and it defaults to 10cms. That's fine - I would like to set the radius on the mission to be 5mtr; therefore 5000mm / 10cms (100mm) = 50 When I enter 50 in the radius box it seems to be ok. I then write the WP file and (as in this video), and immediately read the WP file back to APM. Now I notice that I can't see any stored info re' the loiter radius. Hmmm. By way of checking a few things if I change the WP radius, all the radii on the map DO change. If I try the same with the loiter radius, it never appears to change. Am I making a rookie error or is perhaps my APM not able to load this info. The APM in question came with a recently bought Quanum Nova from good ol' Hobby King. Other functions like: stabilize, Loiter, Alt hold and RTL all seem to work exactly as expected, and I always get a steady green GPS light before take off. Sorry it's such a long question, but can you shed any light on the issue please? Regards Mark in the UK

Thanks mate,a relation to a convict has learnt a lot from your APM videos.

This is fine. Wien i start the orange and red line point to first ( GPS and compass line to waypoint) way point, but My black line just turns around in all directions, what is the problem, it just don't hit the waypoints.

Hi there, I just wanted to thank you for putting up your awesome instructional video's on getting the APM 2.6 FC's going. I reviewed your 8 part series and found it to be priceless in getting a very good understanding of what everything is and how it goes. I stepped up from a Walkera X350 Pro to a Bumblebee 550 and the APM 2.6, I am using my Walkera Devo 10 and its receiver; it seems to be ok but seems I need to revisit MP as it flies really soft (response-wise), as I am close to full throttle to hover. As there isn't much local support for Walkera. My supplier is suggesting a DX-8 for this and an Iron Man 650 w/Naza v2 fc that I’ve began building. I would have struggled for a while without your videos, thanx again! Now I just need get my flights uploaded... You ROCK!

Mission Planner auto updated to 1.3.41 from 1.3.39. One thing I did see is the CTRL F menu has a status display panel among other things Im sure. Cheers !

This is a brilliant series. I am going to buy an APM and put it on a F450 to try it all out.

Great, quick tutorial. When you build your waypoints into the planner in your house, save the waypoints and cache the map data, then drive to the launch site, how critical is it when you get to the launch location to be exactly at the "home" location you designated when building your mission in your house? If you're not exactly at the "Home" location plotted in the mission, will the program recompute "home" to be your current launch location, then readjust the vector to your first waypoint? Or do you have to plan the whole mission at the launch location? Thanks!

Hello, is it ok to flick out of Auto mode during a mission? for example into loiter or stabilised..what will happen if you do that? And also about the altitude height set for each waypoint, does it maintain the altitude set for the specific waypoint considering ground elevation (for example plane ground or hills) or does it maintain the altitude for the waypoint having in consideration the Home point altitude?

Maybe this is too basic to have had in the video, but how does it send the waypoints to the flight controller? USB? WiFi? Bluetooth? RC transmitter that somehow connects to the laptop?

Perfect timing...been planning to try Mission flying this weekend. Thanks again for this series. It's been a big help while I've been building & testing my quad (a TBS Discovery) which is flying great so far. BTW, I worked out the mix for 6+1 flight modes on my Taranis. How's that BCG Gimbal working out for you? Would love to see a followup with some filming results. Cheers.

Hi there, great series of video's you've produced. Probably a stupid question but, if your planned route exceeds the range of your TX will the RTL/Failsafe be activated or will it continue on the planned route and return on it's completion? Thanks

Are there any tutorials for setting up a BN-880 with Arducopter 3.2.1

Excellent video series. But I have a question. If I turn the craft to auto and a waypoint is further away than the my radio can reach, will the failsafe kick in and return to launch or will the craft complete the mission anyway?

Firstly thank you for all your uploads your my greatest teacher, you & Randy Mackay. I’d like to ask if it’s possible to copy and paste a waypoint mission? I know you can press CTRL & highlight all waypoints and drag & drop which is a cool feature. Unable to duplicate a mission tho to extend it further if required. Thanks in advance & Happy Flying✈️

Hi, in regards to the "Loiter Turns" option, the latest version of MP that I have does not have a 1=CW, 0=CCW option. It simply has number of "Turns" and "Radius" of turn. Do you know how I can change between Clockwise and Counter Clockwise loiter turns in this new version? thanks

Great video, thanks for sharing. Once waypoints have been loaded onto model, how do you start the mission? I assume you have to place the drone in the home position within the 4m radius, then start the motor using the RC controller, then make it hover, then flip to auto, then it will do the mission. Is this correct?

If the Loiter and RTL is not working what to do ? Means like in loiter mode the Quad just bend or goes in one direction but in Alt Hold mode it fly just fine I tried a lot

Hi. Forstly rhank you for the video series. They are vwry helpful. Also can u please do a video about the sonar module particularly the hc-sr04 and if it can be used for obstacle avoidance.

when setting a mission i am getting the dotted line from home to waypoint 1 and what is the altitude set in feet or meters

Want to say thanks for all the videos , Had my first flights today and everything went off without a hitch and worked perfect... I I Think its even better than my Naza M v2 flight board,, Now im setting up my first mission and the question I have is the first wp I have set on (take off) how dose that work? or get to work or should I set it to something different first time trying my first mission ? Again i cant thank you enough for all your great work !!

Hello, if I would like to have waypoint navigation, would get an APM2.6 or MultiWii? Which MultiWii FC supports waypoint nav? I guess Atmega328p ones wouldn't support waypoint nav... right? Which software is best at autonomous flying? Thanks!

Unsure what drone/controller system to buy; does anyone have any suggestions? I love the MP software and it's many features, and a fully-functional, programmable remote-controller would seem to be the way to go...just unsure what to buy in terms of a platform for commercial use. The 'turn-key' systems from DJI (in particular, I'm looking at the Phantom 3) are extremely attractive. It's just not clear whether I can interface it to Mission Planner. One of the people in my class bought a MATRIX for $3k, with an extended range RF controller/antenna and a nice, BIG flat screen display...very nice and very capable...not sure if that's the way to go for my purposes. Anyone?

hi. . is it possible to do compass calibration out on the field where a pc or laptop is not accessible ?

Good day, I'm a novice and I'm getting the dji pc ground station for the Turbo ace matrix E. Will this ground station work ok with this unit?

Helps alot

I'm having a terrible time with stability. In stable mode it's very difficult to fly. I have tried your method for autotrim and have a hard time flying even long enough for the autotrim to work. In auto flight mode, flying a planned mission it seems to fly great though. Altitude fluctuates a bit but flies pretty stable. Is there a set PID that I can start with? Any suggestions? Your videos have been a great help. My setup; 550 kongcopter frame Apm 2.6 with external compass Simonk 30a esc (4) Sunnysky 800kv motors Flysky RXTX

Hi I have two questions about mission planning whey you draw a mission can it be used in different locations? or it needs to do a new one? another thing is that I installed Tower app on a tablet and it seems that the map needs Internet connection does it work without Internet connection?

Hi painless360 your videos are the best tutorial videos out there.. Can you please do a tutorial for a Fixed Wing aircraft using apm/pixhawk or arkbird.. better if you do it for all 3 types of controllers... This will help a newbie like me alot... Still you are the best.... thanks.

Hi, I have tried Arkbird and FY-41 lite. None of them support waypoint navigation (UAV), so I am considering Ardupilot 2.6 Mega. And my question is, does Ardupilot 2.6 Mega supports waypoints? will I be able to plot waypoints using the GCS and launch and RTL fully autonomously? I fly at LFERC in Livermore and planning to put Ardupilot 2.6 on Ranger.

Excellent informative series, thanks!

Hey Painless, I bought this mini APM and installed it on my quad. Do you have problems with GPS glitches? When I set mines to loiter it hovers fine for 10-15 secs and then it flies away. Good thing it crashed inside a forest 30-40 yards from Home Launch so I recovered it, but need to replace props.

Hi Painless360, I use the latest vrsion (1.3.48)of Mission Planner and I have not access to Full Parametter List. Can You help me with some advice?

Hi again Painless. ooops. Just realised a schoolboy error. That 50 should be 500. Even so, I tried that in the file and it still doesn't show an increase (on the map), in the radius at the WP in question. I remember seeing somewhere a simulation of a given mission but I can't remember where. Any pointers as to how to do a simulation? Regards Mark in the UK

Hi thanks for doing all this... I have a Turnigy SK450 with the KK2.0 board and am reluctant to spen ~$100 on this Flight Controller. The main feature I want is postition hold for aerial fliming, do you recoomend to get this FC?

Hi...How to program two selector for the Flight Mode? For example I have two Three_position_Selector and I want six Flight Mode like Stabilize, Loiter,RTL and in the other stick Auto.hold, Drift and Auto Thanks if you can help me...

i dont have telemety. if i set mission planner same you. can uav fly follow waypoint?

will the craft assume home position as the point you arm the craft or the position set by the computer?

Hi, was your drone armed during the mission planning and the way point allocating? Is it necessary to arm your drone in order to write the way points into the apm and is it necessary to get a 3D fix gps to write wps into the apm instead of a no fix one? Please help. Much appreciated. Thanks

could someone tell me whether this is possible to do on the cheers cx 20 open source please? great video as well!

for loiter turn flying, can it just be set as a flight mode or does it strictly have to be through mission planner

I can not figure out how to get earth on mission planner. Do you have any suggestions? Bo

superb!! takes all the intimidation out of it dont you think looks better that the crappy NAZA lite!

Painless it is necessary to use APM mini 3.1 suggest me which board should i use ?

may i ask you , what have i do when i get unexpected error when i make waypoint in misiion planer ?

How can one use this app. when there is obviously no wifi outside?

Would this work with the cheerson cx20

Don't forget to set 'Take Off' for the first command. This is not mentioned in the video. If you do not set take off as the first command the copter will likely set of horizontally towards it's first way point. It will climb along the way, until it reaches the correct altitude for the first way point, but this can be dangerous if you have objects or people along the path towards that first way point. I found out the hard way that you must first set the Take Off command - instead of rising up and then over a fence, the copter flew straight into the fence. So unless you are starting your mission from in the air at the correct altitude, always remember to set take off as the first command. Failure to do so could end in tears.

Can you show how to setup "auto takeoff" and auto landing in mission planner for APM2.6 for hexcopter ?

Lee did you do a video on connecting OSD to APM?

you had a great video thanx for that . can you tell how to Auto takeoff please?

hi, it´s possible to make plane missions like this with naza m-lite?

Will everything be the same for APM 2.8? Thanks!

Why subs/text is not available in this video. i'm not good at English listening. hopefully u can fix it soon. thanks :)

I had a question below but here is what I found. I managed to solve my own problem myself. I installed APM Planner and clicked on read and the write. All went fine. Then I opened MISSION PLANNER and now waypoint read/write works like a charm. ================================================================-I hope someone can help me on an issue with writing waypoints. No matter how many waypoints I create I can never write successfully. The error I get states "upload failed, mission was rejected by the MAV. Item has a bad option WP# 1 MAV_MISSION_INV" I tried with both 3DR radio (works great) and USB. With USB at least I can read but not write. Any help is greatly appreciated! APM 2.5 AC_3.02 HEXA

what is this program ?

the compass mot is about 10 and the gps is sat on a 100 mm carbon rod i will try shielding the cables with some foil and let you now

part to make quadcopter waypoint mission? pleaseee

Just a quickie for you. here are the build and flight video's. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nuBiYKqAvq--eoU.html Build kzfaq.info/get/bejne/itGCjZlnqZ6moZs.html Flight I think "soft" is a good description of the flight. I ran out of power 4 minutes into thI think soft is a good description of the flight characteristics of this unit. Soft is good as this is for aerial photography. If you don’t mind, just direction; I connected back to MP after this flight as my flight ran out of gas with 12.2v’s of energy left. Full charge is 12.4v on a 3 cell 11.4 LiPo. In MP, the battery numbers were incorrect and difficult to check while having a meter directly connected to the battery. I’m sure (hopefully) this is playing a big part in running out of juice with so much power available. Part 2, I think I have corrected this but need to test fly to confirm. In my video, hovering was achieved at an 85% plus throttle at first take-off. I found a section in MP on this and made that adjustment.

Ok I loaded Tower on my tablet and phone and connected to the APM 2.6 radio using OTG cable and it worked! Check this out. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oZ6ciq94ktHVh30.html This is the same commercial program that 3DR is using on the IRIS quad they are selling Enjoy!

I called 3DR today and asked the if we could use droid planner on our android tablets or phone with APM 2.6 and he told me we can. I think we would have to use an OTG USB adapter to connect radio to the android device and then load kzfaq.info/get/bejne/j8l9ZZpnltOxYps.html droid planner which comes up under an icon called Tower.

tech looks great but isnt the hobby about flying our multi rotors? where is the hobby going when everything is autonomous? i look forward to flying my uavs, quad,hex etc etc. looks like an apm will turn a normal uav into a dreaded DRONE?.this is just my opinion