APM2.5 or FY31AP?

[lobstermash]

Some of the capabilities I need for my potential clients are autonomous flight, stabilisation and redundancy (RTH). I've been playing with the Hobbyking Multiwii mega board but it's not straightforward to set up. I'm thinking of going one of the more established and professional looking options.

The most likely options are either APM2.5 with MinimOSD or FY31AP with Hornet OSD. Both cost about the same amount delivered and are well supported, and include a well established GUI interface for flight planning. APM2.5 has more customisable features and capable of many more waypoints, however is more complex to set up and use. FY31AP is very simple to set up and use but can only do 8 waypoints.

Aside from these points of difference, it's hard to split them. Anyone got any experiences/opinions to share?

 

[Carbon]

I flew with a guy that used the FY31-ap. It was truly amazing, kept the plane stable, flew it home from 8miles out, and the OSD was very accurate. I feel like if you know how to use the APM2.5 you can do more stuff with it, but I feel safe saying you can trust the FY31-ap.

 

[lobstermash]

Yeah, the more I think about it the more I think that 8 waypoints is plenty...

 

[Carbon]

Well I just loved how simple his setup was. All he has to do is hit a button on the plane, marking home. Then he can fly all day long and if the rssi drops out he has it climb and fly home!

 

[lobstermash]

On the product listing, it talks about flight modes (SW1) and full autonomous modes (SW2). Both require a 3 position switch, but the 9x only has one... For my application, I'd want stabilisation to always be on (safest mode of operation for commercial purposes). I wonder if I could program it to one switch (stabilise - autonomous waypoints - RTH)... Failing that, there're plenty of resources showing how to modify the 9x, including extra 3 and 4 position switches.

 

[Carbon]

Im sure there is a way to have the stabilization always on. And if in bought you can always use the way-points and OSD of the FY and get an i86 board, but I would avoid that just because it is another thing to go wrong.

 

[Carbon]

BTW, a thread like this is another great reason to have a chat function wouldn't you agree Lobster

 

[lobstermash]

110%!

 

[Carbon]

Make it happen! You're the mod with 1500 posts. You must have SOME influence!

 

[lobstermash]

Haha, I'm not a mod. They're red. I was made a 'mentor' (blue) so I could go on the 'feedback' thread for the article website.

 

[Tritium]

lobster you have seen this, right?

http://rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goods_details.dwt&goodsid=837&productname=

I just got my bare APM2 / RCTimer ArduFlyer in yesterday and it looks to be a fine board. Will be attaching it to my new plane which also came in yesterday (SkySurfer 2400mm) along with an airspeed sensor, Hero2 HD and FPV gear. Oh yea, and a 5000mAh 3S NanoTech battery.

Thurmond

 

[lobstermash]

Yeah... Saw that. The DIYDrones store has fully assembled APM2.5 with case and cables for $179, plus the MinimOSD is also on sale. I haven't looked into the radio telemetry system though... Could be a nice addition...

 

[Tritium]

The telemetry is pretty sweet. It allows using the APM Planner while in flight. I had not seen the sale. It did not come up when I clicked on the sale link on their main page. It was only accessible through their "Social Media" link. (I HATE their assumption that everyone is a social media hound).

Thurmond

 

[Arunabha42]

I'm using the APM2. It's really awesome! And its got plenty of documentation online.

 

[Arunabha42]

Here's a quick video I took on my cellphone. Its on the stock ArduCopter2 frame, with the LEA 6h gps from hobbyking. I'm running 2.9.1b firmware.