Getting the source

We'll assume you are putting the source in /home/name/ardupilot.

You can either download the source using the "ZIP" button at https://github.com/diydrones/ardupilot, or you can grab it from github using git:

git clone git://github.com/diydrones/ardupilot.git

Building using Arduino

First install the libraries:

1. Copy the libraries directory to your /path/to/arduino/hardware/libraries/ or /path/to/arduino/libraries directory.

2. Restart the Arduino IDE.

Each library comes with a simple example. You can find the examples in the menu File→Examples

Building using make

1. Go to the directory of the sketch and type make.

2. Type make upload to upload according to the parameters in config.mk.

For example:

cd ArduPlane  # or ArduCopter etc.
make
make upload

Building using cmake

cd ArduPlane  # or ArduCopter etc.
mkdir build
cd build

# If you have Arduino installed in a non-standard location you by
# specify it by using -DARDUINO_SDK_PATH=/path/to/arduino
cmake .. -DAPM_BOARD=mega -DAPM_PORT=/dev/ttyUSB0  # Or -DAPM_BOARD=mega2560

make  # Will build the sketch.
make ArduPlane-upload  # Will upload the sketch.

If you have a sync error during upload, reset the board or power cycle the board before the upload starts.

Building using Eclipse

Generating the Eclipse project for your system

mkdir /home/name/apm-build 
cd /home/name/apm-build
cmake -G"Eclipse CDT4 - Unix Makefiles" \
  -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug \
  -D BOARD=mega \
  -D PORT=/dev/ttyUSB0 \
  ../ardupilot/ArduCopter

Change the ../ardupilot/ArduCopter above to be whatever sketch you want to build.

Note: Unix can be substituted for MinGW/MSYS/NMake (for Windows). See http://www.vtk.org/Wiki/Eclipse_CDT4_Generator).

Define options

• CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE choose from DEBUG, RELEASE etc.

• PORT is the port for uploading to the board, COM0 etc. on Windows, /dev/ttyUSB0 etc. on Linux.

• BOARD is your board type, mega for the 1280 or mega2560 for the 2560 boards.

• ARDUINO_SDK_PATH to specify the path to your Arduino installation if it isn't in the default path.

Importing the Eclipse build project

1. Import project using Menu File→Import.

2. Select General→Existing projects into workspace.

3. Browse to where your build tree is and select the root build tree directory.

4. Keep "Copy projects into workspace" unchecked.

You should now have a fully functional eclipse project.

Importing the Eclipse source project

You can also import the source repository (/home/name/ardupilot) if you want to modify the source/commit using git.

Configuring Eclipse to recognize PDE files

• File association: Go to Window→Preferences→General→Content Types. This tree associates a filename or filename pattern with its content type so that tools can treat it properly. Source and header files for most languages are under the Text tree. Add "*.pde" as a C++ Source.

• Autocompletion: Right click on source project→Properties→Project References→apm-build Project

• Regenerating the Eclipse source project file: cmake -G"Eclipse CDT4 - Unix Makefiles" -DECLIPSE_CDT4_GENERATE_SOURCE_PROJECT=TRUE /home/name/ardupilot

Build a package using cpack

cd build
cmake ..
make package
make package_source