Archived Topic: Building for Erle-Brain 2

These instructions explain how to build ArduPilot on board the Erle-Brain 2.

Note

Alternatively you can follow Erle-Robotics’s instructions on how to build from source on your PC.

Connection and setup

Give Erle-Brain Internet access by plugging the Ethernet wire into the RJ-45 connector.

Connect to Erle-Brain 2:

$ ssh erle@erle-brain-2.local

Tip

Other connection methods are discussed in the manufacturers documentation

Clone the source:

#Move to home
cd ~/
#Clone the ArduPilot repository in home
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot.git
cd ardupilot

Build

Build for Copter:

cd /home/erle/ardupilot/ArduCopter
make erlebrain2 -j4

This will build the firmware for a quadcopter. If you wish to build for another frame type (such as hexacopter) append “-hexa” onto the end of the make command (i.e. make erlebrain2-hexa -j4). The full list of available frames can be found in the targets.mk file.

Note

If building for Plane, Rover or Antenna Tracker replace the above “ArduCopter” with “ArduPlane”, “Rover” or “AntennaTracker”.

Move firmware to the executable directory

When you compile Copter (in ~/ardupilot/ArduCopter) the executable ArduCopter.elf is created in the same folder. You need to move the executable to home (`~/`or `/home/erle/`) because there is a service in Erle-Brain 2 (called apm.service) which automatically launches the autopilot from those locations.

#Assuming present working directory is: ~/ardupilot/ArduCopter
sudo cp ArduCopter.elf ~/

Tip

The service mentioned above, launches ArduCopter by default, using a bridge for sending telemetry data and GPS placed in ttyAMA0 by default

You can find additional information about the default launch process and launch configuration options in the documentation.

Tip

If you are unable to copy the executable it may be because the destination file is locked. This is because the autopilot is already running. Use the following command to stop the running service:

systemctl stop apm.service

Now copy the executable in home (`~`or `/home/erle/`) and restart the service in order to execute the new executable:

systemctl start apm.service

Or simply, restart the board once you have copied the new executable