Let's rock !

[Vittorio Nardone]

Let's rock !
It's time to start my first Quad build.

But before... i would like to really thanks Roberto for his helpfulness and his amazing work. Thanks my friend.

I'm a newbie in RC world, so my first step was to buy motors, ESC, batteries, charger and so on..
I'm waiting for that stuff orderer online, so at the moment my job is working on code to try to understand how it works.

My first project is based on Aeroquad firmware with Wii IMU and Arduino Mega (i already have that in my garage, so no reason to buy new stuff for the moment).

I modified last SVN release of Aeroquad 2.0 (R413) because it was not possible to build it with WiiIMU configuration.

I'm using Eclipse IDE to work on Arduino code.. few lines of code changed in main Aeroquad.pde file and i can use a real IDE to build code and upload it to Mega. Lol :)

I added this at the beginning :

// IDE Configuration
#define ECLIPSE_BUILD

and this before setup() :

#ifdef ECLIPSE_BUILD
// List of addition files
#include "FlightCommand.pde"
#include "FlightControl.pde"
#include "Sensors.pde"
#include "SerialCom.pde"

// This code is required if the project is being built under Eclipse
extern "C" void __cxa_pure_virtual() {
cli();
for (;;);
};

int main(void) {
/* Must call init for arduino to work properly */
init();
setup();
for (;;) {
loop();
} // end for
} // end main
#endif

It's very simple to switch between Arduino IDE and Eclipse IDE.. simply changing one #define.

A proposal to Roberto (probably to be forwarded to Aeroquad / Arducopter team guys) : why don't officially support Eclipse IDE in their projects ?

Congratulations to FoxTeam members for their amazing jobs.

Vittorio

[Jani Hirvinen]

Thanks Vittorio, I will look this more due we know that there are a lot limitations on Arduino IDE. I have been thinking to explore it long time already.

If we find a good way not to mess Arduino IDE users, i'm willing to move our heading towards more advanced IDEs.

I personally want to have it anyways but it's not only me.... :)

[Vittorio Nardone]

Yes Jani, both of them has good and bad things. I totally agree with you.
I can also add that in Eclipse (on Windows, are you using it?) "1 click" upload button is available for default (no need of additional configuration) with AVR Plug-In.

Netbeans or Eclipse.. it doesn't matter. My proposal was to change source code of good project like Aeroquad to give a way to build with different IDE. With Eclipse (but also with NB, i suppose) that means add a small section with a #define. One time only.

Anyone would like to try to use Eclipse for Arduino development, i can give my (small) help.

[Jani Hirvinen]

Yes I have both of them working already. I just prefer more Netbeans. It's a lot lighter to use than Eclipse and you can have almost "1-cluck" upload. Not sure it might be even possible to create a button for too. At least it would be possible to make a quick key for it.

Both of them has good and bad things.

[Vittorio Nardone]

@Roberto, you can download my Eclipse workspace from here

Let me know if you need help. Ciao !

[Vittorio Nardone]

Sorry, i forgot AVR Plug-In link. Check this.
You need also WinAvr

[Vittorio Nardone]

@Jani Also in Eclipse it's possible to upload a sketch to Arduino board using one button. It's really simply. Supporting Eclipse in Aeroquad (or Arducopter) means add a #define in main file. Newbie users could continue use Arduino IDE, expert users could change the #define setting and use Eclipse (or NB, but i never used it, so i don't know which changes are required in source code).

The difficult part is set up Eclipse IDE the first time.. When this is done, working with different sketch or complex Arduino application (like Aeroquad) is really simply and fast.

To give you an idea, please check this link :
http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1240829167/all

Check reply #28.. i read it, step by step, and finally i have Eclipse working well.

@Roberto, i can send you by email my Eclipse workspace.. you should need to change some path settings for libraries.
You need :
- Eclipse (i'm using Helios version). Download it from here
- AVR Plug-In for Eclipse. Download it from here

[Riccardo Ferrari]

I really enjoy this kind of improvement! It would be great to use Eclipse (CDT I suppose) to build QuadStuff software, Great work!

[Jani Hirvinen]

Well in Arduino pages you can find info about Eclipse http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Code/Eclipse

And here is nice Netbeans plugin and guide how to setup it: http://java.dzone.com/news/arduino-development-using?utm_source=am6...

Netbeans you can find from www.netbeans.org and that is great too for what ever development.. also libraries and it has auto correction etc..

[Roberto Navoni]

@Jani @Vittorio ,
do you have some links about eclipse and Netbeams and Arduino to Share with Us . I think that the a bettter editor is an important improvment that need Arduino Framewok
Regards
Roberto

[Jani Hirvinen]

NetBeans works too rather nicely with Arduino. I already use that and NB has few great features more that EC does not. It is even possible to upload new program directly from NB with click of a button.

Even tho NB does not have official support for Arduino environment, there are few plugins that allow you to interact easily with Arduino. Also you don't need to add any special functions/defines to your main sketch.

But over all it's worth to look them especially for more advanced people.

--jp