This is the new APM 2.8 flight controller. The sensors are exactly the same as the APM 2.6 flight controller however this has the option to use the built in compass, or external compass via a jumper. This makes the APM 2.8 ideal for use with multicopters and rovers.

The APM 2.8 is a complete open source autopilot system and the bestselling technology that won the prestigious Outback Challenge UAV competition. It allows the user to turn any fixed, rotary wing or multirotor vehicle (even cars and boats) into a fully autonomous vehicle; capable of performing programmed GPS missions with waypoints.

This revision of the board has an optional onboard compass, which is designed for vehicles (especially multicopters and rovers) where the compass should be placed as far from power and motor sources as possible to avoid magnetic interference. (On fixed wing aircraft it's often easier to mount APM far enough away from the motors and ESCs to avoid magnetic interference, so this is not as critical, but APM 2.8 gives more flexibility in that positioning and is a good choice for them, too). This is designed to be used with the 3DR uBlox GPS with Compass, so that the GPS/Compass unit can be mounted further from noise sources than APM itself.

APM 2.8 requires a GPS unit for full autonomy. You can add additional extras to your AMP 2.8 board via the options above. 

Using the built in compass

To use the built in compass simply connect the jumper as shown below.  If the compass jumper is removed then the APM board will use the external compass which is best for multirotors with a GPS/compass module mounted externally

POWERFUL GROUND CONTROL SOFTWARE

The downloadable mission planner software is what you use to configure and control your Ardupilot board, features include:

Point-and-click waypoint entry, using Google Maps.

Select mission commands from drop-down menus

Download mission log files and analyze them

Configure APM settings for your airframe

Interface with a PC flight simulator to create a full hardware-in-the-loop UAV simulator.

See the output from APM’s serial terminal

WHAT CAN THE APM BOARD CONTROL?

The ArduPilot Mega board can control Planes, Copters and Rovers.  All you need to do is load the appropriate software onto the board with a few clicks

FEATURES:

Arduino Compatible!

Includes 3-axis gyro, accelerometer, along with a high-performance barometer

Onboard 4 MegaByte Dataflash chip for automatic datalogging

Optional off-board GPS, uBlox LEA-6H module with Compass.

One of the first open source autopilot systems to use Invensense's 6 DoF Accelerometer/Gyro MPU-6000.

Barometric pressure sensor upgraded to MS5611-01BA03, from Measurement Specialties.

Atmel's ATMEGA2560 and ATMEGA32U-2 chips for processing and usb functions respectively.