Arducopter 2.2 beta
I just pushed Arducopter 2.2 to the Mission planner. This version went through extensive testing by a brave group of flyers and with both HIL and SIL testing.
See this link for more:
http://www.diydrones.com/forum/topics/arducopter-2-1-1-alpha
If you run into any problems please let me know here. If you find a reproducible bug, please add it to the issues list.
tuning tips:
If you run into Loiter issues, try adjusting LOITER_P. It's 2.0 right now which may or may not be to aggressive for your copter. Nav is no longer used in Loiter control, which should make tuning easier.
If you run into a circling issue, try lowering LOITER_I to 0 and see if it goes away. If not, check your compass declination. A negative error will produce CCW rotations, a positive error CW.
If you have issues with alt hold, try lowering your THROTTLE_P, it may be too high for higher thrust copters.
If you have wobbles and can't seem to get rid of them, there is a new term called STAB_D, which is a derivative term used to tune out the wobbles. You can increase it until they stop, but just like driving a cadillac, you loose some performance and handling. In the CLI "tune 16" in setup will let you control this in flight, and "tune" in test menu will let you see the value printed out interactively before flight. See the wiki for more detail.
Many testers gave me a thumbs up on the code, so if you have an issues please post the flash log from the copter. The tLog isn't that much help to me for debugging as it doesn't capture the needed values at high enough rates.
(Remember, if you'd rather pull the code from the repository and load it with Arduino, you must use the "relaxpatch" version of Arduino in our downloads section.)
Update 2.2b2
I believe I found the simple mode error. It was a bug that was working OK until Tridge fixed it so it was declared properly. Then the bug became active. I made the Simple mode function internal variables static and this should fix it hopefully.
I updated alt hold to not use dampener for now until we get more testing. Some folks saw a latency induced oscillation which was pumped up by the D term.
I added the automatic throttle cruise or hold value as a compile time option for testers. This basically looks at your throttle and climb rate while in stabilize or acro and determines your optimal hover value. This means you can enter any autopilot mode and not have to worry about your throttle position. It should make alt hold more reliable if it works. This is off by default until we get good field tests back.
Update pushed to GIT.
Update 2.2b3
Just some refinements. I added JLN's throttle curve mod for landing. Hopefully that's correctly implemented.
Made the landing delay from RTL user settable
removed the ADC gyro filter, I was doing a lot of testing and determined it wasn't worth it.
Enabled the auto-throttle control by default. Please test in the sim
Altitude no longer resets when flying in Loiter mode
Pitch and roll dampening is smoother now. try values up to .08 for very dampened flight.
Mavlink can now trigger auto-land
I'll push a hex when I hear some good news from HIL testers.
Update 2.2b4
Update 2.2b6
OK, 2.2b6 is on GIT. The Mission planner is going to be out of sync until the release code. until then you can use the APM_Config.h or the parameters list in the Mission planner.
STAB_D : This is the gyro accretion dampener. This can remove small wobbles during sharp changes in angle commands. Making this too high can have a negative effect in performance and add a memory effect that can cause temporary loss in control. The in flight tuning is ranged so you are just below that effect.
If you haven't noticed before the control loops are in two stages. The first is a PI stage that converts some sort of position or angle error into a desired rate. These generally do not need to be tuned. They are more of a user preference on how fast you want the copter to perform a motion.
The second stage is the actual PID loop that needs to be tuned for the copter. This converts the desired rate into a motor command of some sort. I added a D term based on Igor's recommendation to the PI's for each rate controller. These should show up soon in the mission planner for the release. I cannot give you a concrete answer for how to tune the D terms, because they each depend on their function such as alt hold or loiter, etc.
Still, the absolute most important term is always the Rate_P term for each loop. Start tuning here.
The default PIDs are in the what flies great for a stock jDrones/3DR Quad with the purple motors in X mode.
Thanks,
Jason
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dave C on -
Yep, some motors have a 'hidden' grub screw on the shaft. Check that's correctly positioned and tight too.
The fact that the noise in flight is intermittent is worth considering. Have you checked all your props are really tight? Hold the bell housing in one hand and try to turn the prop with the other.
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Permalink Reply by Dave C on
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Again though the shaft is not connected to the coil... I'd be using the less sloppy ones, see if that improves matters and then considering RMA for the sloppy ones.
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Permalink Reply by Dave C on
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Very dumb question - sorry i have searched...
How and where do I find the b6 on GIT? I've downloaded GIT but cant find the file repository.
EDIT:
The source code for ArduCopter is now held in the main ArduPilotMega
git repository.The git URL is:
https://code.google.com/p/ardupilot-mega
More information on using the git repository is available here:
http://code.google.com/p/ardupilot-mega/wiki/Git
or for command line users, here:
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DeveloperPermalink Reply by Marco Robustini on -
- Attachments:
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ArduCopter_V2.2b6.zip, 1.3 MB
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Permalink Reply by Dave C on
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Oh now thats just perfect timing :) I will leave GIT for another day and get to the field. Nice one Marco :)
And great news on the PIDT1 implementation - Jason and others, i don't know how you do it, great work!!!
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3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on -
Rana: It's in the Git repository, not the download area. Although we've flight tested it a lot, we wait to get some feedback from the users who use Git (who tend to me the most technical) before we push it out to a zip for the rest of the beta testers. If it goes well for them, too, we finally push it out as a hex for everyone in the Mission Planner.
But if you want a zip now, Marco included one in his comment above.
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Permalink Reply by Rana on -
Chris, In the morning, I saw it in the download area and I infact downloaded it in the morning but now when I was just seeing the updates / downloads of ACM, I observed, it was not there, thats why I asked out of curiosity.
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3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on -
Rana: We've had a lot of people fly it today with good results (including me--it's the best code I've ever tried. Jason did a great job), so I've posted it as a zip in the downloads section. We'll let the beta testers have at it for the next few days, and if things continue to go well, we'll push it out to the hex in mid-week.
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Permalink Reply by Volker Schirra on -
Result from the field: my fingers are like icicles because the quad was flying so great ;-)
My quad is a standard kit (apm1) in + setup with 2200mAh battery and sonar. All parameters were unchanged.
Weather conditions are: -4 Celsius, wind approx. 7 knots.
Since my pilot expirience is poor, i used simple mode by channel 7.
Tests with ALT_HOLD in 5-6 m altiude and LOITER were successful.
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Permalink Reply by Dave C on
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With b6, its not possible to modify acro? Is it disabled in this release, or am i missing something. Tried MP 1.128 and 1.130.
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DeveloperPermalink Reply by Marco Robustini on -
I think is disable and take the Acro Rate P, I and IMAX from the RATE of the stabilize section, i have not checked well the code, now I look.
Yes, Acro PID has remove, here the difference in the code about this:
http://code.google.com/p/ardupilot-mega/source/diff?spec=svndc8ab7b...
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ArduCopter V2.2ß6 is out on GIT
I'm aware that I broke the balls and I bored all the dev list with my nagging requests, test, video and other, but I am sure that good reports will not be long in coming, and this will give me confirmation that my stances perhaps too "dictatorial" (in a good way) will serve to improve finally AC for all the users, so thanks for putting up with me, I am sure that will be served at something, and friends confirm it.
Thank you Jason and to all the development team for the lively confrontation regarding the implementation of the new "PIDT1 patch" by Igor (thanks mate!), inserterd in this beta release.
I also thank Jean-Louis for having improved the automatic landing.
You can read the news in the first post in this thread, Jason which changes every time you release a new beta version.
Unfortunately it is not currently possible to test this beta with AeroSim because the plugin inside the planner has been updated to support the incoming V3.83, not currently available on the website of the author.
Before testing in real flight first update the planner (V1.1.30) and be careful to the new parameters "RATE_D", follow the Igor tuning step and as many already do know, the video of Dave is quite explanatory in this regard (but I would put a helmet!).
We look forward to your reports, I believe absolutely positive about it, unfortunately I can not test it for you due having crashed my quad with the unreleased ß5, need to buy some spare parts for fine testing this.
I read that most people have problem configuring the GIT, so strange, it's easy if you follow the wiki, anyway i put the beta release available here for direct download.
At the moment you can't download this beta from the planner therefore not necessarily free from bugs, need some tester's reports, use it at your own risk!
The GIT is frequently changing so the file placed here is updated at this time.
Happy fly and enjoy (at my face, LOL)!
Bests,
Marco
(AC Dev Team Tester)