3D Robotics

ArduCopter 2.3 released

Jason is travelling this week, so I'll take the helm for the next software release post. 

UPDATE: the motor remapping thing was confusing everyone, so we took that out and returned to the regular motor mapping. That means that APM 2 users with Hexas and Octos should wait for the next version. APM 1 users should be fine with any frame.  

NOTE: Hexa and Octo users: there have been motor mapping changes that may affect you. Please don't upgrade until we can update the documentation to reflect the changes. This should happen by the end of the day today (Feb 1).

ArduCopter 2.3 is now available in the Mission Planner.  This is the next revision of the ArduCopter 2.2B6 code, which is perhaps the most tested code we've ever released (1288 comments in the thread!)  and certainly in my experience the best code, too. 

The default PIDs are optimized for a 3DR/Jdrones quad with 850 motors and 10" props. If you're using more powerful motors/props, start by turning down Rate Roll P (default is 0.14, so start by turning it down to 0.1. In general tune PIDs in 25% steps).

Now that we've got solid code out there, we can turn to collecting suggested gains for standard frames, and a better guide to how to tune PIDs for your unique setups. 

Here are Jason's note on the latest changes (mostly from 2.2B6)

A dampening term called STAB_D has been refined. A D term for all of the Rate based control loops has been added based on Igor's work. Landing for Baro and Sonar has been refined based on JLN's work. A slightly new approach to Loiter and Navigation is being used to try and linearize the pitch and roll for rate control. It tends to use lower gains, yet has a more assertive response in the air.

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.

Note the Mission Planner does not yet highlight these D terms on the main tuning page (it will soon), but you can find them and modify them on in the Parameters list.

Autolanding should now work well (see video above) and the Tri servo issue is now resolved. 

The code should now compile with Arduino 1.0 (thank, Randy!), but remember that you need to use the "relaxpatch" version of Arduino in our downloads section. 

[Update: we've reverted the below. See update at the top of the post]

Important for Octo users:


We've changed some of the motor orders for some more exotic airframes. We'll be updating the docs on the Wiki in a day or two to reflect this. Pat Hickey explains:

As before, the hexa plus APM2 motor setup has changed from the ordering [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] to [ 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4 ].

The Octa V layout for APM2 is:
6            4
  2        5
    8    1
      3 7
Motors 1 through 4 spin clockwise, and 5 through 8 spin counterclockwise.
Support for roll/tilt camera control on APM 2 should be coming in the next version. Traditional Heli will also be updating to this latest code as well once we track down a memory issue. 
As always, you can see a complete list of changes in the changelogs.

Views: 54188

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion


DeveloperPermalink Reply by R_Lefebvre on February 17, 2012 at 10:53am

Man, I can't WAIT to get my camera on my heli.  With optical image stabilization and a better camera, it'll be even better.

This really is top-notch.

And no Jello either.  Contrats!

Permalink Reply by Thomas Kramm on February 17, 2012 at 12:23pm

Setting is 720p 60fps. Seem to have the least Jello in my setup.


DeveloperPermalink Reply by Marco Robustini on February 17, 2012 at 10:47am

Nice camera mount Thomas!

Permalink Reply by Jonathan M on February 17, 2012 at 10:58am

Very nice!  Are you using APM1 or APM2?  I seem to recall that image stabilization doesn't work with APM2 and 2.3 at the moment.. so I am guessing APM1.

Anyone have a clue why it no longer works and if it's resolved in 2.3.1?

Permalink Reply by Thomas Kramm on February 17, 2012 at 1:40pm

APM 1

Permalink Reply by heikki.tukiainen on February 17, 2012 at 11:21am

Thomas - nice flying on TH Darmstadt. :-) 

Studied there more than 10 years back as an Erasmus student.

Permalink Reply by Thomas Kramm on February 17, 2012 at 1:45pm

Yeah Campus Lichtwiese is about 5 minutes away from my place, perfect for testing. Did meet a professor trying to get a Mikrokopter Octo up in the air, they bought for their department for aerial photography. They just ordered it with everything. He even had 4 4S 6600mAh batteries. I was a little bit jealous.

Permalink Reply by Vincent Mees on February 17, 2012 at 12:56pm

Is it possible to mount the complete Gopro case on the mount?

Permalink Reply by Thomas Kramm on February 17, 2012 at 1:47pm

noppe ist just the gopro on the mount I used before it was possible. Like this: http://mondronefr.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/montage-de-la-nacelle-ca...

Permalink Reply by Jakub Jewula on February 18, 2012 at 1:27am

Hi Thomas :)

Nice results, better than my own ;)

Jakub


DeveloperPermalink Reply by Marco Robustini on February 17, 2012 at 12:14pm

ArduCopter V2.3.1 - The final test before release

PS: do not emulated my "extreme RTL -> LAND" if you're not sure what you do!
I'm sorry for the drunk filmer.

Marco

Permalink Reply by Ihab Ali on February 17, 2012 at 12:22pm

Wow...very nice! in preparation for the release(I hope very very soon) can you post your param file for others to use as a sample/guide?

RSS

Social Networking

Top Content 

1 Mapping Mission Ride Along

Mapping Mission Ride Along
2 ArduPlane 2.73 released

ArduPlane 2.73 released
3 Alt_hold and loiter acting crazy

Alt_hold and loiter acting crazy
4 ArduVTOL - Wingcopter - Flight Report Nr.1

ArduVTOL - Wingcopter - Flight Report Nr.1
5 APM 2.5 from hobbyking

APM 2.5 from hobbyking
6 Mechanical Hands From A MakerBot: The Magic Of Robohand (From Makerbot blog news)

Mechanical Hands From A MakerBot: The Magic Of Robohand (From Makerbot blog news)
7 3 axis Camera Gimble connections.

3 axis Camera Gimble connections.
8 DroidPlanner for Android The best missionplanner alternative! Using Mavlink via cheap usb adapter (Follow me - PIDS - ACC calibration - FREE)

DroidPlanner for Android The best missionplanner alternative! Using Mavlink via cheap usb adapter (Follow me - PIDS - ACC calibration - FREE)
9 Looking for best laptop screen to see in the sun

Looking for best laptop screen to see in the sun
10 New micro-cameras emulate insects' compound eyes

New micro-cameras emulate insects' compound eyes

Contests

Season Two of the Trust Time Trial (T3) Contest has now begun. The fourth round is an accuracy round for multicopters, which requires contestants to fly a cube. The deadline is April 14th.

A list of all T3 contests is here. 

Groups

Advertisement

© 2013   Created by Chris Anderson.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service