ArduCopter 2.6 released!
Version 2.6 of the ArduCopter code is now available in the AP Mission Planner and in the downloads area!
Updates to MavLink 1.0 means you will need to use "ArdupilotMegaPlanner10.exe" to connect. If you've updated your mission planner recently you should find this executable in the directory where the mission planner is installed.
The above video is done using a prototype 3dr ublox GPS which seems to have better accuracy than the standard mediatek.
Improvements over 2.5.5 include:
- MavLink 1.0 support (use with ArdupilotMegaPlanner10.exe) [Tridge, Craig]
- Stability improvements especially during level hover [Jason]
- throttle range improvement (higher min and max) [Jason]
- improved standard Loiter PIDs [Alan, Heino, Jason, Angel]
- dataflash erase speed up ('+' messages removed but it only takes 6 seconds now) [Tridge]
- Copter LEDs [Robert Lefebvre]
- RTL loiter stage target set to home to improve final landing position [Jason]
- flip & acro improvements [Jason]
- circle mode target improvement for ground station [Jason]
- Auto Approach [Adam Rivera / Marco]
Bug fixes include:
- UBLOX driver fixes (lock should now be more reliable) [Tridge]
- enable mavlink messages during dataflash erase which resolves issue in which new APMs fresh from the factory appeared unresponsive [Tridge]
- proper printing of lat/lon values in dataflash logs [Randy]
- removed duplicate GPS reads [Jason]
- resolve flooding of telemetry link with low-battery warnings [Tridge]
- RTL bug would land if rtl_approach_alt was more than 1 [Jason]
- WP Radius could not be set larger than 1.3m [Jason/Randy]
Tuning:
PIDs are optimised for the 3DR/Jdrones quad with 850 motors and 10" props. If you're using more powerful motors/props and are seeing bad flight behaviour in stabilize, start by turning down Rate Roll P in 25% steps.
This time we spent some time optimising the loiter PIDs. Tuning loiter can be tricky so please refer to the discussions which will appear below for more community feedback on what parameters work best.
All feedback welcome below. Enhancement requests and bug reports can be put into the arducopter issues list. When possible please include logs (tlog and/or dataflash) and tell us whether you're using APM1 or APM2 and what version of the software you're using (presumably 2.6 but tell us anyway!).
Happy flying!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dave C on -
I'm not sure i understand, do you mean you did not give any stick input on roll/pitch. If so you hexa will stay level but just blow away in the wind. If you want it to stay where it is then you need to change mode, to either poistion hold(manual throttle) or loiter.
Definitely 2.6 from mission planner.
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Permalink Reply by Umer on -
Yes Dave, i just gave the throttle to raise it, got to around 100 ft altitude and then when landed it was approximately 100 ft away from the take off position. I gave no Roll/Pitch inputs, but you can see from the video link i posted that at take off it moved away from the take off location and as the altitude increased, the distance b/w the takeoff and landing location also increased.
Is it only the wind or something else that drifted it away from the takeoff location (because there was not too much wind today)?
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Permalink Reply by Dave C on
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Yes that and your hexa may not have been perfectly level. If you want to stay in one place you must use loiter or position hold.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Pursifull on -
Umer - "stabilize" is not position hold. It is a mode where the 'copter tries to stay level, except for your inputs. It does not try to stay in one place. That you rose to 100 feet and came back down, traveling 200 feet vertically, and only 70 feet horizontally is very good.
Consider even a 1mph wind, or even a tiny lean in the copter, you will get a lot of lateral moment. It is *because* you did not provide (correcting) inputs that your copter moved. In stabilize, it is like a hockey puck on ice, it will slide in any direction with very little force of wind or any tiny imbalance.
You can read about all the modes at http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/AC2_ModeSwitch
Please read the notes about alt_hold at http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/AC2_test as most people switch it on and find that their 'copter drops to the floor quickly, because they did not read that.
And congratulations! 70 lateral feet in 200 feet vertical in a first flight while in stabalize is very good. You have a well built 'copter!
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Permalink Reply by James on
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first chance to fly 2.6 this evening, and only briefly at that. 30 kmh winds gusting to 40 kmh and STAB was absolutely great, i tuned RATE P to 0.130 and STAB P to 4.3 - really very smooth and predictable on a 2Kg hexa (880kv and APC 12x3.8).
loiter wasnt particularly great, but then the conditions were difficult, im sure i can improve it tomorrow.
the throttle range is _significantly_ wider, on first takeoff i almost left the ground while i was just spinning up the props to an "idle". another effect i noticed is that the burst of throttle to stop a descent seems to need slightly more stick movement.
yaw was responsive but i had a little bit of rebound after turning, again im sure it can be improved as i was just starting to get some results in 2.5.5, today i flew with RATE YAW P 0.140 and STAB YAW 7.
lots of landings in blustery winds and i havent even broken a prop :D, really nice to fly, thanks all.
james
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Permalink Reply by dudz on -
On my Y6 I found 2.5 to be very stable . I have upgraded to 2.6 today, the throttle range is better, the Y6 is alot more responsive to any radio commands, but it drifts more than when I had 2.5 installed. It also yaws on take off alot more.
I cannot calibrate the compass in MP because every time I move the Y6 with the mini USB connected, I loose connection. I have read other APM2 users have this problem with the APM2 usb hub also.It is very sensitive to movement.
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Permalink Reply by Jonathan M on -
Tried v2.6 final with slightly modified PIDs (rate_p = 0.165) on my heavy hexa (4kg, 12x3.8SF, 4s, APM 2)
Wow, even in the breezy afternoon winds rolling off the coast, this thing is rock solid. Slight bit of drift that could be due to the wind or not a perfect level, but it's definitely the most solid feeling I have ever felt it. I don't have much time on this hexa, but it was still all over the place with v2.5.5.
I get a bit of wobble in the yaw axis, and I may turn down my dependency on my mag.Still very frustrated with my GPS. 9 sats today for well over 30 mins and no lock. There is something up with my board. Now, I am also not reading my dataflash card. So, no logs. Maybe the APM2 is just getting old (one of the originals)...
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Permalink Reply by Norman Sanchez on -
Hi all, I have a small problem with the v2.6
I have a coaxial octo, 850kW, 10x4.5, 1650 kilograms XAircraft frame.
I never had happened, with no code to maintain Hight altitude, the quad is directed toward up front when I get the quad so stable returns to its position.
it's like 10 and 11 engines accelerate more.
has explain me is not even the acceleration of the engines.
Otherwise it is perfect.
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Permalink Reply by Norman Sanchez on
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Code. loaded with Arduino: everything else default
# define FRAME_CONFIG OCTA_QUAD_FRAME
/ *
options:
QUAD_FRAME
TRI_FRAME
HEXA_FRAME
Y6_FRAME
OCTA_FRAME
OCTA_QUAD_FRAME
HELI_FRAME
* /# define FRAME_ORIENTATION X_FRAME
/ *
PLUS_FRAME
X_FRAME
V_FRAME
* /
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Permalink Reply by Norman Sanchez on
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Fixed: loading the code again. cleared the arduino library and copied and pasted again, 3 compilations 2 deleted 1 reset.
That something in memory stay the error occurred.
success with v2.6 very good response so far.
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Permalink Reply by John Mulligan on
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Just got a fright. Loaded 2.6 from mission planner into APM2 did a cli erase and reset, set + and calibrated radio set modes and thought I saved them, tweeked a couple of pids and went out to park to test loiter and its not so good but stabilize is fine . Back to the house and check and modes are all stabilize so do a cli reset to default the pids and set up modes , radio, + and level again.
Back to the park and Quad is lifting off in stabilize and hovering then flipping or flying off.
Reloaded 2.6 from mission planner , cli erase ( no reset ) set up again and still acting bad.
Backed down to 2.55 and setup and its ok again, after 2.55 reload when entering setup it warned radio was not set up.
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Permalink Reply by John Campen on -
I see there is still a bit of bounce on auto landing. This happened in 2.5 to me and it took about 4 to 5 bounces along the ground before it would stop. Because of the bouncing and some wind it flipped over a few times and broke numerous props. Has this been reduced in 2.6? Is there something that can be tweaked to lessen this affect?
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