Discussions

Hi All,

I'm getting ready for the ArduPlane 2.71 release, and have now tagged a 2.71-beta release for you all to test. The beta release firmware can be downloaded from http://firmware.diydrones.com

The key changes from 2.70 are:

• prevent control mode changes due to receiver input change when in throttle failsafe
• auto-scale analog input based on board voltage. This also removes the INPUT_VOLTAGE parameter, as it is no longer needed
• added TKOFF_THR_MINSPD and TKOFF_THR_MINACC parameters. These allow you to set a minimum ground speed or X acceleration before the motor is started in auto mode. This is to better support hand launching in AUTO mode, and bungee or catapult launching.
• added TKOFF_HEAD_HOLD option. This determines if auto takeoff will try to hold heading while climbing out. For a hand launch it is often better just to hold the wings level, instead of trying to hold heading.
• changed FBWB altitude control from elevator to lock in the altitude when the elevator stick is neutral. This fixes a problem with altitude changing in FBWB mode due to slight tuning errors.
• auto-detect when the compass is way off due to interference and switch to GPS navigation until the compass is healthy again
• prevent servo output overflow on large PID gains. This is especially important for elevon aircraft
• changed default STICK_MIXING behaviour to use FBWA style stick mixing in AUTO mode. This prevents the pilot from causing radical turns if they don't know that the plane is in an AUTO mode.

I'd appreciate some feedback from users prior to the 2.71 release, so please go fly it now!

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this release!

One thing that probably won't be in this release but should be in the next release is the new L1 navigation controller from Brandon and Paul. They are doing fantastic work, but it isn't quite ready for general use.

Cheers, Tridge