Arducopter 2.7.2 is now in the mission planner and in the downloads area. Some positive reports on testing can be found in this discusssion by John Hanson.
Note: just as the release was going out an issue was found re support for the all Camera Gimbals on the APM1s (it doesn't work) and with 3 axis gimbals on the APM2 (2-axis works ok but not 3). If you're one of these people, please wait for 2.7.3 which will be out shortly.
UPDATE: 2.7.3 is now in the Mission Planner
Functional Improvements over 2.7.1:
- Fast waypoints (Jason) - if the turn angle between two waypoint the copter is less than 60 degrees it does not slow down
- Navigation improvements and logging including switching to filtered location for distance calculations (jason)
- Flip improvements - more aggressive and flexible flip code based on attitude instead of timing (Jason)
- Improved camera control - you can now control any axis (roll, tilt, pan) with any rc channel. it probably makes most sense that you will use 6 but others are possible too. Unfortunately these changes required we change the set-up procedure so the mission planner gimbal set-up screen needs to be modified again. Please refer to the AC_Camera wiki page for how to manually set-up the gimbal (Amilcar)
- Flybar acro mode for TradHeli (Robert)
- "Fast gains" - allows strong correction of attitude using accelerometers while the quad is stationary on the ground but relies more on gyros while flying (Tridge, Jason)
- Baro filtering improvements (Tridge)
Bug Fixes:
- DMP timing fix (Randy) - the MPU6000's dmp unit was inadvertantly turned on and caused timing delays in the main loop- xbee bricking issue (Craig / Tridge)
- Dataflash fixes (Jason)
- Engine ticking - was a combination of roll/pitch rate D term being too high and the dmp timing fix above (Randy, Emile)
- Faster heading correction on start-up - resolves issue with simple mode getting incorrect heading if you took off very soon after start-up (Tridge)
Code Cleanup:
- Increased maximum number parameters (Tridge)
- Formatting changes to code (Pat)
- Replaced "int" with "int16_t" everywhere (Randy)
As per usual 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.
There is still some question on whether the default Roll/Pitch Rate P (0.175) is high enough (it was 0.185 in 2.7.1) and also some people feel the Throttle Rate should be higher (currently 0.300 but some say 0.330 or even much higher would be better).
Please feel free to report issues you find in the discussion below and/or add them to the issues list.
Thanks and enjoy!
Replies
I thought I had ROI all figured out today, and gleefully ran to the park to test, and for some reason ROI seems 100% inop.
I don't understand what I did wrong. Attached are screen shots of the mission plan with 4 ROI targets.
The mission was flown like a dream despite gale force winds. Sorry for the jello, I smashed all my props off Friday trying to get to get sonar to work, and now I have jello. One of them must be waaaaay out of balance.
Anyways, here's the video as well and you can see the copter never turns towards the ROI's at all.
What did I do wrong?
2012-09-30 14-00-47.tlog
2012-09-30 17-27 3.log
HI All,
I'm having a serious YAW issue on my X8: It slows yaws until the X8 points north, which screws up simple mode big time and has caused me a few crashes. I'm using 2.7.3.Tried live calibration, tried log calibration and tried manually setting the variation. Nothing helps.
Any ideas what to check next?
I'm using 880kV motors with 11x47 props. Drawing 36A in hover. Total weight is 7lbs/3000gr. (includes two 5000mAh 4s batteries).
I'm a bit desperate because until I have fixed this issue, cannot really do much else. I have lots of RC experience, but flying the X8 in 'non simple mode' makes me quickly lose orientation! (tempted to glue a big styrofoam arrow to the bottom of it :-) ).
Thanks!
Alex
Hi!
Based on the progress of multiwii there is a perfect integration of the baro with the accelerometer possible with just a few lines of code. Because i really don't like the implementation of the actual mwii dev versions for several reasons (timing etc) i programmed my own version with better sensor readout etc. Currenty i pushed it further and got naza-like results. I mainly use the acc for z velocity and altitude. The baro compensates the acc drift/error in my version currently at 33Hz. I am not incorporated in the arducopter code but i would like to see this progress in my apm as well. I would love to share the details here for a better apm althold. Please tell me if there is demand.
So long
Kraut Rob
Hello all,
Back in town and the X8 is all built up and flying. However, I can't find the TB-ratio in mission planner, am I being thick? Have I missed something in the forums? Or is the TB-ration just missing?
Many thanks
Flew first set of waypoint missions last night in heavy gusting, other than some overshoot when hitting a waypoint I need to tune out, 2.7.3 worked great with the ublox GPS on an APM1. All signs of the "small aggresive corrections" gone now (outside of wind corrections in bad gusting). Also the camera gimbal controls seem to work right now (as opposed to 2.6).
Running a modified 3dr hex with 880motors and 12x4.5 props on 3s2p "Zippy" 3700s from hobby king.
Nice job guys, it's getting better and better.
Only questions I have are how do I slow down the speed between waypoints and also (I searched but couldn't find it) how does loiter radius affect the approach to a waypoint if at all? Will I get more overshoot at a specific speed by reducing the radius to something really low when running a multi copter?
WARNING: for those who may be testing 2.7.4-Beta from the downloads area do not enable the optical flow sensor. It's likely ok on the APM2.5 but it's freezing up on the APM1 due to a conflict with the dataflash with whom it shares the SPI bus. Knowing this is should also have problems on the APM2 although I haven't noticed this yet.
Basically to be safe, don't use the optical flow sensor on 2.7.4-Beta. I'm working on a fix.
Can anyone give me tips on this:
I have a Y6 set up and running 2.7.3 fine (on my hand) but when I apply some yaw, half of the motor slow down without changes to the other half which causes a great loss of lift. Don't know how it will behave if I leave it from my hand.
Here are details and logs:
http://diydrones.ning.com/forum/topics/motors-stop?commentId=705844...
Hi all
Using APM1 and 2.7.3 MTek GPS on custom Quad frame - Tested Stabile, Alt Hold and Loiter only
Default PID values for stabilization.
All I can say is wow, after shelving my equipment for 8 months getting back to the ArduCopter project is amazing. Thanks to everyone that contribute(s)d. I look forward to converting to my quad to a Hexacopter and getting a camera platform running. You guys ROCK!
Way back when, on 2.2.x firmware I spent days trying to get Alt Hold PI values set correctly, with the new code the craft kept it's Alt Hold much, much better - Mr. Short, did you improve those loops that much in the last few months? Excellent.
Now I'm curious to see how much better APM2.5 is... There goes the secret slush fund...
Best regards