ArduCopter 3.0.1 has been released and is now available in the Mission Planner, firmware.diydrones.com, GitHub and the new Downloads Area.
Warning #1: Compass calibration and reducing interference is far more important than with 2.9.1b
Warning #2: GPS glitches can cause sudden and aggressive position changes while in loiter mode. You may wish to reduce the Loiter PID P to 0.5 (from 1.0) to reduce aggressiveness (see image below of where this gain can be found in mission planner).
Warning #3: optical flow is not supported but will be back in the next release (AC-3.0.2 or AC-3.1.0).
Warning #4: loiter turns does not maintain altitude. This bug will be fixed in AC-3.0.2.
Warning #5: This release has only been lightly tested on Traditional Helicopters.
Improvements over 2.9.1b include:
- Inertial Navigation for Loiter and Auto meaning much more accurate control (Randy,Leonard,JonathanC)
- 3D navigation controller follows straight lines in all dimensions between waypoints (Leonard,Randy)
WPNAV_SPEED, WPNAV_SPEED_UP, WPNAV_SPEED_DN, WPNAV_ACCEL allows configuring speeds and acceleration during missions
- "compassmot" to compensate for interference on compass from the pdb, motors, ESCs and battery. (Randy,JonathanC) (Set-up video here)
- Safety improvements:
- simple Tin Can shaped Geo Fence
- pre-arm checks to ensure all calibration has been performed before arming (can be disabled by setting ARMING_CHECK to zero). (video description here)
- GPS failsafe - switches to LAND if GPS is lost for 5 seconds
- stability patch improvements to stop rapid climbs in very overpowered or overtuned copters
- Circle mode improvements including "panorama" when CIRCLE_RADIUS set to zero (Randy,Leonard)
- SONAR_GAIN parameter added to allow better tuning of sonar surface tracking
- CH8 auxiliary switch (same features as CH7)
- works on PX4 (some minor features still not available) (Tridge,PatH)
How to upgrade:
1. Make sure you are using Mission Planner 1.2.59 or newer (get it here)
2. Click on the MissionPlanner's Hardware, Install Firmware screen. The version numbers should appear as "ArduCopter-3.0.1", then click the appropriate frame icon and it should upgrade as per usual.
3. Reduce the Loiter and Alt Hold PIDs if you have modified them from the defaults. The modified PID values for the 3DR frame can be seen in the image below.
Note: Nav parameters have been combined with Loiter so do not be concerned if you can't find them.
4. Although not directly related to this release, if you purchased an APM prior to March of 2013, update your PPM encoder to the latest firmware (instructions here).
5. Try out the new version in stabilize mode first, then alt-hold, then loiter and finally RTL and Auto.
Numerous How-To videos are available:
Special Thanks to Marco, DaveC and the large number of testers on the pre-release thread who put their copters at risk during the extended testing period. Some of their videos can be found here, here, here, here, here and here. Thanks also to MichaelO for the MP changes required for this release.
All feedback welcome. Please put your questions, comments (good and bad!) below.
Replies
How to set HEXA_FRAME? Thank you
How to set HEXA_FRAME? Thank you
Wow！
“You should switch to using a HAL_BOARD flag in your local config.mk.”I use ArduPilot-Arduino-1.0.3-windows, open ArduCopter folder not found config.mk file. How to change FRAME_CONFIG？
Hi.
I’m just finalizing a shopping list for my new X8 build which included the APM 2.6.
However, I am tempted by the PX4.
I have been following the PX4 vs APM thread but it has lost the plot a bit.
Could I trouble a guru for a brief summary before I ‘add to basket’?
How long before we see the code diverging with ‘PX4 only’ features?
Are there any major issues that I haven’t spotted yet? Can I use all the same sensors?
Thanks.
Vince
hi all,
i've successfully armed my escs after a radio calibration (lowering throttle values in the tx). I've still many issues to face: quad is acting like crazy in stabilize mode and even worse in althold (non flyable). It seems to loose horizon. Vibration is quite low in my quad and other FC didn't suffer vibration issues, anyway i will check it with the tool as written in the wiki. I lowered P both on rate and stabilize, now it's 3,0. At default 4,5 is not flyable.
any suggestion welcomed..
Hi Randy
Ok regarding motor temp difference on ccw v's cw on a Hexa ..my logs show that the esc's are getting pretty much even input .log attached ..do you agree ? so why do one set draw more amps .. i will have to try and do some sort of amp test on each one ..thoughts?
2013-07-30 15-46 1.log
hi all,
sorry guys, i have two major problems:
1) is it possible that there's not a "search" function into this thread? How can find any solution just browsing 70+ pages all around?
2) i cannot arm my CC phoenix 25A equipped quad with an apm 2.5 with fw 3.0.1. Escs don't give confirmation beep like they aren't getting right PWM signal. I think PWM values are wrong, but since they are fixed into ESCs, i think they should be changed into APM. How can i do it?
Okay, I'm getting crickets on my other post so I'll try here.
Version 3.0.1, I was flying great in RTL, Loiter, and Auto. The only problem was my hexa was always yawed about 15 degrees off the GPS path while flying to waypoints. I decided to try COMPASS_MOT to see if I could get it pointed straight.
COMPASS_MOT gave me small values, but it borked Loiter. Now the hexa is flying the toilet bowl pattern So I zeroed out the COMPASS_MOT X, Y, and Z and sent it up again to see if I fixed what was working before.
On the test flight, stabilize mode, the hexa suddenly dropped out of the sky and crashed, despite me applying full throttle. I fixed the broken parts and tried again. This time it became possessed and started flying its own deranged pattern while I frantically tried to regain control. It was barely responding to control input, and I barely managed to get it into a controlled crash in the grass.
So the machine was flying great until I did the COMPASS_MOT thing. Now it has been possessed by demons which are trying to kill my hexacopter. Is anyone willing to stare at my logs and see if there's something obvious?
Logs are here: http://diydrones.com/forum/topics/now-i-m-crashing-all-of-a-sudden-...
Thanks in advance,
Rob
Here's a preview of the land-in-loiter feature that Leonard and I put together over the weekend and will be out with AC3.1 (no estimate on when we will enter beta testing yet). The (optional) props-spinning-when-armed feature was added by Jonathan Challinger.
To detect the landing it looks at the motors hitting their lower limits and the climb rate being between -20cm/s ~ +20cm/s
Yay, my turn for help. I did a brief flight testing out new motors, vibration and Mu Metal. I noticed right off the bat all the motors didn't spin up at the same time. After a little more throttle they all kicked in but... there is always a but. Roll wanted to drift to the left, with some stick input I was able to steady things. My understanding is either I need to re-calibrate, power up on a flat surface and not the grass or the Moon Gel isn't flat. So I figured I would ask the gurus (you guys) for guidance. Thanks.
2013-07-28 19-03 1.log
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