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
For those willing to put their copters at risk (beta testers!) to help us test the next release (AC3.1) we've just pushed the 1st release (AC3.1-rc1) into the beta downloads area. The changes are not as fundamental as the last release but include the following improvements over 3.0.1
1) Support for Pixhawks board
2) Arm, Disarm, Land and Takeoff in Loiter and AltHold
3) Improved Acro
a) ACRO_RP_P, ACRO_YAW_P parameters added to control speed of rotation
b) ACRO_BAL_ROLL, ACRO_BAL_PITCH controls speed at which copter returns to level
c) ACRO_TRAINER can be set to 0:disable trainer, 1:auto leveling when sticks released, 2:auto leveling and lean angle limited to ANGLE_MAX
d) Ch7 & Ch8 switch to set ACRO_TRAINER options in-flight
4) SPORT mode - equivalent of earth frame Acro with support for simple mode
5) Sonar ground tracking improvements and bug fixes that reduce reaction to bad sonar data
6) Safety improvements
a) motors always spin when armed (speed can be controlled with MOT_SPIN_ARMED, set to 0 to disable)
b) vehicle's maximum lean angle can be reduced (or increased) with the ANGLE_MAX parameter
c) arming check that GPS hdop is > 2.0 (disable by setting GPS_HDOP parameter to 900)
d) slow take-off in AUTO, LOITER, ALTHOLD to reduce chance of motor/esc burn-out on large copters
7) Bug fixes:
a) Optical flow sensor initialisation fix
b) altitude control fix for Loiter_turns mission command (i.e. mission version of CIRCLE mode)
c) DO_SET_ROI fix (do not use "ROI")
8) Distribute Loiter & Navigation calcs over 4 cycles to reduce impact on a single 100hz loop. This may resolve some APM1 users alt hold issues.
The easiest way to get it is through the mission planner's "Beta firmwares" link. After clicking the link you should see the version change to include "V3.1-rc1" and then you can select the appropriate frame type. It's been flown by people on the dev team but it's the first release candidate so there are
Thanks in advance. Feel free to report issues on this thread.
Can I upgrade the PPM encoder on my apm 1.4 or is it only for apm 2.5?
Could I have a few thoughts on ‘flashed’ ESCs.
On my first quadcopter build I used some pre-flashed simonK 30A escs. They were ‘fit & forget’ as all has been OK with them and the copter can be tuned very well.
Now I am on an octa build using the same motors MT4008-12. I have bought the t-motor 30A opto pro ESC, which although advertised as ‘fast’ and optimised for Multirotor but still have ‘jack of all’ firmware. The octa will be big and heavy so Im guessing a super fast response is less important than with a 450 size. My new ESC use the silabs chips, which I don’t think can be flashed with simonk but can take the BLheli. Its not easy to do so is it worth it?
Basically I wanting to hear that many people are getting on fine with standard ESCs, especially on larger machines.
By the way, what are others doing as far as power distribution is concerned on big machines? If the autopilot demands full power that will be 240A. I suspect the APM power module will not be happy with that.
OK, my quad is just a little piece of trash I bought just to see if I liked this sorta stuff. I've been flying RC planes and Helis for just over 40 years and decided to give quads a try. Darn, I was hooked. I already had an APM 2.5 in one of my planes so I ordered one for my little junk 100 dollar eBay special. After loading 2.9.1b and flying for a month or so I decided to load up the new 3.0.1 firmware on it. Big improvement. Same day, the little quad was attacked mid air by a large bird. Result, no damage to the bird but the quad was found three feet under in clear water. After drying everything out and checking for what was usable and what was not, I order 4 new SimonK ESC's and a new "Combo" uBlox GPS/Magnetometer.
Man what a difference the off-board Compass makes. We have some guys at our flying club running the Naza stuff and I was always very impressed with the "GPS Hold" and how rock solid it was. They were equally impressed with my way-point navigation ability but not enough to give up their Naza.
Well, that is, until they saw it with the new GPS/Compass. Their Naza hasn't got anything on my little junkyard dog. That thing is unbelievable. I mean it when I say rock solid in loiter. Even in a fairly strong wind you would almost need some type of mark on the ground to see if it moves. Just WOW, and also excellent work on the new 3.0.1 firmware to compliment the new GPS module. Thanks to all who put in their hard work to make this possible.
---Butch---
First time in a while that I post something in this thread again. I'd need some advice.
I changed the drive train on my copter. Before I had 2830-800kV motors with 10x4.5 props. Now I have 4822-390kV motors with 15x5.5 props. I didn't change anything else - also didn't retune yet. At first glance, the copter seems a bit overtuned, showing some wobble in ground effect and some bouncing when letting the stick loose from extreme left or right. Otherwise, it seems ok. Loiter without wind is fine, wind in loiter causes slight wobbling and wandering around, although the latter might have been caused by bad HDOP. Forward flight shows partially ugly wobbling.
I do see a massive increase of vibration in the log but it's generally still well within the limits.
Now, my questions:
Logfile is attached.
2013-09-08 16-53 2.log
Hi Randy, ok did alot of testing on the bench
Test 1
Setup.
Laptop running MP 1.2.75 RFD 900 on ground station using a 2cell lipo through a 5v reg.
current quad octo config,
5v reg supply for apm and reciever
another 5v reg for RFD900 (grounds are tied, 5v seperate)
NO SPEEDIES CONNECTED.
RFD settings are 57600, air rate 64 (back to default config)
Connects fine through modem. (no usb cable in sight...)
I can wiggle the vehicle around and see Artifical Horizon (AH) responding pretty quick.
Ok so now I arm the vehicle, and raise the throttle to hover point ~50% and wiggle at similar rate as before..... AH getting limited data though, I am lucky if it moves every 5 seconds.
NEXT test...
Install current firmware (3.0.1) from MP for quad
Std Quad-X config on apm (2.5,)
(this is a same setup but secondary unit to the one above.)
APM on the bench, connected with RX (ppm sum rx, frsky), RFD 900 NOT Connected at this stage....
Connect via USB, ARMED,..... throttle up, no problem (as expected)
DISCONNECT USB, Connect rfd900, Connect, arm throttle up no problem.
Next test Hexi config. ran through same procedure as last one, same results
Now the interesing one.
Std OCTO config.
Connected via USB,.... wiggle and AH ok..... ARM raise throttle and HELLO we have a slowed AH again. much quicker than through RFD but none the less slowed. Same test through RFD and very unresponsive.
I use these for photogrametry work with many waypoints on missions, It would be nice to find a solution.
Can the dev team do the similar testing for themselves and tell me if they see the same thing... Don't think the type or frequency of modem is an issue, just the fact that it is there...
BTW I am a avionics tech who has been operating UAV's professionally for many years (over10....)
I am pretty sure this is in the code somewhere....
Any help would be much appreciated!\
Cheers
Steve
Thanks,
Richard
Hi Randy, and everyone else!
I am flying a large coaxial machine and have noticed that my telemetry disappears as soon as I raise the throttle above idle. I am using RFD900 modems and no matter what settings I use as soon as I go above idle it drops the telemetry rate.
I am using apm2.5, with external compass. The modems are fine ( I have a few pairs, and all test out ok on the fixed wing)
My guess is that the apm 2.5 is just overworked and can't keep up with the processing of 8 motors and the telemetry.
as soon as I drop the throttle to idle i instantly get the telemetry feed back. I need it to work for position and AP work, nxt option i guess would be to go to the PX4
Any thoughts or things to try?
Anyone else running a octo or quad-octo with telemetry?
Cheers
Steve
Hi guys, need your help. The hexa that I mounted for a friend with 3.0.1 firmware was flying great until now. A few days a go the hexa stopped all the motors for 1 or 2 seconds and after that he recovered from fall. We don't know why this happened. My friend doesn't send me the logs yet, but I have a crappy video that you can see at 3:06 what I'm describing. The rádio is a Turnigy 9x without failsafe, I don't know if it was a radio signal fail or a problem in the APM.
Here is the video, I hope that you can help.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRbOjYAuBBw&sns=em
Im now just setting up my hex with the APM1 board and loading the 3.0.1 onto it for the first time. Does this have the same vibration issues and sensitivity as the APM2.X boards with the compass? Do I need to do the same compassmot calibration and check?
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