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ArduCopter-3.0.1 released!

Posted by Randy on July 11, 2013 at 4:17am

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.

3691038784?profile=original

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.

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Replies

  • ArchillesElbow October 14, 2013 at 3:03pm

    I wonder if someone could shed some light...
    A few days ago my quad suddenly started oscillating in mid flight.. almost like a P set to high..

    but it happens intermittently sometimes a smooth flight will suddenly start oscillating... and a few flights after that will continue to do so, before it "mysteriously" dissappears again..

    now there must be some reasonable explanation to this.. I first thought I had shifted my PID or some other settings by mistake.. so I loaded RC3 .. did an auto tune... and again the oscillations came back same as before... intermittently..

    Now this obviously couldnt happen just out of the blue.. something must have changed on my frame or settings.. but I am at a loss at this point as to what it can be..

    I have attached log files (i couldnt get a flight video as I am on vacation and its is almost midnight...)  [ctun,ntun,gps,imu,current,ATT] etc enabled.

    The oscillations here start in midflight.. actually during a loiter test.. around just before the point where i land for around 20 seconds and take off again.. when i take off the oscillations are still there...

    vibrations are usually well within limits on a smooth flight.. u will notice how they pick up once these oscillations start..
    Anyone have any ideas, or have experienced the same?

    2013-10-14 23-32 205.zip

  • Shyam Balasubramanian October 14, 2013 at 2:22pm

    Hi Randy,

    Could you let me know when is the expected date for the next release? A version that supports optical flow sensor?

    Thanks.

  • Para October 14, 2013 at 12:56pm

    Is there a rc5 planned including the AP_Scheduler bug-fix ? :)

  • Peter October 14, 2013 at 10:25am

    where is the cli terminal - setup - level ???

    Is this removed with rc4?

  • Ivan Kostic October 14, 2013 at 9:44am

    Autotune rc4:

    I tried today autotune, but simply nothing happened. Ch8 set to switch autotune (17), after it tookoff, then in AltHold, then ch8 and autotune on, and waited, nothing, still nothing... Changed ch8 option to rtl, in the air hit that ch8, rtl occured as switched. What could be wrong? Back to autotune for ch8, nothing... Might it be something with receiver (9xv2)? 

  • Peter October 14, 2013 at 3:57am

    Is there a link were we can find the release notes without going back trough the many pages on this topic to find al release notes from previous rc versions?

    (Just like the mission plannner release notes document)

  • Andre Kotze October 14, 2013 at 1:50am

    I'm now unable to compile my code and I'm getting errors.  I make use of u4eake's code to run my LEDs via the relay on my APM1.  For it to work I have to un-comment the following lines in APM_Config.h:

    #define USERHOOK_VARIABLES "UserVariables.h"
    #define USERHOOK_50HZLOOP userhook_50Hz();"
    #define USERHOOK_MEDIUMLOOP userhook_MediumLoop();"

    It was still working with 3.1-rc3 but I think this might be related to comment 1C of Randy's notes on 3.1-rc4...

  • Developer
    leonardthall October 14, 2013 at 1:36am

    Hi all,

    Here are some instructions on using Auto Tune:

    To test auto tune yourself you can find it in trunk. The way to try it out is to:

    1. upload the 3.1rc4 code to your APM

    2. set the CH7_OPT or CH8_OPT to 17 to allow turning on/off the auto tuning with ch7 or ch8

    3. ensure the ch7 or ch8 switch is in the off position

    4. go to a wide open space on a reasonably calm day

    5. take off and put the copter into AltHold mode at a comfortable altitude (3m or higher)

    6. put the ch7/ch8 switch int the upper most position to engage auto tuning:

         - you will see it twitch about 20 degrees left and right for a few minutes, then it will repeat forward and back

         - use the roll and pitch stick at any time to reposition the copter if it drifts away (it will halt the test and use the original PIDs during re-positioning and will continue with the tests once you stop moving the sticks)

         - move the ch7/ch8 switch into the off position at any time to abandon the autotuning and return to the origin PIDs

    7. when the tune completes the copter will be left with the newly tuned PIDs active, fly around to see how it responds

    8. If you are happy with the new PIDs:

         Leave the ch7/ch8 switch in the ON position, Land disarm to save the PIDs permanently.

         If you DO NOT like the new PIDS switch ch7/ch8 off to return to normal PIDs.  the gains will not be saved when you disarm

    When doing this on a calm day the copter can move up to 5m pretty easily so an open flying field is very helpfull. The copter moves even further when doing auto tune on a windy day.

    When adjusting the position of the copter attempt to bring the copter to a halt before letting go of the sticks. The auto tune will work better if the copter is nearly stationary after the re-position.

    The Auto Tune should take about 5 minutes to complete.

    You can tell the tests are finished because the copter will stop twitching. However, somtimes after reposition the tests stay paused and a bit of a nudge on the sticks will generally get it going again. So if giving the sticks a nudge doesn't get the tests going then you are probably finished.

    Thanks all and I look forward to your feedback.
  • Developer
    Randy October 14, 2013 at 12:41am

    For those interested in Beta testing the AC3-1 release, release candidate #4 is now available in the Mission Planner's "Beta firmwares" link.  Improvements over 3.1-rc3
    1) Performance improvements to resolve APM alt hold and telemetry issues especially during Loiter:
         a) SPI bus speed increased from 500khz to 8Mhz
         b) Telemetry buffer increased to 512bytes
         c) broke up medium and slow loops into individual scheduled tasks and increased priority of alt hold tasks
    2) AutoTune enabled by default
    3) Bug fix for Pixhawk USB connection
    4) GPS Glitch improvements:
           a) added GPS glitch check to arming check
           b) parameters for vehicle max acceleration (GPSGLITCH_ACCEL) and always-ok radius (GPSGLICH_RADIUS)

    All feedback welcome!

  • Jiro Hattori October 13, 2013 at 9:23pm

    Hi

    I just fly Y6 on this motor setup by ArduCopter3.1 rc4.

    3692855046?profile=original

    The loiter and Alt_hold are just perfect in calm weather.

    I do not know this significant improvement of stability comes from whether the effect of external compass or rc4.

    But this is totally different copter.

    Thank you dev. team. 

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