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
Has Warning #4 been fixed?
Will there be a new version coming soon?
Felix
Hello...i need help...again,bcs. my y6 drop from sky again,,,everything was fine with alt hold so i deceide to give autotune a try...i flip the switch and autotune started..10mins later at the near end of autotuning(after few repositioning)i complete lost control and Y6 drop down..it is easy to say flip switch to stabilize but i didnt manage to do it...again..it would be nice if someone can tell me what hapend..logs are here but i think i lost telemetry at end as well...
my Y6:
hengli w48 30 420KV mtors,15,5x5 wood props,telemetry 433Mhz,sonar mb1200,videolink 5,8 imersion...2x 8000mAh 6S nanotech....everything was on,3.1rc5,MP 1.2.86
2013-11-14 15-25 8.log
2013-11-14 15-10 8.log
Is there a release date for Arducopter 3.02?
Just like to take a minute and say thanks again to Rob, Randy and the Dev team. And all the beta testers, especially those that suffered for the rest of us! hats off to you all!!
I have built a rather large coaxial quad for a commercial purpose, and a little while ago I grounded it until now due to the processing issues, a month goes by and thanks to Rob who did some well structured testing and identified the issues, And now we have the autotune as well.... I thought it was work a crack again...
around 6 minutes, had to reposition 3 times( was flying on a big oval) Values came out NEARLY double what I had previously set manually, and STAB P went from 3.5 to 10.5.... It was just like flying a 3d flybarless machine, very snappy. and quite accurate!... Well it was too snappy for a camera survey ship so I turned STAB P back down and settled around 5.5 rate settings seem pretty good.
RATE P was .25 (I same) can't remember what D term went to, If anyone is interested let me know and I'll go look...
6.9kg takeoff weight (can go to 9kg) 3P 5s6200
15 x 5.5 carbon props
Samsung camera and gimbal,...
15 minutes and a "little" bit left in the battery.... just in case!
now I need to go back and retune a few other things, but stock values for alt hold stuff worked quite well, very smooth. a little slow on loiter position recovery, but I will work on that tomorrow!
Thanks again guys,.... Very happy!!! Brilliant Job!!!.
Now I just need to get over the 150waypoint issue!
(could use around 450 per flight, or camera distance like fixed wing settings..)
Also PX 4 should be here for the next jump in a few days,.. then I can get the second one up and running!.
3 flights now no issues, another 2 or 3 flights tomorrow......(hopefully!)
Cheers
Steve
Where in Mission Planner does it tell you what your current version of Arducopter you currently have loaded into your Quad/Vehcile?
thanks in advance
The Preflight Calibration in MissionPlaner with the latest Firmware from Git Repository is not functioning
Hello Randy,
I will be installing the 3DR Pixhawk on a converted Hexa-B to X8 configuration with AC 3.0.1 for experimentation. My X8 is configured exactly as your 3DR X8 from a frame point of view, i.e. the arms are on a shallow angle "><" and not in a standard 90 degree "X".
I am following the instructions on page 8 of the pixhawk-manual.pdf (http://3drobotics.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/pixhawk-manual.pdf) and it says that if you have an X8 configuration you should use the "V" option (see attached image) ??? This is strange because for an X8 configuration you have 8 motors/props and the choice is to use the "X" option given that the picture depicts 8 propellers whereas the "V" option has only 4?
Does this also mean that I should use the "V" option if you have a shallow angle configuration with an APM 2.5 i.e "><" with 3.0.1?
Thanks.
Screen Shot 2013-11-12 at 9.05.22 AM.png
OK, I know I don't not want to go to DJI ANYTHING (and we know why)...
So I have been doing this for over a year and half now and have gone through multiple AC versions, multiple configurations (custom Hex, Hexa-B, converted Hexa-B to Y6 to X8), external compass, Vibration mounts of all sorts, compassmot, a plethora of PID tunings, forum and developer recommendations , vibration tuning, GPS glitch, APM 2.5, 2.6 processor limitations, PPM updates. I have diligently read, understood and hopefully applied every recommendation you have ( I think!).
I have had relatively good success (no fly aways, a few expensive and inexpensive crashes). I know that this whole endeavor is developmental. Your efforts are extraordinary and commendable, however, I am trying to minimize my investment damage given that I am trying to take a few simple high resolution pictures from a height of 200 feet using a brand new NEX5T with the possibility of winds of no more that 10 mph.
I have 3 simple questions:
Q1: Will I get better loiter performance by going to the 3DR Pixhawk on my X8 (given the performance limitations of the APM)?
Q2: Will I get better loiter performance if I added the PX4 Flow kit to the above and wait for 3.1.xx (is that even possible)?
Q3: Does the loiter stability increase if I have a tight X8 configuration( similar to your RTF X8) vs. a 90 degree X8 (3.0.1 or 3.1.xx)?
I am trying to manage risk and I really don't want to loose the camera!
Thanks.
Just tried the new version 1.5
Tested the auto-tune on a heavy-side hexacopter, not particularly over-powered machine.
Worked great. Haven't tested it in wind yet, but it looks good, good job.
Can I also say that I used to have lots of problems with my previous board (2.5) that I eventually returned. The new board works seamlessly, which suggests that there are the occasional multifunctional boards. Not sure if there is a good way to test them before hooking them on a machine.
Cheers
Sorry I've been slightly out of touch for the past week as I've been working with Rob Lefebvre on integrating a significant number changes to tradheli into master. That work is largely complete now so I'm back working on some of the final fixes before we can push out -rc6. -rc6 should go out within 1 week and hopefully that'll be the extremely close to the official release version.
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