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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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Tags: 301, arducopter, diydrones, release
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Replies

  • TheMightyThor December 3, 2013 at 4:20pm

    Working with RC7 on my new F450 Flame wheel that i transferred parts from the Walkera X350 i am wondering how to set up my throttle mid. During testing outside, i can hover at about 42-45% throttle, when i hit Alt Hold/Loiter, the aircraft gains altitude as if the APM thinks i should need more power to hover. looking at my log verifies the THR_MID at 450. what am i missing here? 

    Also in doors, i seem to be having a problem or hitting up against a fail safe. my props are off (I learned my Lesson last time) i am testing the THR_MID settings and my F450 just turned on while the TX Was on but HDOP was between 2.5-3.96. what failsafe do i need to turn off while in doors messing with parameters? What Failsafe would trigger if i am indoors? if it helps any, a couple of tests going into  ALT HOLD/Loiter from STABILIZE, the Motors revved down then shut off. i figure thsi must be some how related to GPS Loss of some kind.

    Log Attached is from todays Short FLight OutSIDE, not in doors

    thanks in advance

    2013-12-03 18-35 17.log

  • Dave December 3, 2013 at 1:15pm

    Would anyone have a screenshot from a log of a well tuned Alt-Hold? I've been tuning off and on for a week and it will look good in the field but once I look at the logs it seems to fluctuate quite a bit. I wonder if im chasing my tail trying to get the baro and RelAlt to be in sync. Thanks in advance. 

  • Diego Fdez. December 3, 2013 at 5:23am

    Hello!

    I have a problem with my new hexa.

    I upload a video to youtube. In this video you can watch the wrong performance of motor without any stick movement. Please, watch in HD: http://youtu.be/k2kpjZuozHk

    Anybody knows how to solve this?

    Best Regards.

  • TheMightyThor December 2, 2013 at 4:01pm

    how does one change the Propeller start up when armed? i have indicator LEDs that tell me when the craft is armed or unarmed? was it set compassmot to 0? i forgot where that conversation ended

  • T3
    Thorsten December 2, 2013 at 1:53pm

    A little off topic but interesting concerning the ArduCopter development:

    http://www.suasnews.com/2013/12/26266/eth-quadrocopter-failsafe-alg...

    The major problem is that "This technology is patent pending." Hence, I m not sure if we will see something similar in ArduCopter-4.0rc8 (I m also not sure if this will work on bigger copters).

  • alexandre bhar December 2, 2013 at 12:12pm

    Hi,

    how can i creat a ROI Mission? Id like to Programm a mission where my copter locks to some preeset directions.

    If i Set Roi events at the planer it does not work... the copter looks to the next waypoint or if I rotate maualy it holds this position... what can i do to preset the direction?

    thanks

    Alex

  • David Pawlak December 2, 2013 at 3:27am

    @Randy...

    I've been flying V3.1 rc7 on my Iris, during the developer testing, and It's running great. In mission planner now, loading betas, this version comes up for all configs. Is this real?

    I've got an X8 and would like to try the rc7, so it seems that I should be able to try it.

    A second related question, I have two  Pixhawks coming soon, one of which I want to put into an X8 configuration. And I thought I saw somewhere that The Mission Planner "V" configuration would be used for X8. My new X8 frame is oriented much more like a V than a straight X, and even more-so than the 3DR X8. Does the "V" config adapt to 8 motors?

  • John Dennings December 1, 2013 at 11:12pm

    This happened to me too, twice, on a quad, within two flights otherwise great. Then several flights flying perfect after that ... Could not find anything obvious  looking at logs,  Good satellite reception, baro, etc ...

  • Bernardo Diaz December 1, 2013 at 8:06pm

    Hi Guys! I´ve been testing RC 7 this weekend. So far only one strange issue found. 

    While in loiter mode, sometimes the tricopter starts to drift to one side and if I didn´t correct it, it continued to fly away.

    Today there was absolutely no wind, some flights I could leave it there for 10 minutes and I had a perfect loiter, then the problem started.

    Here are some logs (although I´m not sure that this are the ones that show the problem) to see if you can fin anything.

    Thank you very much

    2013-12-02 00-54 10.log

    2013-12-02 00-49 9.log

  • steve December 1, 2013 at 12:14pm

    Is there some documentation on the new flight modes in 3.1? Not seeing anything about sport and other new modes here:

    http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/flight-modes/

This reply was deleted.

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