Developer

ArduCopter-3.2 beta testing

Warning #1: PX4/Pixhawk users upgrading from AC3.1.5 (or earlier) may need to re-do their compass and accelerometer calibration because AC3.2 also uses the backup compass and accels.  Pre-arm checks have been added to ensure this has been done.

Warning #2: on the APM2.x the logs must be downloaded using MAVlink instead of the terminal.

AC3.2-rc14 is now available for BetaTesters through the mission planner’s Beta Firmwares link.  The full release notes can be found in ReleaseNotes.txt and changes from -rc13 can be seen below.

     Feel free to raise issues found during testing on this discussion or in the new support section in the APM Forum.

     It’s a big release with “the onion” restructure and a bunch of new features (including these 57 closed items) so we need to re-test almost everything including all flight modes, all mission commands and all the new features.  Marco and I will be maintaining (and adding to) this testing list.  Issues reported will first be checked by Jonathan, Marco and I and then confirmed bugs/issues will be put on the github issues list (and then hopefully fixed).

     Thanks especially to the beta testers who put their copters at risk testing each release.  Enjoy!

Changes from 3.2-rc13
1) Safety Features:
     a) fail to arm if second gyro calibration fails (can be disabled with ARMING_CHECK)
2) Bug fixes:
    a) DCM-check to require one continuous second of bad heading before triggering LAND
    b) I2C bug that could lead to Pixhawk freezing up if I2C bus is noisy
    c) reset DCM and EKF gyro bias estimates after gyro calibration (DCM heading could drift after takeoff due to sudden change in gyro values)
    d) use primary GPS for LED status (instead of always using first GPS)

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                • Developer

                  @Thorsten,

                  The ErrYaw and ErrRP columns are a bit new so I don't have a good feel of where they should be but I'd guess people should be aiming for under 0.3 (=17deg error) or 0.4 (=23deg error) with occasional short lived jumps above that being ok (especially during hard maneuvers).

                  BTW, the ErrYaw and ErrRP are the sin of the angular errors in radians.  So if you put "=degrees(asin(0.1))" into a cell in Excel you'd get the conversion from what's in the log (i.e. "0.1") to the error in degrees which is easier to understand.

                • Developer

                  Sven,

                  "Toiletbowling" is nearly always a compass issue.  It looks like you've got an external compass and the compass-orient is "0" which is correct if using a 3DR GPS compass module.

                  There is certainly some interference on the compass from the motors or perhaps the compass-mot itself is causing the interference.

                  3702921319?profile=originalDCM is also complaining that the heading is not good as we can see from the ATT message's ErrYaw column which is spiking up quite a lot and reaching very high values (over 0.8).  The spikes are short-lived which points away from gyro bias and towards the compass.

                  I'd recommend turning off compass-mot and moving the external compass away from any interference and see if it flies better.

                  3702921466?profile=original

                  • OK i have take a look at the Params in the Log. 

                    I look like that Mission Planner has write a lot of strange Params to the copter when i take "write params" in Basic an advanced Parameter.

                    Sven

                  • T3

                    Randy,

                    what is a "healthy" range for ErrRP and ErrYaw?

                    TIA,

                    Thorsten

                  • Hi,
                    today i had a copter crash with 3.2-rc14, but step by step.

                    I have found the compass Problem / Toilet Bowling from the last post. In the compass wiki http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/common-external-magnetometer-for-i...
                    you can read " in the opposite direction of the Y arrow) the (COMPASS_ORIENT) parameter will need to be set to (Normal) or “0”"
                    but on M8 modul from csg you have to set the arrow from y to the front of the vehicle and the MAG chip is upsite down, but you dont have to set roll 180!
                    I have disabled the compassmot to.

                    After that, Tarot 650 has done a 24min flight in loiter yesterday.
                    Then i have done a 10 min flight in loiter, althold and poshold without no problems.

                    Today i have tried a litte optimize Paramter in Mission Planner 1.3.10.5 build 1.1.5405.33603 to get more break effekt after i leave control sticks.
                    I have a video from this crash from onboard camera.

                    Dont know what happend.
                    Start in Stabilize then switch to althold and poshold with a 3 step switch. Copter goes to the sky and fliped over.

                    See the logs here the HTML5 Video

                    http://www.file-upload.net/download-9803421/tarot_crash.webm.html

                    Sven

                    crash.zip

                    24min_loiter.tar.xz

  • hi developers,

    I suggest small fix for mediatek gps in NMEA mode

    AP_GPS_NMEA.cpp:

    #define MTK_INIT_MSG \
        "$PMTK314,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0*28\r\n" /* GGA & VTG once every fix */ \
        "$PMTK330,0*2E\r\n"                                 /* datum = WGS84 */ \
        "$PMTK397,0*23\r\n"                                    /* Set Nav Threshold (the minimum speed the GPS must be moving to update the position) to 0 m/s*/ \
        "$PMTK313,1*2E\r\n"                                 /* SBAS on */ \
        "$PMTK301,2*2E\r\n"                                 /* use SBAS data for DGPS */

    in current version the sting     "$PMTK397,0*23\r\n"   no sends for mediatek in nmea mode. i check it with  "com port spy" (usb -ftdi adapter with rx connected to gps RX line)

                                  

    in my compilation i also enable NMEA protocol and disаble gimbal future for savings 7k flash for APM

    now  gimbals with servo  is not actual - brushless have better performance  and have own controller

    Thanks

  • @Paul. it has been bought from www.csgshop.com. also has built in compass. is working great. 32 channels. (GPSS GLONASS Biedu)

  • Randy, I did not see any issue that could be noticed with AC3.2-rc12. I did several auto missions and could not notice any issue. somehow there is no RC7 and RC8 passthrough on pixhawk after enabling the channel  passthrough (=1). this problem is only with pixhawk and not with APM2.6. also the arming occurs irrespective of GPS lock condition enabled.

  • Hello Randy
    thanks for the quick response.
    the problem is still modify the Log_Bitmap not helped.
    the flight was ok in all modis. Failsafe voltage sensor works very well.
    by the way. the error does not appear in the MP.

    any help is welcome

    Log

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/j21dy0y2d3s2o23/2014-11-01%2011-20-11.log...

    Dropbox - Error
    Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. Never email yourself a file again!
    • Developer

      Rainer,

      Ok, so actually I wasn't expecting the LOG_BITMASK change to fix the problem but rather it would allow producing logs before the copter is armed so that I can see what is going on.  In this log the LOG_BITMASK is still 43006 ("NearlyAll").  So if the problem is still happening could you:

      1. change LOG_BITMASK to 131070 ("All+DisarmedLogging)

      2. reboot the board and try and arm, hopefully the baro or altitude message will come up

      3. download the log and post here

      Also it looks like the ARMING_CHECK parameter is set to "3" but "Skip Baro" is actually "-3".  I think this means the arming checks are still fully enabled meaning the barometer issue may be short-lived.

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