Copter-3.3 beta testing

Warning #1: an issue has been found with Tower's Pause button which can cause the vehicle to fly to an old position if the vehicle has not sent a position update to Tower in some time.

Warning #2: Copter-3.3.2 fixes a bug found in Copter-3.3.1's desired climb rate initialisation which could lead to a sudden momentary drop when switching from Stabilize or Acro to AltHold, Loiter or PosHold.

Warning #3: Copter-3.3.2 fixes an issue found in Copter-3.3.1 which could lead to hard landings in RTL or AUTO if the WPNAV_SPEED_DN was set too high (i.e. >400 or 4m/s) and/or the WPNAV_ACCEL_Z was set too low (i.e. <100 or 1m/s/s).

Warning #4: a bug was found in Copter-3.3 which could cause a sudden crash if you abort a Take-off initiated from a ground station. Video description is here. The bug is fixed in Copter-3.3.1 so we recommend upgrading.

Note #1: AC3.3-rc8 corrected a long standing bug in the HDOP reporting. HDOP values will appear about 40% lower than previously but this does not actually mean the GPS position is better than before.
Note #2: if upgrading from AC3.2.1 the vehicle's accelerometer calibration needs to be done again.
Note #3: set SERIAL2_PROTOCOL to "3" and reboot the board to enable FrSky telemetry like in previous versions.
Note #4: the wiki will be updated over the next few weeks to explain how to use the new features

Copter-3.3.1 is available through the mission planner. The full list of changes vs AC3.2.1 can be see in the ReleaseNotes and below are the most recent changes since AC3.3.

Sadly this version (and all future versions) will not run on the APM2.x boards due to CPU speed, flash and RAM restrictions.

Changes from 3.3:

1) Bug fix to prevent potential crash if Follow-Me is used after an aborted takeoff

2) compiler upgraded to 4.9.3 (runs slightly faster than 4.7.2 which was used previously)

Changes from 3.3-rc11:

1) EKF recovers from pre-arm "Compass variance" failure if compasses are consistent

Changes from 3.3-rc10:

1) PreArm "Need 3D Fix" message replaced with detailed reason from EKF

Changes from 3.3-rc9
1) EKF improvements:
    a) simpler optical flow takeoff check
2) Bug Fixes/Minor enhancements:
    a) fix INS3_USE parameter eeprom location
    b) fix SToRM32 serial protocol driver to work with recent versions
    c) increase motor pwm->thrust conversion (aka MOT_THST_EXPO) to 0.65 (was 0.50)
    d) Firmware version sent to GCS in AUTOPILOT_VERSION message
3) Safety:
    a) pre-arm check of compass variance if arming in Loiter, PosHold, Guided
    b) always check GPS before arming in Loiter (previously could be disabled if ARMING_CHECK=0)
    c) sanity check locations received from GCS for follow-me, do-set-home, do-set-ROI
    d) fix optical flow failsafe (was not always triggering LAND when optical flow failed)
    e) failsafe RTL vs LAND decision based on hardcoded 5m from home check (previously used WPNAV_RADIUS parameter)

Thanks for your testing!

It should be fairly easy to get this working unless you have a setup that I have not considered.

You want to set your Ch7_OPT (or whichever channel you want) to 29. 29 will not show up in the Mission Planner parameter description until this firmware goes stable unfortunately. Then, you use that channel to control the gear exactly the same as with any other ChX_Option function. There is absolutely no connection between the incoming channel value, and the outgoing channel value. The RCX input PWM is converted into a Boolean "gear up or gear down" command.

Then, you need to choose which Output channel you will use for the landing gear. Say you are going to use Channel 9. Go to RC9_FUNCTION, and set it to 29, which is the Landing Gear function. (it's just coincidence that these have lined up on 29, normally this doesn't happen).

Then find LGR_SERVO_DEPLOY and LGR_SERVO_RETRACT. These are the PWM values that correlate to landing gear up and down. Set these to suitable values for your mechanism.

Now, when you set the input switch high, the landing gear should go up. Switch the switch to the low position, and the gear should come down. There is also a semi-automatic function, where the gear will lower automatically in Land mode or the final landing stage of RTL. So if you lose radio control and it does an auto-landing, they should drop automatically. There is also protection such that, if your gear switch is in the retract position when you boot up, the gear will NOT raise soon as the system is booted. It will be locked in the down position until such time as you lower the switch, then raise it adiydrones.com

Replies

Rob_Lefebvre April 20, 2015 at 9:50am

It should be fairly easy to get this working unless you have a setup that I have not considered.

You want to set your Ch7_OPT (or whichever channel you want) to 29. 29 will not show up in the Mission Planner parameter description until this firmware goes stable unfortunately. Then, you use that channel to control the gear exactly the same as with any other ChX_Option function. There is absolutely no connection between the incoming channel value, and the outgoing channel value. The RCX input PWM is converted into a Boolean "gear up or gear down" command.

Then, you need to choose which Output channel you will use for the landing gear. Say you are going to use Channel 9. Go to RC9_FUNCTION, and set it to 29, which is the Landing Gear function. (it's just coincidence that these have lined up on 29, normally this doesn't happen).

Then find LGR_SERVO_DEPLOY and LGR_SERVO_RETRACT. These are the PWM values that correlate to landing gear up and down. Set these to suitable values for your mechanism.

Now, when you set the input switch high, the landing gear should go up. Switch the switch to the low position, and the gear should come down. There is also a semi-automatic function, where the gear will lower automatically in Land mode or the final landing stage of RTL. So if you lose radio control and it does an auto-landing, they should drop automatically. There is also protection such that, if your gear switch is in the retract position when you boot up, the gear will NOT raise soon as the system is booted. It will be locked in the down position until such time as you lower the switch, then raise it adiydrones.com
- Rob_Lefebvre > Rob_Lefebvre April 20, 2015 at 10:47am
  
  Sorry for the messy post guys, I'm trying to work out some internet problem on my computer. I'll fix this up so it makes sense when I can.
Emin Bu April 20, 2015 at 8:42am

thx for clarification...
juan jose casto moreno April 20, 2015 at 6:07am

Hello friends.

I've been testing COPTER 3.3 rc1, and I detected two problems.

The first problem is the continuous variation notice EKF, although in three hours flying this BETA version, had no problems or faults with the EKF filter.

The problem was flying in drift mode when landing, and disarm engines, quad leaned over and touched the ground.

I am very satisfied with this version and very grateful for your work.

best regards
- This reply was deleted.
  - Glenn Gregory April 23, 2015 at 2:32am
    
    I am also getting EKF Variance when arming. I was still able to arm and do a short flight in Stabilise.
    
    @Randy Is it ok to fly with this warning? Are the tolerances too tight or is it indicating I need to change my setup?
    - Developer
      
      Randy > Glenn Gregory April 23, 2015 at 4:49am
      
      Glenn,
      
      I think it will be safe while you're in stabilize but it won't let you go into autopilot modes like Loiter, RTL. So in case of a failsafe it will likely switch to pilot controlled Land.
      
      I'm pretty sure we have some thresholds set too tight so we're not letting the user into the autopilot modes when we probably could. All those thresholds changed when we moved from inertial nav to EKF and it also seems like we're not giving as much information about what the EKF is waiting on (it's normally for the EKF estimated velocity to fall).
  - juan jose casto moreno April 22, 2015 at 4:08pm
    
    Yes
Greg Fletcher April 20, 2015 at 12:01am

Tested rapid ascents and descents with an over powered 650 quad. It has 3508 580 kv T-motors and a dampened mobius cam (no gimbal). No question 3.3.1 is way more better. The video proves it. The first two descents were very unstable and the wind was light. With 3.3.1 loaded 2 days later the wind was out of the NNE, and pretty strong. Up high in clean air the descents were very stable. The second descent in 3.3.1 was actually in stabilize mode(the caption was wrong) at ~ 8% throttle not touching the right stick, and it was the most stable. Well done Leonard!!!!

http://youtu.be/n4Bcq2ImsHI
- Developer
  
  leonardthall > Greg Fletcher April 20, 2015 at 3:23am
  
  Thanks Greg,
  
  It is nice when things work the way they are supposed to :)
- Developer
  
  Randy > Greg Fletcher April 20, 2015 at 1:00am
  
  Greg,
  
      Thanks for testing that. Indeed the descents in Loiter/AltHold do look more stable using AC3.3.
  
          place in video when descending with AC3.2.1 is here
  
          equivalent for AC3.3-rc1 is here.
  
     What was the WPNAV_SPEED_DN value set to?

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Copter-3.3 beta testing

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