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!
Replies
Does it seem overall more able to keep the copter at a steady height off the ground even in turns etc? As JoeBob points out it seems any pitch or roll would effect it's reading and end up thinking it was higher than it was. Thanks for the report...
+1 why I want one.
PhillNZ,
So I guess the mount is not moving is the issue? Could you try setting the MOUNT_TYPE parameter to "1"? Definitely we will need to update the defaults and/or the MP mount setup screen before the AC3.3 release it seems!
Follow-on information to my earlier post.
I captured a picture of one of my test flights. In the image on the left side of Mission Planner HUD and Quick-look screen. On the right I had the Sonar Voltage (Blue) and Sonar Range (Green) displaying during a telemetry replay. I'm assuming at this point in my analysis that the Sonar Rng deviation is a byproduct of it performing samplings.
The video embedded is a snippet of a long video I took. It demonstrates the LiDAR activation process (lifting to 50cm) before you are able to arm the copter.
Attached is a Dropbox URL to allow folks to download the mission logs. Click here.
One suggestion for Michael Osborne, please allow Sonar Range to be configured for either Meters or Feet. I believe all measurements in any part of the Mission Planner should be configured to whatever any one person setup up in the "Distance" and Speed" fields in the CONFIG/TUNING - Planner section. I use Feet and MPH and the Sonar Range in the Quick Look section of the main page only shows in meters.
re
One suggestion for Michael Osborne, please allow Sonar Range to be configured for either Meters or Feet. I believe all measurements in any part of the Mission Planner should be configured to whatever any one person setup up in the "Distance" and Speed" fields in the CONFIG/TUNING - Planner section. I use Feet and MPH and the Sonar Range in the Quick Look section of the main page only shows in meters.
+1 ! It can certainly be confusing sometimes if one or all the data and entries are one or the other.
Ok, I've decided to give RC-4 a chance for autotune and upgraded from 3.2.1 (which ran good but ). The first thing that popped to me after uploading the firmware is errors: "EKF PRED POS HORIZ ABS" and EKF POS VERT AGL. I have tried looking them up in the wiki, but I suppose these are too new to be there yet. I've tried reloading parameter to default w/o positive result. Please advise what these errors are about and how to get rid of it?
Thanks!
I found this error appearing on the mission planner as well when I upgraded the MP beta. I think it's more of a mission planner issue than a copter issue. The EKF status message is a new one for AC3.3 so we just need to work with Michael to make sure it's being interpreted properly.
ahh yes, I figured that could be the cause as when I started going through the EKF tree i found that for some reason my EKF_ALT_SOURCE was set to use something other than baro. After going back to a stable MP and reloading the firmware all is good now!
Loaded 3.3 rc4 today and did a complete recalibration with an IRIS.
Actually flew quite well. The only problem I saw was after a short but uneventful flight. I flew in stab, poshold and Loiter and did a manual landing.
When I checked the datalog, the analyzer told me that I must have had a brownout, as the IRIS stopped transmitting at about 9m.
When I checked tha log, the altitude started at about 3m and ended at 9.
Later I connected on the bench with USB. It was sitting for a bit, and when I looked at the HUD it read 11.5m. on the desk. I'm used to it climbing slowly as it warms up, but usually when I ARM, the altitude resets to zero. This time it didn't. So any altitude drift remains. I haven't tried, but I imagine if I reset the altitude would go to zero and probabaly wouldn't move to much more..I haven't been paying as much attention to the details of development, but still check several time per week, but don't remember anything about this.
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