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
Randy, so i've done some deeper testing today.
Pomaroli,
Ok good that things are improving.
There's constraints in the code to protect against setting THR_MID below 300 or above 700. It's probably not a good idea to fly a vehicle which hovers at values outside of this range because there's likely not enough range left over for proper control.
it's mentioned on the wiki but you can check the CTUN message's ThrOut value to find out what the idea value is for your setup. Maybe you've done that but just in case.
Randy,
ok i undestand, the copter hovers on throut of about 230.
What does it means:
Test: Compass = FAIL - Large change in mag_field (79.86%) Max mag field length (644.89) > recommended (550.00)
Any hints how to solve it?
Andrei,
Definitely best to include a dataflash log. We can then compare the mag field length to the throttle or current draw and if it's motor interference (which it probably is) it'll be crystal clear.
Attached my compassmot retults and logs.
Compassmot.PNG
2015-07-25 20-00-26.zip
Randy, any ideas what is it?
Andrei,
I've had a look at the compass and compared to my IRIS. The graph's for both vehicles are below with the magfield (in red) vs the throttle out (in blue). There's certainly a lot more variation in your vehicle's log (top) but it doesn't seem very correlated with the throttle output (or current which is not shown) and only somewhat related to lean angle.
I'm not seeing errors on the I2C bus, the compass remains healthy for the whole flight. So I'm really not sure what's causing the extra noise.
We have a slight weakness in the software in that we rely on the compass hardware's vector scaling which we know is not perfectly accurate. We have an improved compass calibration routine coming in AC3.4 (already in Solo) that improves this. Without this improved scaling you may find the mag-field length changes as you lean the vehicle. You can test this by connecting with the MP, then check the Flight Data screen's Status tab, look for magfield and see if it changes as you tilt the vehicle.
Randy, thanks for review. I have no idea how to catch the source if this noise. I'm using HMC5983 - http://goo.gl/uAS2Mx ... Any ideas how to catch it?
I aways get error (without arming, just on ground) Error compass variance. Magfield without arming (just sitting on the ground and not moving) jumps from 716-720.
also, did one more test, do not arm and just rotate on the same place:
magfield on startup: ~250
after rotation on 360: ~500
while rotating on 360 it jumps: 440-560
All tests are inside room.
After I put it on the floor magfield: ~700
Looks very weird. Can't see any correlation between angle and magfield. Bad compass? Or maybe need to test outside?
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