Developer

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!

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Replies

      • Leonard, you refer to wait for good conditions for the second tune; on your first tune what conditions you choose? . my cuestion is because I wait for calm day to tune, but I need to fly with wind; It's better if I autotune with the same conditions that I want to fly? It's possible to do autotune with windy conditions? Thank's

        • Developer

          Hi Cala,

          No, it is defiantly NOT better if you autotune in the same conditions you want to fly. I understand your reasoning but Autotune will give you the best results for both windy and calm conditions when tuned in calm conditions.

          On my first tune I will still look for the best conditions I can but I will sometimes compromise to get a reasonable starting point. Generally I can find some good conditions, at least once a week, early in the morning or in the evening where I live.

          • Thank's Leonard, I'm going to try the double autotune, nice tip.

  • I must say my initial tests with 3.3-rc10 running totally stock everything on my beater quad with a Hawk Lite is one of the better firmware revisions I have run in a really long time. Rock solid. Alt-Hold is working well, Loiter is back to being like it is hanging from a string and RTL worked flawlessly each time I used it. Awesome work!

  • Use X and it should be front left motor goes clockwise then front right goes counter clockwise then rear right goes clockwise and rear left goes counter clockwise and are ordered as it shows Starting front left  and going clockwise around the frame 3-1-4-2 

  • Thanks Trent for looking into my log. That's my problem RC2 at max but no RCout response.

    Around the moment after flight-mode = LAND (the green box in the plot below) :

    - ThrOut = 65%

    - RCOUT does not clip at max

    - pitch follows nicely the desPitch. and desPitch is negative (pitch forward)

    - RC2 is above mid-point (pitch backward). desPitch does not follow RC2

    3702797016?profile=original

    I guess it is not due to vibration as the clip0 and clip1 are still 0 after 30mins of flight time.

    3702796737?profile=original

    Can't sure what had happened to me.

  • Which log bitmask values should I follow, the ones on arducopter page or those in the MP? Or something else?

    I need to use autotune_axes, I'd like to tune roll and yaw, what should I enter? 5?

    Are these the values: 1 roll, 2 pitch, 3 both, 4 yaw, 5 roll & yaw, 6 pitch & yaw, 7 all?

    • Developer

      Hi VP,

      Not sure what you mean about the bitmask, I recommend using 157693.

      You are correct about the axis numbers.

      • I mean where I can find correct values for it? Like that 157693. It's not documented anywhere. What does it log? I have used 43006 as mp says that's "nearly all".

  • Hi all,

    Sorry for re-posting several times on this forum as I was unable to catch attention from people ^^!..

    Would anyone mind to have a look into my log? It was a flight with 3.3-rc8. During battery failsafe LAND, my copter didn't land straight down but leaned forward instead. 

    In this flight I was hovering my copter few meters above ground, trying to deplete the battery completely to test its flight time.

    When battery fail-safe kicked in, the copter gradually pitched forward by itself. This forward-pitching was not commanded by me. I tried to pull it back but it didn't respond. It finally landed into a rainwater drainage few meters in front of me. 

    My FS_BATT_ENABLE was set to 1 so I expect it to land vertically down. 

    Following I plot my pitch input (RC channel 2) vs. DesPitch. When battery failsafe kicked-in, the desPitch drifted away by its own and didn't follow my pitch input.

    3702081406?profile=original

    Does anyone have idea why this could happen? I was flying in alt-hold mode immediately before BATT_FS kick-in.  

    And does "BATT_FS LAND" accept pilot input during landing?

    I have attached log in the following link. Very much appreciated if you could have a look at it.

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_T04E4z0FBlejQzRkdqVUw2THM/view?u...

    Thanks a lot for your help,

    Wilson

    2015-08-16 17-00-00-batt18650BD.zip
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