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
Stone,
The wiki makes no mention of autotune now being a flight mode it still makes reference to ch7/ch8 so I don't think it covers it very well.
This information may be more accurate but I can't confirm it.
http://diydrones.com/forum/topics/copter-3-3-beta-testing?commentId...
So it would be nice to hear the definitive answer from one of the developers.
A bit of a question here: has the way RSSI being reported in the mavlink been changed in 3.3? I have a strange issue when I setup up my RSSI pin 103 and range 3.3v MP shows correct rxRSSI, however minimosd shows constantly 0. I roll back to 3.2.1 and I get RSSI back, while with exactly the same settings RSSI is 0 in the minimosd while correct value in MP. Please advise.
Hi ,
The “ping-pong” between 2 GPSs is old (not a rc10 issue) ..... I don’t have the logs anymore, but from August I removed the second GPS from my Quadcopters…. The Crash is really difficult to happen, but happen in different conditions.
http://diydrones.com/forum/topics/copter-3-3-beta-testing?commentId=705844%3AComment%3A2068761
So is the two GPS issue solved in rc10 or is it safer to run with only one?
Greg,
We won't fix the dual GPS issue in AC3.3 I'm afraid. That will be an AC3.4 improvement. I'm going to change the wiki to say that we don't recommend a dual GPS solution for copters until this enhancement is in.
no idea sorry.
We are on page 279 of feedback and at release candidate 10 to a new Arducopter release and no end, meaning Release, is in sight.
I must say that I lost track in the meantime.
Is it because the code got completely rewritten and along this screwed up?
Or is the reason that the requirements and expectations are raising from RC to RC?
Randy , by when do you expect a halfway stable baseline across MP, Arducopter, and Tower with existing documentation in the Wiki?
Again, I don't want to discredit all the important discussions going on here, but if it continues like over the past months I am afraid that we rather hit page count 1000 and RC 50 before anything meaningful emerges.
Disclaimer: I am a satisfied user of 3.2.1 and I am desperately waiting for some 3.3 enhancements. And No, I don't have the time to wade through multiple RC's testing.
these threads are always long and hard to sift through if you are looking for something specific, but that applies to all forum/blog type discussions. I personally don't think the release cycle is that long given how many new features are implemented. Also compare to some other open source projects which normally are a right mess of code and bugs. In this regard APMcopter has come a long way in the last two years. If you don't want to risk testing betas, stick with the old stable version and wait. I found, especially with 3.2 and 3.3, that I could fly all release candidates without being overly afraid of bad things happening which was not always the case in the past. So I think the dev team is doing a really great job here!
If it takes 12 months and 50 RCs to get a stable and reliable release, I'll gladly wait and keep flying 3.2.1. Last thing I want is a FCS that I cannot trust or that crashes my birds due to errors or bugs. I'm fully capable of doing my own crashes without help from an unreliable FCS.
Stephan,
Glad you are happy with 3.2.1! Do you know or appreciate why you are so happy with 3.2.1? It's because of this exhaustive process of beta testing. Lets refresh our memories. Work on 3.2 beta began with the first release candidate on May 9, 2014 (actually work began long before that with the dev release), followed by a series of 14 release candidates until its "stable" release sometime in November, 2014. A few quick enhancements and bug fixes were tested and released by February, 2015. So that's May-2014 to February-2015 (10 months) to give you the "stable" release you are so happy with.
Now lets talk about the current beta cycle; The first beta release candidate was presented for beta testing in April of this year and is currently on RC10. By all accounts it's quite good (at least for me).
Patience is the key here. If you don't want to follow the 279 page thread that's OK, but don't complain about how long the process takes to bring you a "stable" product you can use with any degree of confidence.
I agree that these threads can get extremely long. But if they were only filled with on topic discussion they would be much shorter.
Enjoy 3.2.1 while you wait.
Regards,
Nathaniel ~KD2DEY
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