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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          • Developer

            IvanR,

            Yes, more recent versions of the firmware can fly fine even when a compass fails in flight it seems.  My first autoflight with the snap dragon board (which we are calling "snappy" for short) had compass failures and it was absolutely fine except that the landing detector seemed to take a long time to trigger (which is a bit weird).

            BTW Copter-3.3 definitely doesn't failover to the internal compass.

  • TriTran / Randy,
    Its interesting the IMU and IMU2 diverge upon change of flight modes. Then there's a period of divergence between IMU and IMU2 that lasts for about the same amount of time in both instances, then it returns to normal.

    It also looks like IMU even during the divergence period still emits good data, just a different offset (returns to 0 versus -10). Seems like it is something modifying the offsets briefly
    normal.it
    This domain may be for sale!
  • Hi Randy

    With reference to this paragraph...

    "You must be using a 3DR Pixhawk and there was a manufacturing problem between June 2014 and Feb 2015 (I think those dates are correct) so it might be possible to do an RMA.  When you talk to 3DR you could point them at this post and tell them you heard it was related to how the boards were being cut that led to a high number of MPU6k failures.  I'm not sure if they'll replace your IRIS+ or Pixhawks of course, a long time has passed since that manufacturing problem was found and fixed.

    This is not aimed at you but a product sold in the EU is covered for 2 years under warranty (Directive 99/44/EC ). I believe i have this very issue with the IMU's and was very disappointed to be told 3DR warranty is 90 days !

    Naively i assumed the suspect imu is the 2nd one and turned that one off. Have i made a mistake ?  I'll try the other way around.

  • i have problem with new frimware 3.3.2. Both of my iris+. when i flying with loiter mode and switch to alt hold or poshold mode then my iris+ is fly up to sky. i just trying to re-update frimware and getting same problem. can everyone check help me, i see the logs said ( Check vibration or accelerometer calibration ) but i already calibra everything it have. Thanks you all. the logs below, just test again this everning.

    221.BIN

    • Hes right vesselin. I just unplug the buzzer and fly ok. No more full thorttle when change flight mode. But dont know how to fix the buzzer now ?
    • Developer

      TriTran,

      Yes, amazingly, you have the same problem as Vesselin in that IMU1 (MPU6k) has failed.  So you could likely get around the problem by setting INS_USE1 to 0 but a better alternative would be to replace the flight controller.  You must be using a 3DR Pixhawk and there was a manufacturing problem between June 2014 and Feb 2015 (I think those dates are correct) so it might be possible to do an RMA.  When you talk to 3DR you could point them at this post and tell them you heard it was related to how the boards were being cut that led to a high number of MPU6k failures.  I'm not sure if they'll replace your IRIS+ or Pixhawks of course, a long time has passed since that manufacturing problem was found and fixed.

      By the way, the reason this problem appears in Copter-3.3 and not Copter-3.2.1 is that we make use of both IMUs in Copter-3.3 while in Copter-3.2.1 we only ever used one.  As a side note, Paul Riseborough tells me that the new EKF (EKF2) coming with Copter-3.4 would have done a better job of picking which IMU to use.  Still, that's a software solution to a hardware problem - it's better to replace the flight controller.

      3702611908?profile=original

      • Randy, TriTran,

        I know what caused your  z accel divergences. It's from your buzzer/speaker causing imu1 to get an aliasing offset due to the frequencies involved. I had the same problem a while back. I looked at your df to make sure I got the time scale right.

        1) The problem happens concurrent to a mode change.

        2) It last for about the time of the mode change beep.

        3) The problem wasn't present with 3.2, but started with 3.3 ....3.3 was the first to use the mode change       beep...mmm?

        I had the exact same thing and thought my imu1 was failing. Turns out my buzzer was way to close to the pixhawk, but wasn't causing a problem until the hot glue securing the buzzer gave up and some how this made it louder ?

        Unplug the buzzer and do a test flight and you will see :)

        • omg are you sure Greg ? so the problem is buzzer ?

          • Ya, saw the exact same problem. Is your buzzer close to the pixhk ?  Ya I'm pretty sure. Took me a while to figure out. When you know, all the seemingly unrelated changes become obvious.

            • i'm flying iris+,the buzzer was default over pixhawk i will unplug the buzzer and test next 3hour, thanks you.

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