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
Emin,
No need to re-do the accel calibration unless you're upgrading from AC3.2.1 (or earlier). The "whiskers" problem was just a timing software thing that didn't invalidate any config.
Hey guys, thanks for all the great work getting to rc4. Looking forward to trying the autotune and ff changes. One question about the increased serial ports - does this mean more mavlink over serial? So can we move telemetry or gimbal now to the serial ports? I think I remember Randy saying the storm32 is currently hardcoded to the secondary telemetry port, is there a way to change that?
Fnoop,
Yes, it means that you could plug a telemetry radio into Serial 4/5 (which is normally the 2nd GPS port). This is part of the SToRM32 stuff in that Luis (and a few others) complained that they didn't have enough serial ports once they needed another for the gimbal. The SToRM32 gimbal can sadly only be used on Telem2 but I hope to make it auto-detect which serial port before AC3.3 goes live (that's one of the last changes that will go in).
Thanks Randy, this is so cool as us gadget junkies can now attach more gadgets at once :)
There is a bit of a problem with the recommended settings for the storm32 gimbal in that it identifies as a separate system (systemid 71) which confuses things like the popular teensy/frsky telemetry option which goes bananas switching between different flight modes of the two systems, and apmplanner2 although you can at least switch systems through that interface. But not sure if this is an issue that should be sorted at the 'client' end, ie. should the telemetry filter/listen only to the system it wants to hear, or the 'server' end, ie. should the storm32 identify as a component of the existing pixhawk system or can mavlink routing restrict which telemetry ports the storm32 signal can go out of.
Out of interest, will serial5 eventually be available as well or is there a technical limit on the amount of mavlink channels that could be used?
Tried loading the Beta version today but it failed with error: could not download the hexfile.
Trying again and the comport on my PC show up for a second when I connect the Pixhawk.
On the Pixhawk the LED is solid white and this seems not normal.
Feels like the board not activates the comport.
Suggestions? corrupt bootloader?
Found the problem, for some rason the sd card had to be formated. Did the firmware upload set the sd card as unformatted?
Goran,
The firmware shouldn't have caused that to happen although AC3.3 does have some extra logic to automatically format the card if it finds it's unusable for some reason. This has the effect of clearing all your log files but it doesn't get rid of parameters.
OK thanks, but the only way to access the pix with usb was to take the card out and format it in my PC.
Anyway it is fixed now.
Part of this is cross posted from here http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/u-blox-m8n-ground-planes-antenn...
I was flying on the shores of Lake Huron in Michigan today; absolutely gorgeous weather and flying conditions.
How do scenarios like this affect the barometer? Once the copter takes off, does the barometer "see" this altitude change? Would lidar be a good addition to have in order to get a true altitude reading once launching from the cliffs? Today was a practice flight for a trip this summer to PIctured Rocks on Lake Superior in da U.P. where I want to get some nice video of from above the water. I find it difficult to judge how far above the water the copter is and wonder if the barometer provides an accurate altitude so my equipment doesn't end up in the drink.
Thanks, I'm looking into LidarLite.
I still don't understand how there can be such drastic altitude errors when using RTL/Land (by switch or Auto mission) in only a few minutes of flying. It happens at my home, field and yesterday at the lake and two different copters, one using Pixhawk, the other AUAV-X2.
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