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

    • Nice!! Thanks for the report. It does seem better in the wind than 3.2 doesn't it? 

      • I'm not a reference to ensure that because this copter is the first time that fly well with so strong wind; it wasn't so quiet for a nice video, It's need a fine tunning yet but Isn't a day to take nice quiet videos (and no my interested too, I like photos), but the copter looks strong flying against the wind. I'm very happy :D

    • that's very nice to hear!!

  • I tested 3.3.1RC1 now, and works well.  I tried all flight modes.

  • I'm going to give a try today too if weather permits and report results.

    Randy, I share the log of my failed take off here, http://diydrones.com/forum/topics/copter-3-3-beta-testing?commentId... , we wrote a lot of pages them and I affraid you can't notice or you can't open; if you don't have enougth time to see, or a human err only, no problem, isn't so important, I know that I have to pay more attention when I take off.

  • Randy, I'll test today.  I 'll write the result at 2 PM ( UTC ).

  • Developer

    Has anyone given Copter-3.3.1-rc1 a flight test?  I'm thinking of releasing it soon but I just want to be sure some other people besides me have tried it.  The bug fix is incredibly minor, it's more the compiler upgrade that I'd like to have a bit more confidence in.

    • 6 flights today with my rebuilt copter.
      Everything is fine.
      Good to go!
    • I have been running for a few days with no issues.

      Have about 8 flights and about 2 hours flight time with no issues.

    • I've done a half dozen flights with my quad and hex with no problems. Very stable and prdictable. Auto missions are solid however I did not try to replicate the bug.
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