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

          • Moderator

            FYI: You need to be using the Beta version of Mission Planner in order to see V3.3-rc1, otherwise it shows up as V3.2.

            Regards,

            Nathaniel ~KD2DEY

        • I do see rc1 in mp, you can get version you want from firmware.diydrones.com.

      • I only get v3.2 when I select beta versions in the MP.

  • I don´t know if this is right place for suggestion for improvement. Is it possible to make two failsafe for battery? I like to have one safer limit and use RTL and if battery get critical I like to use Land.

    • Place your request here.  This is where folks place requests for fixes, or enhancements.

      You can also ping DEVS at Drone-Discuss but only for serious discussions.  This location is where the collaboration takes place between developers.

      • Thanks:) I am new with drone but now I have setup enviorment so I can compile firmware by my own and maybe start to help adding functions.

  • Hi all,

    All my apologize for my first comment but, last Sunday i did a auto tune, that seems to pass well.

    by the end of the auto tune, the quad seems to fly well, i finish my battery by a RTL, every thing seems ok, when i return to my housework, had a look on PID, and find similar result as a lot people here.(ex: old rate pitch P:0.31, new:0.088... strange but why not)

    Yestreday evening nice weather, let's have a flight! 2 min in the air, quad is unflyable!?

    I saw that the autotune is not ready, but what misunderstand is why i manage to complete autotune, test it on sunday and yesterday nothing go right?

    it's like if it don't turn on the new PID values by the end of autotune (according to the auto tune process), and write the news  PID value only when i disarmed it, (and stay on the old ones during the test of news ones)

    if it could help:

    Autotune flight log:

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/51xn25628p2pyw1/2015-04-12%2018-14-22.bin...

    Bad PID flight:

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/z9dvo6q5c1tg4u8/2015-04-14%2019-12-26.bin...

    Dropbox - Error
    Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. Never email yourself a file again!
    • Developer

      Hi Vic33,

      After autotune you should land and disarm then take off and fly again to test the pids. You can also test them by moving the autotune switch back to the off position and back to the on position. Be careful though as a bad tune may need you to quickly switch back to the the off position.

      • Thanks leonard,

        But i know that, as i don't make a autotune every days, just before i had a look on the process to refresh my memory, and i'd choose the second method, that why i surprise, at the end of the process i'd turn off auto T , then switch on.

        it's could be me that dreamed, or due to my 3 position switch (taranis) for autotune that i'm not full turn off by just put it meddle position? even if auto tune on/off is confirm by MP in my workshop...

        Don't be affraid, i'm used to pilot, i've 9 years of flight experience on this type model (multirot), and i have the chance to have a great area test zone with about 2m height of reeds for the "dangerous" test, moreover as it's dev quad, if it crash i'll don't cry ;-) 

        • Developer

          Hi Vic33,

          No problem, thanks for your feedback and help!!

This reply was deleted.

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