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
Jeremy,
Is the FC mounted on foam tape similar to what 3DR sells? If you hard mounted or used something that allows vibrations to easily transfer to FC then you may be introducing excessive vibrations normally accompanied with all propeller airframes. Try damping the FC from the airframe and retest.
I suppose I shouldn't assume that it is not firmware related, but should rather post my finding and let the experts tell me if I have a software problem or a hardware problem.
I have an AUAV-X2 mounted on top of my asymmetrical quad. It does not receive any direct prop wash, it is mounted in a case and does have foam sandwiched on top of the barometer. What I am finding is that the quad flies fantastic in stabilize but it is vertically twitchy in anything that uses the barometer. When hovering, you can hear it bouncing up and down with no inputs. If I pitch forward in alt hold or pos hold, it will audibly pulse the throttle instead of maintaining a consistent output. I feel like I am constantly chasing the stick to keep the altitude somewhat consistent. This issue has almost rendered any auto modes unusable as I am always too on edge to really enjoy flying. The upside to this is that I have become quite proficient at flying in stabilize, which was something I lacked before.
Only a minor thing that I have after updating the firmware: I always reset the pixhawk to itsdefaults before and after flashing. Then I compare the params to my saved file from before. But in any case I always got the error message that the compass is not calibrated.
Maybe someone could tell me how to prevent a new compass calibration with every firmware update?
I personally always do a full calibration after every firmware upgrade even if not required especially with 3.x as there are so many changes in the way the sensors are calculated. IMO I think it should be forced with each update as it would cut down a lot of issues since many are related to calibrations.
I don't re-do the calibration or refresh the parameters very often and we're pretty careful to not make any changes that would require re-doing the calibration or parameters unless it's absolutely necessary. It can't hurt but it shouldn't be necessary.
Randy, when we do primary compass calibration - does it overwrite previous data from motor/compass interference level?
If you do not mind me asking - what specific parameters holds this info and what item on logs shows level of that interference during flight? I want to try to do some EMI shielding for Tarot but not sure what are the measures to control and monitor.
Is there anything in the 'status' window to see real time data for that?
Hey Paul,
The compass calibration updates these parameters:
COMPASS_OFS_X, Y, Z
COMPASS_OFS2_X, Y, Z
COMPASS_DEV_ID <-- recorded so that we know which compass was attached when cal was done
COMPASS_DEV_ID2
..but it doesn't update the motor/compass interference calibration results though (held in COMPASS_MOT_*). If the compass is completely changed, then the compass-mot should be re-done as well. If it's the same compass and the power wires, etc haven't been moved around then it's probalby ok not to do the compass/motor interference calibration.
I agree.
I was a little in a hurry when I installed RC6, and almost paid a price for it.
Fortunately, one of my quad motors sound a little different, so I decided not to take off at all before I sort that out.
Long story short, I had to do all of the calibrations (radio, ESC, accel, compass), before it started to behave.
Later today I will install RC7 and redo the calibrations again.
It only takes a couple of minutes but it's really worth.
RSM_LI,
I think I found and fixed the problem today and it will go out with -rc8.
Is it possible that the Terminal (CLI) is not working since AC3.3?
I would like to try AC3.3 but since rc5 (the first -rc I tryed) I got this:
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