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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        • Moderator

          Randy,

          Thanks for the explanation. I understood about Note #1, I wasn't concerned with the number per say, it was really the fact that I got it almost immediately upon powering up while I was indoors! That seems very unlikely.

          Any clarification on the units that the sonar values are when reported on the Mission Planner status tab? Or the pitch oscillation I'm seeing when I reach the value of WPNAV_LOIT_SPEED?

          Thanks,

          Nathaniel ~KD2DEY

    • Yeah I autotuned roll and pitch axis with rc8 yesterday with aggressiveness set to 0.5.  Roll axis is OK but pitch axis took forever to autotune and now I get slow oscillation on the pitch axis when it recovers from significant pitch movements.  I'm going to re-autotune today with 0.7aggr and see what happens.

      • Developer

        Hi Fnoop,

        0.5 is way too high, that will be limited internally to 0.2. I hope you meant 0.05 but it is worth checking you didn't make a mistake.

        My suggested range is 0.05 to 0.1.

  • Has anyone else had trouble geotagging gopro pics via mission planner with 3.3rc8? Works well with 3.2 for me. When I tried with 3.3, using time offset, est offset always shows -1, then pre processing finds no matches. 3.3rc8 log below. 

    2015-07-30 16-45-21.bin

  • Randy, maybe it will appeal to you to compile something like 3.2.2 with most of the 3.3's non flight control related features like different gimbal serial  support, retracts and some other kinks? I think it is beneficial for both the AC project and us is users as we'll get some useful features on a hell of a stable platform, while you guys will get a chance to iron out any bugs in the said non flight control related features at the same time you will get some more time to work on the EKF and make 3.3 something really great instead. 

  • Hello,

    Is this negative baro readings are ok in flight?

    3702059229?profile=original

    • Developer

      Yes, that just means that the baro thinks it's below the home altitude.  The baro suffers from drift (a natural consequence of the type of sensor) so it's possible to see negative numbers even when it's not below the home altitude.

      This looks like a very sudden drop, I can't see the logs but I'd guess that it's an aerodynamic effect caused by the vehicle moving.

      • Thanks for the answer, logs also have disarmed logs. During the flight one prop sliced receiver antenna so i landed for check. But still althold mode altitude drift. My copter still lost altitude but giving more throttle overrides. On previous versions full throttle doesnt any effect and copter lose altitude until it lands.

        If you still review the logs its here:

        https://www.dropbox.com/s/rxd5rpucu2av5iv/7.BIN?dl=0

        7.BIN
        Shared with Dropbox
  • Dear Reader

    I don't really know where to post this question and if wrongly posted I hope a civilized moderator will transfer it to its correct place. Thank you. Now to my question:

    As impressed as most people are by fascinating radio-controlled flying sauces, I am equally surprised over the design capabilities of some individuals. Taking a passed away dog used for hunting many years and making a set of gloves out of its skin in memory of it is one thing, but to turn a dead cat into a drone... Is that ethical?

    Frankly, what do you think?

    The cat forums are raving about it, so left is to know what the drone community thinks. After all, where is the moral in this if God created us? Shouldn't also a cat deserve a nice funeral the same way as us humans.

    This is what I found:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8QWMatuiWw

    /Kalle

    YouTube
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