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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    • Developer

      ScottW,

      So this is really the OSD that's not handling multiple vehicles or components properly.  The OSD is seeing heartbeats from the vehicle and the gimbal and although they have different a different sysid/component-id pair the OSD is getting them confused.

      Which OSD are you using?

      • MinimOSD Extra.  Micro hardware version from RTFQuads. 

        I'm not sure if anyone is developing it anymore.. 
        But fixing this issue, and adding all the mavlink/mission planner error messages (pre-flight check errors, etc) would be amazing.  If the errors were available, I could fly w/ only goggles, and not need a computer.

    • Yeh i have had similar with the HUD not updating things like Sat Count and Flight Mode.  I reported it several pages ago. The quick tab gauges always work, and the telemetry over FrSky to my Taranis always works but the HUD overlays lock up. this is consistent with latest version of MP and one previous version, and all releases of 3.3 including the official release. Does not matter whether FC is USB connected or 3DR connected. If I remove the HUD overlay item and re-add it, it then updates.

      • It seems everything was locked on Tower, but I didn't fiddle with anything as it was the first time and figured it was a fluke.

        Weather permitting tomorrow I'll get the laptop out and see what it does, but you say it happens with USB connected also? I hadn't noticed.

        Thanks for bringing this issue up as I was about to blame the PM for the Piixhack not reporting the voltage and amps.

        • yep on USB.  I had the quad hooked up to MP via USB for making some changes - i had the quick tab up with sat count specified. the quick tab sat count would increment as sats were added, but the white HUD overlay sat count stayed stuck on one number the entire time. Honestly I think it is just a screen or element refresh bug- if you add another item to the HUD, or remove an item, then the Sat Count or anything else "stuck" will update. I think by editing the HUD items it is forcing a refresh.

    • I had a similar event with Tower.  It worked fine on takeoff, but after a while I noticed the battery level hadn't gone down and the nice lady kept repeating the same level and other data.

      It did not lose connection, which brings up another thing. When landed and yanking power, Tower did not notify of lost connection.

  • hey all - had a test flight today with the default PIDs and wanted to test 'simple' mode combined with PosHold / altHold.

    That all went well, but i do need to do some PID tuning.  what was troubling is that towards the end of my flight, I was in Drift Mode about 50yds out and switched to PosHold (no simple mode engaged).  I tilted the quad back to me to bring it in, as it got closer I let off the sticks.  It just kept going!!! it would not respond to stick commands at all, no AETR, could not drop throttle. i frantically flipped the flight modes back and forth one time, and it "recovered" (I saw it twitch in the air as I flipped through Drift Mode, AltHold, then back to PosHold).  I then regained stick control and brought her down fine.  

    I really don't know what to make of that complete control loss. if I had not luckily got control back, it would have kept going for the remaining 15mins of battery life and well over crowded areas. that's not good at all. No issue with reception, i don't have anything weird set up everything is pretty much default. RSSI was like 90.  I'll upload my log file in a bit when I'm done with work, if one of you would be so kind to see if something went wonky with the FC.  I'm still on 3.3 final release from several days ago and not the new one.

    • Here are my log files: http://www.808networks.com/pub/control_loss.zip

      The event is right at the end of the flight- you'll see I'm in drift mode, then poshold, then a minute later quick flip through all modes, then land in poshold.

      • I guess my outstanding questions here are:

        If RTL is failsafe-invoked (fence, low batt, etc), are the RC stick controls locked out from user input? 

        If I wanted to cancel RTL after it was auto-invoked what is the process? Flip the flight mode switches?

        My "issue" reported may be simply not understanding the fine details of how RTL works when it is auto-invoked. There is not enough detail in the AC RTL mode wiki page. Appreciate any help-

        • One other thing to check would be the LAND_REPOSITION in the parameter settings. Should be set to 1. This allows you to maneuver your craft as its landing.

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