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
DG,
Thanks for the report. It shouldn't be possible to re-arm in RTL mode so if you have a dataflash log we can have a look.
… and I fly a lot... with my multis....no problems until today… J,
Escs are alone… too
Camera is a big source of noise too, I isolated from the other components as well.
Look the extended battery holder… very nice…
I got to say this compass variance error is an extremely annoying issue.
I spent so much time to fix it, had to move external compass well away from any sources of EMI, but now I had an issue with gimbal IMU errors so I added a ferrite chunk to that wire, good 15cm away from any compass and, yep, this 'compass variance' is back in its full glory, did 4 compass recalibrations, and it comes back during flight every time now after it was absent for almost a month. and all I did was to add a single chunk of a ferrite to IMU wire.
Something really needs to be done about this as it is impossible to deal with.
Are you sure your external compass is not moving or rotating at all? That caused trouble for me a couple of times.
The only time I've been unable to calibrate, is when my piezo buzzer came untaped, and fell pretty much directly on top of the compass. It was obvious something was quite wrong, because in the calibrate screen, the circle of white dots was off to the side of the XYZ cross.
Personally, I've noticed 3.3 might be more sensitive to compass errors, but I've been able to correct all of mine.
ANY movement of my gps mast in flight was causing an error. I ended up shortening mine, and changing the way I had it secured so it doesn't flex or twist at all now.
I am quite sure, it cannot move anywhere. External compass is in the smaller GPS unit next to the battery.
I thought LiPo's gave off some EM when they were running?
that second small unit has EMI cage soldered in and frankly amount of EMI from lipo brick is insignificant compared to what comes from motors and ESCs and wires.
Again, this deviation from the original message is not really worth it as everything was fine until new ferrite was added all the way in front to that multicolored red-white-black IMU wire that gets out of the yaw motor.
I suspect now it interferes not with the GPS compass on the top, but probably with an internal compass in the pixhawk unit that sits below in between carbon decks. this variance error pops up if any compass offset starts to deviate from the preconfigured delta.
I think the M8N's can vary a LOT. I had one that indicated a great sat count and low hdop and yet performed baddy. I got another one that seemed MUCH better. But I agree the huge sat count and low hdop does not seem to translate into much greater positioning. Tridge mentioned it's not just sat count it's other calculations it does regarding the trajectory that the gps does that is equally important. For me the biggest improvement was the time it takes to get a good count. That is much better.
sorry.... OT again
My one(s) are from http://www.csgshop.com/product.php?id_product=173, two months to arrive in Brasil....but...
Already tested with AC3.3-rc8 , more than 20 batteries....with no problems....
Rock solid, no drift , I can "drink a coffee" when in poshold mode.
I "had" another one(s) from another brand, .... hummm..... I threw in the trash, after 2 crashes...I spent mode then 200 hundred dollars to fix my multi... no make sense....
Like cars....some of them are really cheap... but.....
yes, i agree , i also have a M8N from CSG Shop, works absolutely perfect here in Germany.I also have the new one M8T large from Drotek (the big one) and a XL M8N from Drotek , both also works perfect. every time more as 17 SAT and HDOP below 0.8 !
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