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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            • Maybe a "checking parameters" or "testing sensors" message could come up until the EKF checks are completely. Then if there is a true fault, that fault could be displayed.

              Might help to reduce unnecessary worries about a false alarms.
      • Getting the same messages with the unit just sitting on my table.  Out in the field it's good...  I've also got the odd bad gyro message as well.  Again, just sitting still hooked up via usb and making adjustments on the computer.

  • @ Leonard

    Here is the link to the latest AT on rc9. I'm also interested in what you think about the mag interference numbers.

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Nk_i2Lhll5YndwTnVVMG05eVE/view?u...

    2015-08-21 19-30-32.bin
  • Hello,

    On my previous post im complaint about copter loses altitude on small movements (wiki says frame aerodynamics and barometric issues ) even full throttle applied. Today tried autotune with 3.3rc9 with only roll axis.Everything looks good on althold and started atune. Ordinarily it drifted away and called back with roll command. When it coming back it loses altitude rapidly and gonna crash. at 1.5-2 meters above ground i applied full throttle but it does nothing. No effect. Result is crash.  My hexa enough powerful at take off %25-30 throttle. It seems im going to mess with cnc again.

    Logs if you want a look:

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/lp94wues6vx020u/hexacrash.BIN?dl=0

    The loiter is normally be a stabilize. Normally im going to stabilize and disarm but wrongly switched. Copter is already crashed.

    3702077247?profile=original

    • Developer

      Really sorry about you crash.  I think it's not the baro issue but rather, as Shaun Bell suggests, it's high vibration.

      3702589513?profile=original

      The Z-axis vibes are averaging around 40m/s/s for the most part which is high but perhaps acceptable but there are periods where it's much higher.  So for example at the end of the logs they climb way up to 70m/s/s which is unacceptably high.  During these periods we also see the contradiction of altitude falling while climb rate is positive - which indicates the EKF is confused.

      3702589439?profile=original

      Perhaps it's not much consolation but on the positive side, the attitude estimate seems to have been good with DCM and the EKF agreeing on the vehicle's attitude.

      3702589540?profile=originalOne last thing, the err-19 is a CPU delay but it only happens right at the beginning of the log when the vehicle is initialising.  It happens before takeoff and is not a real problem so I'll have a look at why that can sometimes happen.

      • Thanks Randy,

        Normally im using anti vibration foam (http://goo.gl/xFg2MD), but i will change with rubber. Hope it give better results. Also increasing thickness of plates. They will instantly break when touching to ground. Frame with acrylic plates are non-flex but very brittle.

        Also can devs add an override option on stick endpoints with options? (enable-disable, how much percentage applied to throttle channel etc. parameter based). Switching stabilize and applying throttle is a better option but if pilot encounter incongruous panic (like me :) ) aircraft gonna crash.

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        • Developer

          Yakup,

          The best options are listed on the Vibration Dampening wiki page.  In particular the 3M foam sold by 3DRobotics or the HobbyKing Orange Foam are the most recommended.

          Feel free to add enhancement requests to the issues list.  In emergencies we recommend the pilot take-over control in a manual flight mode (like stabilize).  I'm not sure we would want to change that and instead have the vehicles act in a special way when the edges of the roll, pitch, yaw or throttle sticks are reached.

          • Developer

            In the first image the vibration with the 3M foam sold by 3DRobotics, in the second i use home made antivibration system.
            There's no rule, many times an antivibration system works better than another, but only on a specific hardware.
            To achieve amazing results with the inertial system you must reduce the vibrations to your board, imperative!

            About Autotune: a good altitude where to perform the operation is about ten meters, not less, during this step the throttle stick correction is limited by the autopilot, like in alt-hold, it's not reactive as in Stabilize!

            3702849635?profile=original
            3702849654?profile=original

    • You got pretty bad vibrations and clipping going on.  I had the same funny altitude drop and it was the same thing.  I was running a Pixhack hard mounted causing the problem.  Not sure what ERR19-1 is though.

      • I think crippling came from landing. after 10 or 20 secs (not remember well) takeoff, landed for adjusting throttle hover slider. In my opinion; vibration is not the main problem. Also yes, i cant find any info about err19.

        If its barometric issue and it cant solved by code, an explanation of covering baro with special case or method will good for us.

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