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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  • Very gusty wind here in Detroit.  15-30 mph easy... took off in alt hold. VERY impressed, Pos hold too,,, very impressed. Rock solid it just hangs there like it's on a rail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

    The only thing I notice is my throttle stick seems different. %50 holds fine but it seems different somehow. Was there a default something  with 3.3 and throttle settings??? It's like the dead band got bigger? Is it just me? Is it intentional?   But wow!!! Is the major improvement because of EKF???  I have turned that on and off before.... but this flight characteristics now are way better. Love it... thx devs!!!

    • Hi Richard, I live in the thumb. Nice to see a fellow Michigander. Go Lions! Meow!

      • wow your kidding.. I have a place by lexington. Looking forward to 3.4 and 'boat mode' for some killer lake Huron footage :] 

    • *with about 45%
    • Hi Randy! I think its a big bug... My Quadcopter does take off in stabilize with ca 45%, and in loiter or alt hold with ca 80%. Why?
    • Developer

      Richard,

      Txs for the feedback.  Maybe the EKF helped but my guess is much of it is Leonard's work on the attitude controllers and also the improved thrust curve (it was a set of three lines but now it's a smooth curve).

      We did resolve a small bug in the throttle input code which we never noticed until more people started flying with sprung throttles (in particular the Solo).  Fixing that did slightly adjust where mid throttle and the deadband are.

  • what is going on with 3.3.1 ?

    I had for long time 3.1.5 my OEM Pixhawk was flying perfectly

    then 2 weeks ago I upgraded to 3.3 . did full wizard from Mission planner. I found out that THROTTLE is not cutting directly to my input but it is delayed and somehow props are still spinning for 1 second when my throttle was down. Then I tried GPS mode and it was not keeping position at all , attitude mode was working ok, and stabilize mode ok.

    then yesterday I updated to 3.3.1 and now I got BAD GYRO HEALTH on mission planner but artificial horizon looked ok, I tried the wizard again and it FAILED on accelerometer test . I ignored it then went outside  and right from the start CRASH like gyros would not work at all. so what is going on ? instead working better and more user friendly looks like programmers make our life worse. I think I will go back to 3.1.5 when all was predictable and working fine.

    if anyone cares I can add my logs. I mostly fly on stabilize mode and atti. 

    mu setup : 500mm quadcopter frame , with pixhawk and 3dr power meter and 3dr GPS.

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