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
Did you do an auto tune with rc7?
re- Switching from APC SF to MR may have contributed to that.
Sorry for my ignorance is SF slow fly? What is MR?
I did with rc6 but last night just updated to rc7 to see how it flies.
Auto Tune has greatly improved since 3.1.5, but I'm finding that the more flexible the props are, the more tinkering is required after Auto Tune, particularly on heavier copters. I think it is because when it gets windy, the props flex causing the copter to become more unstable which the FC must compensate for and Auto Tune cannot predict. Also during Auto Tune the PID's are much different between stiff props and flexible ones.
Steadidrone likes SF props over MR and CF, but I'll bet they do a lot of fine tuning outside of Auto Tune to get everything smoothed out because 14x4.7 SF props are very flexible. They say MR props are for higher kv motors, but I'm finding they are actually more efficient and make for a more all around better performing craft, at least for my stuff.
I really noticed this on the 750 Y6 when using Tarot/Gemfan CF props; get a fairly strong cross wind and the copter would dance and/or oscillate up and down because the props bend. The Tarots were the worst. Once I put the Xoar wooden props on (15x5 top 14x7 bottom), the stability was excellent in all conditions. Then I put the T-Motor props on (15x5 top/bottom) and the efficiency improved plus kept stable.
As much as I like to rely on Auto Tune, and as good as it is, I really need to dig deep into learning how to do doing some manual tuning to make it "perfect".
I most definitely noticed the same thing regarding prop stiffness and how it can change how a copter behaves! So much so I had to tweak the PIDS when I went from flexible to CF.
Hi DG,
I suspect you are correct on the points you make here. Flexible props will also bend more in forward flight in general.
The thought I had as I read your post was "I wonder if the vertical noise I see on stiff props is reduced on more flexible props?"
Thanks!!
DG, do you use SteadiDrone units? What model? Can you share your PID?
SF = slow fly
MR = multi rotor
http://www.apcprop.com/category_s/28.htm
Pretty new offerings from APC and they've been steadily adding more sizes to their list.
-Mike
DG,
Yes, I did a bunch of tests of fast and slow descents a few days ago with my IRIS and it seemed much better than AC3.2.1. The change is the improved thrust curve.
Very good news!!!!! Faster decent on a battery FS event is a good thing. You must be really dialing it in so to speak to even improve on that! Nice...
As I did not change anything on the hardware side from what it was, it all worked in 3.2 fine and does not work now with any 3.3 version and i cannot understand why.
My bad it was just a hypothetical scenario. How are you setting it up? With which ground station?
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