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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            • yeah maybe. Are you just running it bare on the frame? I originally chose the rctimer based on the case. You're right, it might be equivalent, but it wouldn't hurt to do a comparison.

              • It's got a grounded copper disk under it.. 
                I've got a photo in another thread.. let me see if the link works here..

                3702073503?profile=original

                • Hi Scott,

                  Does the ground copper disk effect the MAG performance?

                  Thanks

                  • Not that I've noticed.  I wouldn't expect it to, but I have not done any A/B comparisons.  Many GPS units have that copper layer built in to the PCB.

        • What mode are you running the gps units as a comparative - 0,1,2,3 etc?

          • In the arudcopter settings, I'm assuming you mean the one that defines 0=unchanged, 1=gps, 2 or 3=gps+sbas, etc, then I'm on 0.  
            I did try limiting it to only GPS or GPS+SBAS, and I get better results with 0, looking at all available data. 
            (if you mean something else, let me know)

            Edited to say, when the GPS arrived it was set up for Europe's SBAS settings, and I had not good results.  When I configured it for north America, it performs great. (I checked my RTFQ gps, and it has the same settings as the current CSG one that's working well, so that wasn't the issue w/ it)

            • Yep that's what i meant- thanks.  I have had better results using #3.  Less sats but more reliable. Obviously this will be different depending what part of the globe you're at.   I'm in Los Angeles.

    • I'm trying to run 3.3rc11 but can't get MP to update to the Beta version properly. When I start MP it says there are Beta updates available. I click yes to start the load and after some initial files I get a permission / 403 error when the resources file is uploading.

      With my airframe updated to 3.3.rc11 and this partial MP upgrade the parameters are all screwed and any attempt at flight ends in immediate disaster!

      • yea i have a micro pixhawk called pixfalcon micro from hobby king on a 250 i uploaded rc11 and everything went nuts on mission planner the horizon thing was spinning around in circles everything was on acid... went back to 3.2.1 everything was fine  weird.. rc11 3.3 is just well nuts

        • I have deinstalled MP and re-installed ( running the MSI as administrator with a registry tweak ) trying to get the beta releases I still get a 403 from the servers when trying to download the update. Can anyone point me to the beta builds of the files that I can use or a list of files that comprise the beta upgrades.

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