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
The issue with the heading not changing when the external compass is rotated is usually because the EKF has given up on the compass because it's movements do not match the movements of the gyros. This is a good thing if the vehicle is in motion but I can imagine it's annoying in this special case where you're trying to figure out the compass orientation. The only way to get the EKF to start using the compass again is to restart the board. If you move the compass very slowly the EKF won't give up on the compass I think but changing the compass_orient parameter probably will upset it immediately.
I think looking at the raw compass outputs (see mx,my,mz and mx2,my2,mz2) in the mission planner's Flight Data screen's Status tab is the way to go. When I was recently doing it with JulienB/Tridge for the Parrot Bebop I compared the raw compass outputs to what my working Pixhawk output.
Also this wiki page has some advice for figuring out the orientation (search for "Quick Setup Procedure") although the EKF giving up on the compass may make this difficult to follow.
Only that it was easier to move it and have no orientation!
something strange..... I've put orientation: ROTATION_NONE and it works! offsets are 0, 30, 37
which firmware was that on?
I think there is an issue with how either MP sets this parameter or an AC bug with adding up angles.
Randy, could you take a look at this issue?
Arduplane 3.3.0
Since the compass is on the bottom on that unit you should not need ROLL_180 and in fact be using YAW_180 since you have the GPS/MAG facing the wrong way.
Have you tried pulling the logs off the SDCard directly instead of using Mavlink?
I would not fly it until you figure out why your headings are all over the place but my "guess" would be interferance from the 3DR Radio being too close to the M8N
Hi Craig,
If I´m using Yaw 180 the Compass shows always to South when the Copter looks to the North.
the Compass on the external GPS/Compass is upside-down, so roll=180 plus the opposite in YAW = YAW180/ROLL180 means pitch 180. right?
I separate the Radio from the Compass.
but here you can see Radio an Rx very close to the Compass!
I think You should try compass_orient = 4 (yaw180).
One issue that came up this week was Pomaroli's report that his vehicle did not maintain roll and pitch well when he took off in stabilize or althold before the vehicle had GPS lock (or before the EKF had decided i had a good horizontal position estimate).
It would be great if some other people could (carefully) try flying their vehicles with the GPS detached or get it off the ground before the main LED goes green.
I don't want to cause any crashes but I'm also interested in knowing if we have bad behaviour in this area.
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