Returned back from a weekend's flying, we did a total of 6 missions on sunday. In between that there was a few other times we turned the system on , connected Mavlink, and tuned PID settings.
When I was wanting to download the APM logs yesterday, i was expecting to see 10 to 12 log files, for each time the Mavlink connected, but instead there was only one. I used "Dump 1" to download it, and then tried DUMP 0 , but there was nothing else. Each mission was a 12 minute flight spanning 5 waypoints spaced 500m apart. (roughly).
Questions :
1. Any ideas what happened to my other logs?
2. should I clear the logs before flying for the day, or will the APM automatically overwrite the oldest log if it rund out of space?
3. Do I need to download the logs after every flight, or is therer enough space left on the APM to store a day's logs.
4. I made a kml of the log, and it seems to have a lot of erratic paths, and the 2md last one is my mission. Is this normal? Are the other small paths the other times I switched on, and they are all combined into one log?
5. when exactly does the log start and stop, and a new log gets created? is it a. Start on Mavlink Connect, b. Stop on Mavlink disconnect, c. New log log start on next connect..?
PS. while we are on about LOGS, can anyone volunteer to write a "laymans guide to understanding and analising APM logs" in the Wiki? The kind of thing to tell you what to look for , where to look for it, and how to spot potential problems and interpret what you are seeing. I will volunteer to do it if someone can first teach me, perhaps with a skype session or 2.
thanx
Wessie
Replies
There is a guide to analyzing flight logs in the manual here.
It's a good idea to clear your logs before starting a day's flying. I think the total space can handle a few hours of flying time, but it depends on which data fields you have enabled. In general the best way is to use your Mission Planner to store the logs on the ground (it's automatic once you've established an Xbee MAVlink connection)