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ArduCopter 3.2 Released

Posted by Randy on November 24, 2014 at 7:56pm

ArduCopter 3.2 (aka APM:Copter) has been released as the default version replacing AC3.1.5. This is the exact same version that we invited all users to test two weeks ago.  Users who wish continue using AC3.1.5 can find it under the "Pick previous firmware" version on the MP's Install Firmware screen.

The full list of changes can be found in the ReleaseNotes but here are the highlights:
Flight Mode Enhancements:

  • PosHold flight mode: similar to Loiter but with direct response to pilot input during repositioning
  • ACRO mode handling improvement EXPO (for faster rotations)
  • Drift mode uses "throttle assist" (similar to AltHold)
  • Smoother transitions between flight modes (i..e when entering Loiter or RTL from high speeds)

Mission Enhancements/Fixes:

New Sensors/Devices:

Safety Features:

  • EKF/DCM check will switch to LAND mode if heading error > 60deg for 1 second
  • Baro glitch detection
  • Pre-arm check for Gyro calibration success
  • Pre-arm check that internal & external sensors (gyros, accels and compass) are consistent (Pixhawk only)
  • Parachute support (Pixhawk only)
  • Feedback to Pilot when taking off in AltHold, Loiter, PosHold (i.e. motors spin up a little as throttle is raised)
  • EKF (new attitude and position estimate system only used for reference in this release)

Bug Fixes:

  • Pixhawk GPS driver buffer overflow that could lead to missed GPS messages
  • Pixhawk I2C bug that could lead freeze up if I2C bus is noisy


Known issues/Warnings:

  • Pixhawk users will need to recalibrate their compasses
  • PosHold won't show up as option on FlightMode screen if you have an old version of mission planner. Please select Help > Check for Updates.
  • Landing detector is more strict meaning it may take longer to disarm after RTL, AUTO.
  • Set THR_MID parameter especially if you have a very powerful copter because "Feedback to Pilot" raises throttle to 1/2 of THR_MID
  • Spline twitches slightly as it passes a waypoint especially if WPNAV_SPEED is set > 500.
  • Dropped support for NMEA and SIRF GPS on APM boards (ran out of Flash space)
  • Dropped support for sonar for MultiCopters on APM1 and TradHeli on APM1 & APM2 (ran out of Flash space)

If you hit issues, please post them in the APM Forum and include a dataflash log file if possible.

Special thanks to Marco and the Beta Testing team from the AC3.2 beta testing thread who put their copters at risk in the pursuit of a smooth, safe release. Here are links to some of their videos: Marco's DJIs900, Holger's Water Tower, Josh's Acro, Ray's TradHeli2&FPV, Raph's Hawaii, PhillS's CommandYaw, Thor's Zombie Run&FollowMe, Phanivyas's Test, Rob's TradHeli, Christian's Test1&Test2, Balloon's Spline, JimJ's FPV, Ultrojo's ROI & Spline&FollowMe1&FollowMe2, Troy's Mission

Thanks also to the code contributors to this release including Tridge, Jonathan, Leonard, RobL, Paul Riseborough, MichaelO, Julien Dubois, David Dewey, Andrew Chapman, Emile, Allyson and many more. If you want to get involved check-out our dev wiki.

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Comments

  • Rob_Lefebvre December 10, 2014 at 2:04pm

    Michael, how much wind was there?

    I think the problem is that the Landing Detector was never satisfied, so it was sitting on the ground, and was actually trying to move. The desired movement (only 1/2 m/s) was what caused the desired pitch to wind up which in turn caused that motor to speed up.  Strange that it flipped though.  Was it really windy?

    I can't quite see why the landing check wasn't satisfied.  One problem is that your baro is pretty noisy (due to wind probably), and the baro climb rate is going up and down.  But it does seem to be less than 150 cm/s for a while, so the landing check should have been fine with that.  

    Another issue, is that your target landing altitude was going below 0 for some reason, I'm not sure why.  I'll try to talk to Randy about this one.

  • Michael Burmeister December 10, 2014 at 9:12am

    Randy,

    I was test flying the other day where I was seeing how the motors responded to Pitch and Roll commands and what it looked like in the logs.  Any way when the battery false save kicked in and the copter landed I notice that one motor was spinning up instead of down.  I know I left the throttle at mid level longer than I should have but the copter eventually flipped over onto is back.

    I know there was a breeze coming from the North and the copter was facing South and I do see in the logs that the desired pitch is positive which was causing motor 3 to spin up.

    I was surprised that it was enough to flip the copter over.  What do you think of the landing data?

    409.bin

     

  • Richard Kennedy December 10, 2014 at 5:09am

    @criro1999       

    Two things come to mind. Props need balanced or check your THR_MID  You might need to lower or raise this [ sorry I forget which ] 50-100 to adjust for the weight of your copter. I'd do the props first that might be the only problem. You really need a legit prop balancer such as http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXD712&P=ML

  • DG December 9, 2014 at 6:06am

    Did anyone notice that MP 1.3.16 increased the RC_FEEL (IIRC) from min to max setting?

  • John Hulsbosch December 8, 2014 at 8:08pm

    Hello all

    I have a quick question about poshold. My quad is rock solid but dose lose some altitude after fast flight. My issue is the throttle is very lazy, not very responsive in poshold. Can I adjust some settings to correct this. Cheers in advance.

  • Winston S. Aquino Zabala December 8, 2014 at 2:08pm

    I am confused with this, I want to buy another Pixhawk to see how it goes, but I'm not sure if it's a hardware issue.

  • Winston S. Aquino Zabala December 8, 2014 at 1:36pm

    Hi! Yesterday I was flying my quad with Pixhawk and Arducopter 3.2 for five minutes and suddenly the quad did a drift to the right and fell.

    When I connected the Pixhawk the mission planner, the following message appears: "BAD HEALTH ACCEL"

    My Quad has fallen three times caused by the same problem.

    But this time it was destroyed.

    Any Solution?

  • criro1999 December 8, 2014 at 1:02pm

    I did install 3.2 on my quad copter, but has issue with maintening the Alt Hold. Is this a known problem?

    Effectivelly, when flying in Stabilize at constant altitude and switch to AltHold, the quad starts to go up, ignoring the initial altitude. 

    Any idea why doing like this? When flying FPV (without OSD), I cannot trust the AltHold mode, I need to approx the altitude visual, and can not be sure it is keeping a constant altitude.

  • Bill Isenberger December 8, 2014 at 4:26am

    Hi Mike,
    I downloaded the newest beta version of Mission Planner. After I shut down and relaunched the beta version, ArduCopter V3.1.5 was available.
    Thanks,
    Bill

  • Michael Burmeister December 8, 2014 at 4:18am

    The reason I brought the Yaw issue up was that I was flying in windy conditions where I say after about a minute that my copter had rotated 90 degrees from where I put it.  Checking the logs showed that a little at a time it was being turned by the wind until it finally was off by over 90 degrees.

    From the logs I see that copter is pushed by 15 to 20 degrees and the copter makes little effort to turn back.  After a while the copter is way off course.  I think that 10 degrees is not enough as the error of just flying is more than that.

    Here is the original log when I saw that the copter had turned.  This is a 10 mph wind blowing left to right across the IRIS.  If the copter would have even over corrected a little it might have stayed on course.

    404.bin

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