We're within a day or two of releasing ArduCopter 2.6.1 to the public in the Mission Planner. It's the best performing code we've flown and the waypoint accuracy is really impressive. You can check out Marco Robustini's video above to see an long-distance waypoint flight, some tight loiter at 5:30 (holding in a 1m box!) and a fun demo of autorotation.
A full list of changes is here, but they include:
Performance improvements:
- Better loiter, especially with the new 3DR uBlox GPS. Check out the video from Marco above!
- Better yaw control
- Better DCM implementation, resulting in noticeably smoother flight
- Better camera control, including improved setup in the Mission Planner.
- Etc
Bugfixes:
- Fix to dataflash erasing, which should resolve an issue some users were having
- Fix some MAVLink commands
- Fix Circle command
- Fix some units
- Etc
Comments
Darren: you have a choice of GPS modules with APM 2. The uBlox is recommended for copters.
Gerrit: Yes, it is much improved on all platforms. Best with the uBlox, but should show improved performance with the MTK, too.
Graham, flip isn't actually a mode. It's a channel 7 option. http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/AC2_SimpleMode It needs to be enabled in the code, by uncommenting in config.h . The mission planner does actually have it in the CH 7 dropdown box, but I don't think it works unless you edit config.h and compile the code yourself. I imagine that once a few more people have tested it you will be able to use it with the standard .hex that Mission Planner loads onto the copter for you.
Clarification of Flip Mode please?
No Duran, but I think it's a defective unit or not properly initialized, try to connect the gps with the U-Center with a FTDI cable...
@Jack: the motors are disarmed when i've the quad in my hands but yes, the main lipo is plugged.
Yes, i use "autorotation" term for fun, actually the quad has a minimum of gas (1% of throttle), that little need to keep the propellers in motion, but during the fall "the pinwheel effect" makes accelerate keeping stable the quad.
This is possible only if the quad is perfectly balanced and if the pilot knows what he does... :-)
Sorry for the language mistake, yes, 300 meters, but considering the autonomy that I have the next waypoint will be far more than 1 Km.
A word of warning about flip.pde-- you should expect to lose some altitude while recovering from flipping, so start high!
Sorry the video isn't great -- will post more soon.
Check out the cool new flip function (at 1:00 in this video, from Aaron):
Excellent video Marco!
For all the auto-rotation questions... this is not a true auto-rotation, but it does demonstrate that the quad can maintain its attitude in a near free fall. Marco has custom firmware on his ESCs that is likely responsible for allowing the motors to spin at a very low speed at near zero throttle.
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