You can not select more than 25 topics
Topics must start with a letter or number, can include dashes ('-') and can be up to 35 characters long.
303 lines
12 KiB
303 lines
12 KiB
Release 2.50, 19 June 2015 |
|
========================== |
|
|
|
The ardupilot development team has released version 2.50 of |
|
APM:Rover. This release is mostly a backend improvement to ArduPilot |
|
but a few new features and bug fixes are included. |
|
|
|
Re-do Accelerometer Calibration |
|
------------------------------- |
|
Due to a change in the maximum accelerometer range on the Pixhawk all |
|
users must re-do their accelerometer calibration for this release. |
|
|
|
|
|
Only 3D accel calibration |
|
------------------------- |
|
The old "1D" accelerometer calibration method has now been removed, so |
|
you must use the 3D accelerometer calibration method. The old method |
|
was removed because a significant number of users had poor experiences. |
|
|
|
|
|
Changes in this release are: |
|
|
|
- CLI_ENABLED parameter added so the CLI can now be accessed |
|
in Rover |
|
- PID logging for the steering controller. It its now |
|
possible to graph what the P, I and D are doing as your |
|
driving the rover around to enable much better tuning of the |
|
vehicle. |
|
- Transition from .pde file to .cpp files for improved |
|
development. |
|
- GIT Submodules created for PX4Firmware, PX4Nuttx and uavcan |
|
git repositories for improved development. |
|
- Followme mode now works for Rover |
|
- GUIDED mode significantly improved. If you have a GCS which is in |
|
Followme mode if the user then changes mode with the RC transmitter to |
|
HOLD or anything else then the Rover will STOP listening to the |
|
Followme updated guided mode waypoints. |
|
- When going into GUIDED mode the rover went into RTL - this |
|
is fixed. |
|
- Added EKF_STATUS_REPORT MAVLink message |
|
- 64-bit timestamps in dataflash logs |
|
- Numerous EKF improvements |
|
- Added support for 4th Mavlink channel |
|
- Added support for raw IMU logging |
|
- updated Piksi RTK GPS driver |
|
- improved support for GPS data injection (for Piksi RTK GPS) |
|
- The SITL software in the loop simulation system has been completely |
|
rewritten for this release. A major change is to make it possible to |
|
run SITL on native windows without needing a Linux virtual |
|
machine. (thanks Tridge) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Release 2.49, March 4th 2015 |
|
---------------------------- |
|
|
|
The ardupilot development team has released version 2.49 of |
|
APM:Rover. This release is a bug fix release with two important bugs |
|
found by Marco Walther - Thanks Marco! |
|
|
|
The bug fixes in this release are: |
|
|
|
- fixed a sonar problem where objects to the left wouldn't be |
|
identified - thanks Marco Walther! |
|
- Fixed the ordering of the AP_Notify call so the main indicator |
|
light would be correct on startup - thanks Marco Walther! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Release 2.48, February 20th 2015 |
|
-------------------------------- |
|
|
|
The ardupilot development team has released version 2.48 of |
|
APM:Rover. This release is a bug fix release with some important bugs |
|
found by the users of ardupilot. |
|
|
|
The changes in this release are: |
|
|
|
- fixed a bug that could cause short term loss of RC control with |
|
some receiver systems and configurations |
|
- allowed for shorter sync pulse widths for PPM-SUM receivers on |
|
APM1 and APM2 |
|
- fix an issue where battery reporting could be intermittent (thanks |
|
Georgii Staroselskii!) |
|
- fixed a mission handling bug that could cause a crash if jump |
|
commands form an infinite loop (thanks to Dellarb for reporting |
|
this bug) |
|
- improved support for in-kernel SPI handling on Linux (thanks to John Williams) |
|
- support UAVCAN based ESCs and GPS modules on Pixhawk (thanks to |
|
Pavel, Holger and and PX4 dev team) |
|
- Multiple updates for the NavIO+ cape on RaspberryPi (thanks to |
|
Emlid) |
|
- Lots of EKF changes |
|
- added support for MAVLink packet routing |
|
- added detection and recovery from faulty gyro and accel sensors |
|
- added support for BBBMini Linux port |
|
- increased number of AVR input channels from 8 to 11 |
|
- auto-set system clock based on GPS in Linux ports |
|
- added SBUS FrSky telemetry support (thanks to Mathias) |
|
- Added AK8963 MAG support (thanks Staroselskii Georgii) |
|
- Added support for second battery |
|
- Auto formatting of SDCard if it cannot be accessed on startup |
|
- A number of significant performance improvements for the PX4 platform |
|
|
|
The most important bug fix is the one for short term loss of RC |
|
control. This is a very long standing bug which didn't have a |
|
noticible impact for most people, but could cause loss of RC control |
|
for around 1 or 2 seconds for some people in certain circumstances. |
|
|
|
The bug was in the the AP_HAL RCInput API. Each HAL backend has a flag |
|
that says whether there is a new RC input frame available. That flag |
|
was cleared by the read() method (typically hal.rcin->read()). Callers |
|
would check for new input by checking the boolean |
|
hal.rcin->new_input() function. |
|
|
|
The problem was that read() was called from multiple places. Normally |
|
this is fine as reads from other than the main radio input loop happen |
|
before the other reads, but if the timing of the new radio frame |
|
exactly matched the loop frequency then a read from another place |
|
could clear the new_input flag and we would not see the new RC input |
|
frame. If that happened enough times we would go into a short term RC |
|
failsafe and ignore RC inputs, even in manual mode. |
|
|
|
The fix was very simple - it is the new_input() function itself that |
|
should clear the flag, not read(). |
|
|
|
Many thanks to MarkM for helping us track down this bug by providing |
|
us with sufficient detail on how to reproduce it. In Marks case his |
|
OpenLRSng configuration happened to produce exactly the worst case |
|
timing needed to reproduce the issue. Once Tridge copied his OpenLRS |
|
settings to his TX/RX he was able to reproduce the problem and it was |
|
easy to find and fix. |
|
|
|
A number of users have reported occasional glitches in manual control |
|
where servos pause for short periods in past releases. It is likely |
|
that some of those issues were caused by this bug. The dev team would |
|
like to apologise for taking so long to track down this bug! |
|
|
|
The other main change was also related to RC input. Some receivers use |
|
a PPM-SUM sync pulse width shorter than what the APM1/APM2 code was |
|
setup to handle. The OpenLRSng default sync pulse width is 3000 |
|
microseconds, but the APM1/APM2 code was written for a mininum sync |
|
pulse width of 4000 microseconds. For this release we have changed the |
|
APM1/APM2 driver to accept a sync pulse width down to 2700 |
|
microseconds. |
|
|
|
Auto format of SD Card |
|
====================== |
|
From time to time the SD cards in the PX4 autopilots get corrupted. |
|
This isn't a surprise considering what we do to them. Your all |
|
familiar with the windows "please unmount or eject your SDCard before |
|
removing" process. Well we don't do that. In fact normal operation |
|
is to just pull the power on the SDCard - whilst its being written |
|
too!! Not to metion the horrible vibration rich environment the |
|
SDCard exists in. If the autopilot is setup in the internal innards |
|
of your plane/copter/rover this can be a nightmare to get to. To |
|
resolve that problem Tridge has added code at startup so when |
|
ArduPilot tries to mount to SDCard to access it - if that fails it |
|
will then try to format the SDCard and if successful mount the card |
|
and proceed. If the format fails then you will get the usual SOS |
|
Audio that makes most of us want to find the buzzer and rip its heart |
|
out. |
|
|
|
I mention this in case anyone has precious logs saved on the SDCard or |
|
they are using the SDCard out of their phone with their wedding |
|
photo's on it. Probably best not to do that and assume any data on |
|
the SDCard can be deleted. |
|
|
|
We are also looking to add a parameter to control whether the card is |
|
auto formatted on startup or not but it isn't in there yet. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Release 2.47, November 15th 2014 |
|
-------------------------------- |
|
|
|
The ardupilot development team is proud to announce the release of |
|
version 2.47 of APM:Rover. This is a minor bug fix release. The most |
|
important change in this release is the fixing of the skid steering |
|
support but there have been a number of fixes in other areas as well. |
|
|
|
Full changes list for this release: |
|
|
|
- add support for controlling safety switch on Pixhawk from ground station |
|
|
|
- prevent reports of failed AHRS during initialisation |
|
|
|
- fixed skid steering that was broken in the last release |
|
|
|
- report gyro unhealthy if gyro calibration failed |
|
|
|
- fixed dual sonar support in CLI sonar test |
|
|
|
- fixed Nuttx crash on Pixhawk with bad I2C cables |
|
|
|
- added GPS_SBAS_MODE parameter - turns on/off satellite based augemtation system for GPS |
|
|
|
- added GPS_MIN_ELEV parameter - specifiy the elevation mask for GPS satellites |
|
|
|
- added RELAY_DEFAULT parameter to control default of relay on startup |
|
|
|
- fixed bug in FRAM storage on Pixhawk that could cause parameters changes not to be saved |
|
|
|
- better handling of compass errors in the EKF (Extended Kalman Filter) |
|
|
|
- improved support for linux based autopilots |
|
|
|
- added support for PulsedLight LIDAR as a range finder |
|
|
|
Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this release, especially |
|
Tom Coyle and Linus Penzlien for their excellent testing and feedback. |
|
|
|
Happy driving! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Release 2.46, August 26th 2014 |
|
------------------------------ |
|
|
|
The ardupilot development team is proud to announce the release of |
|
version 2.46 of APM:Rover. This is a major release with a lot of new |
|
features and bug fixes. |
|
|
|
This release is based on a lot of development and testing that |
|
happened prior to the AVC competition where APM based vehicles |
|
performed very well. |
|
|
|
Full changes list for this release: |
|
|
|
- added support for higher baudrates on telemetry ports, to make it |
|
easier to use high rate telemetry to companion boards. Rates of up |
|
to 1.5MBit are now supported to companion boards. |
|
|
|
- new Rangefinder code with support for a wider range of rangefinder |
|
types including a range of Lidars (thanks to Allyson Kreft) |
|
|
|
- added logging of power status on Pixhawk |
|
|
|
- added PIVOT_TURN_ANGLE parameter for pivot based turns on skid |
|
steering rovers |
|
|
|
- lots of improvements to the EKF support for Rover, thanks to Paul |
|
Riseborough and testing from Tom Coyle. Using the EKF can greatly |
|
improve navigation accuracy for fast rovers. Enable with |
|
AHRS_EKF_USE=1. |
|
|
|
- improved support for dual GPS on Pixhawk. Using a 2nd GPS can |
|
greatly improve performance when in an area with an obstructed |
|
view of the sky |
|
|
|
- support for up to 14 RC channels on Pihxawk |
|
|
|
- added BRAKING_PERCENT and BRAKING_SPEEDERR parameters for better |
|
breaking support when cornering |
|
|
|
- added support for FrSky telemetry via SERIAL2_PROTOCOL parameter |
|
(thanks to Matthias Badaire) |
|
|
|
- added support for Linux based autopilots, initially with the PXF |
|
BeagleBoneBlack cape and the Erle robotics board. Support for more |
|
boards is expected in future releases. Thanks to Victor, Sid and |
|
Anuj for their great work on the Linux port. |
|
|
|
- added StorageManager library, which expands available FRAM storage |
|
on Pixhawk to 16 kByte. This allows for 724 waypoints, 50 rally |
|
points and 84 fence points on Pixhawk. |
|
|
|
- improved reporting of magnetometer and barometer errors to the GCS |
|
|
|
- fixed a bug in automatic flow control detection for serial ports |
|
in Pixhawk |
|
|
|
- fixed use of FMU servo pins as digital inputs on Pixhawk |
|
|
|
- imported latest updates for VRBrain boards (thanks to Emile |
|
Castelnuovo and Luca Micheletti) |
|
|
|
- updates to the Piksi GPS support (thanks to Niels Joubert) |
|
|
|
- improved gyro estimate in DCM (thanks to Jon Challinger) |
|
|
|
- improved position projection in DCM in wind (thanks to Przemek |
|
Lekston) |
|
|
|
- several updates to AP_NavEKF for more robust handling of errors |
|
(thanks to Paul Riseborough) |
|
|
|
- lots of small code cleanups thanks to Daniel Frenzel |
|
|
|
- initial support for NavIO board from Mikhail Avkhimenia |
|
|
|
- fixed logging of RCOU for up to 12 channels (thanks to Emile |
|
Castelnuovo) |
|
|
|
- code cleanups from Silvia Nunezrivero |
|
|
|
- improved parameter download speed on radio links with no flow |
|
control |
|
|
|
Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this release, especially |
|
Tom Coyle and Linus Penzlien for their excellent testing and feedback. |
|
|
|
Happy driving!
|
|
|