diff --git a/ArduPlane/ArduPlane.pde b/ArduPlane/ArduPlane.pde index baedcc3938..5e1e9537cd 100644 --- a/ArduPlane/ArduPlane.pde +++ b/ArduPlane/ArduPlane.pde @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ /// -*- tab-width: 4; Mode: C++; c-basic-offset: 4; indent-tabs-mode: nil -*- -#define THISFIRMWARE "ArduPlane V3.3.0beta2" +#define THISFIRMWARE "ArduPlane V3.3.0" /* Lead developer: Andrew Tridgell diff --git a/ArduPlane/release-notes.txt b/ArduPlane/release-notes.txt index 8dbab17698..087ab1c731 100644 --- a/ArduPlane/release-notes.txt +++ b/ArduPlane/release-notes.txt @@ -1,8 +1,144 @@ -Release 3.3.0beta2, 30th April 2015 ------------------------------------ +Release 3.3.0, 20th May 2015 +---------------------------- -Changes in this release: +The ardupilot development team is proud to announce the release of +version 3.3.0 of APM:Plane. This is a major release with a lot of +changes. Please read the release notes carefully! +The last stable release was 3 months ago, and since that time we have +applied over 1200 changes to the code. It has been a period of very +rapid development for ArduPilot. Explaining all of the changes that +have been made would take far too long, so I've chosen some key +changes to explain in detail, and listed the most important secondary +changes in a short form. Please ask for details if there is a change +you see listed that you want some more information on. + +Arming Changes +-------------- + +This is the first release of APM:Plane where ARMING_CHECK and +ARMING_REQUIRE both default to enabled. That means when you upgrade if +you didn't previously have arming enabled you will need to learn about +arming your plane. + +Please see this page for more information on arming: + + http://plane.ardupilot.com/wiki/arming-your-plane/ + +I know many users will be tempted to disable the arming checks, but +please don't do that without careful thought. The arming checks are an +important part of ensuring the aircraft is ready to fly, and a common +cause of flight problems is to takeoff before ArduPilot is ready. + +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. If +you don't then your plane will fail to arm with a message saying that +you have not calibrated the accelerometers. + +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 flights due +to scaling and offset errors on their accelerometers when they used +the 1D method. My apologies for people with very large aircraft who +find the 3D method difficult. + +Note that you can do the accelerometer calibration with the autopilot +outside the aircraft which can make things easier for large aircraft. + +Auto-disarm +----------- + +After an auto-landing the autopilot will now by default disarm after +LAND_DISARMDELAY seconds (with a default of 20 seconds). This feature +is to prevent the motor from spinning up unexpectedly on the ground +after a landing. + +HIL_MODE parameter +------------------ + +It is now possible to configure your autopilot for hardware in the +loop simulation without loading a special firmware. Just set the +parameter HIL_MODE to 1 and this will enable HIL for any +autopilot. This is designed to make it easier for users to try HIL +without having to find a HIL firmware. + +SITL on Windows +--------------- + +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. There should be a release of MissionPlanner for Windows soon +which will make it easy to launch a SITL instance. + +The SITL changes also include new backends, including the CRRCSim +flight simulator. This gives us a much wider range of aircraft we can +use for SITL. See http://dev.ardupilot.com/wiki/simulation-2/ for more +information. + +Throttle control on takeoff +--------------------------- + +A number of users had problems with pitch control on auto-takeoff, and +with the aircraft exceeding its target speed during takeoff. The +auto-takeoff code has now been changed to use the normal TECS throttle +control which should solve this problem. + +Rudder only support +------------------- + +There is a new RUDDER_ONLY parameter for aircraft without ailerons, +where roll is controlled by the rudder. Please see the documentation +for more information on flying with a rudder only aircraft: + + http://plane.ardupilot.com/wiki/arduplane-parameters/#rudder_only_aircraft_arduplanerudder_only + +APM1/APM2 Support +----------------- + +We have managed to keep support for the APM1 and APM2 in this release, +but in order to fit it in the limited flash space we had to disable +some more features when building for those boards. For this release +the AP_Mount code for controlling camera mounts is disabled on +APM1/APM2. + +At some point soon it will become impractical to keep supporting the +APM1/APM2 for planes. Please consider moving to a 32 bit autopilot +soon if you are still using an APM1 or APM2. + +New INS code +------------ + +There have been a lot of changes to the gyro and accelerometer +handling for this release. The accelerometer range on the Pixhawk has +been changed to 16g from 8g to prevent clipping on high vibration +aircraft, and the sampling rate on the lsm303d has been increased to +1600Hz. + +An important bug has also been fixed which caused aliasing in the +sampling process from the accelerometers. That bug could cause +attitude errors in high vibration environments. + +Numerous Landing Changes +------------------------ + +Once again there have been a lot of improvements to the automatic +landing support. Perhaps most important is the introduction of a +smooth transition from landing approach to the flare, which reduces +the tendency to pitch up too much on flare. + +There is also a new parameter TECS_LAND_PMAX which controls the +maximum pitch during landing. This defaults to 10 degrees, but for +many aircraft a smaller value may be appropriate. Reduce it to 5 +degrees if you find you still get too much pitch up during the flare. + +Other secondary changes in this release include: - a new SerialManager library which gives much more flexible management of serial port assignment - changed the default FS_LONG_TIMEOUT to 5 seconds @@ -61,7 +197,15 @@ Changes in this release: - support CRRCSim FDM backend in SITL - new general purpose replay parsing code - switched to 16g accel range in Pixhawk + - added FENCE_AUTOENABLE=2 for disabling just fence floor + - added POS dataflash log message + - changed GUIDED behaviour to match copter + - added support for a 4th MAVLink channel + - support setting AHRS_TRIM in preflight calibration + - fixed a PX4 mixer out of range error +Best wishes to all APM:Plane users from the dev team, and happy +flying! Release 3.2.2, February 10th 2015