Beta Testers requested to fix Compass Issue

[Xrover]

I did 2 test Flights with 3.05. (2 Batteries)
Location: Agoura Hills, Ca (Los Angeles) Magnetic Declination: +12
Phantom 2 (Original Version) H3-3D Gimbal with Spacer and GoPro H3 Black+, iosd mini, Boscam FPV.
Winds were variable 0-15 mph
Default Gains settings.
Futaba T8FGS. No Custom Dual Rates
I Only tested GPS and Atti Modes. I did not test CL.

The J-hook is pretty much gone. There is still minor drifting issues but they seem to be intermittent in which direction it might drift. Still, The drifting was not much of a problem. The P2 appears to be much more responsive to stick inputs and recovers much quicker when the sticks are released.

It was a bit twitchy and sensitive to Yaw stick Inputs.

One issue I noticed consistently was the inability to maintain Altitude in Forward or Backwards Flight as well as not maintaining Altitude when the sticks were released. During a Hover, it would hold it's Altitude but once moving and after the sticks are released, it would begin to descend. You can see it from the ground as well as the OSD.

It definitely behaves differently then any previous firmware. It is about 75% better at holding a consistent heading without a very noticeable drift. J-Hook is almost gone. Altitude, Altitude, Altitude. It does not maintain a level Altitude unless it is in a steady hover.

I'm Warning you ahead of time that the video is long! It comprises 2 full flights and is a split screen of the FPV and Ground Camera.

I am explaining what is going on while I am flying so you need to have your sound turned ON.

The video should give you a better feeling of how the P2 fly's with Beta 3.05

https://vimeo.com/97896065

 

[KassioLM]

I did 2 test Flights with 3.05. (2 Batteries)
Location: Agoura Hills, Ca (Los Angeles) Magnetic Declination: +12
Phantom 2 (Original Version) H3-3D Gimbal with Spacer and GoPro H3 Black+, iosd mini, Boscam FPV.
Winds were variable 0-15 mph
Default Gains settings.
Futaba T8FGS. No Custom Dual Rates
I Only tested GPS and Atti Modes. I did not test CL.

The J-hook is pretty much gone. There is still minor drifting issues but they seem to be intermittent in which direction it might drift. Still, The drifting was not much of a problem. The P2 appears to be much more responsive to stick inputs and recovers much quicker when the sticks are released.

It was a bit twitchy and sensitive to Yaw stick Inputs.

One issue I noticed consistently was the inability to maintain Altitude in Forward or Backwards Flight as well as not maintaining Altitude when the sticks were released. During a Hover, it would hold it's Altitude but once moving and after the sticks are released, it would begin to descend. You can see it from the ground as well as the OSD.

It definitely behaves differently then any previous firmware. It is about 75% better at holding a consistent heading without a very noticeable drift. J-Hook is almost gone. Altitude, Altitude, Altitude. It does not maintain a level Altitude unless it is in a steady hover.

I'm Warning you ahead of time that the video is long! It comprises 2 full flights and is a split screen of the FPV and Ground Camera.

I am explaining what is going on while I am flying so you need to have your sound turned ON.

The video should give you a better feeling of how the P2 fly's with Beta 3.05

https://vimeo.com/97896065

Great results is much more stable than past versions 3.x i think the firmware need some minor fixes. How do you send flight data to DJI?

 

[riblit]

I went to my local field today and flew a few tests with 3.05 beta. The first flight had a slight curve to the right at the end of a straight run in gps mode, nowhere as noticeable as the previous firmware. On the second flight I went straight up into a hover about 15' up and yawed the machine 360 degrees a few times. I noticed it flew in small circles rather than spinning on its axis.

 

[ianwood]

Sar, your results seem slightly different from the rest. I am curious if it is somehow related to the lower declination or maybe somehow your Phantom is behaving differently. We should look at it more closely. It could just be perception in that you are scrutinizing it more than the rest of us or it could be that yours is behaving differently for some reason. Any chance you can post up a vid? That will help do an apples to apples comparison with Xrover's video. His is consistent with mine.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbvL9UksCfw[/youtube]

Sar's results notwithstanding, I think most of us are saying the same thing:

• There is a slight but significantly smaller hook on the first pass.
• TBE is gone.
• The second pass is pretty much perfect.
• CL is not 100% true but is much closer.
• There is a new yaw instability or un-commanded yaw during hover.
• There is no remembering. Each flight is the same.

As for the lack of learning between flights, the initial mini hook is so small, you will likely never noticed it unless you were testing for it. By the second pass, it's clean. So in my opinion, we're good there. The yaw hover instability is a concern. I don't know if there is was something unusual about a few of my flights this weekend but I did notice un-commanded yawing during hover of up to about 5 - 10 degrees on more than one flight. It was annoying as I would get all squared up with a target and then it would yaw off axis.

I have noticed that when I put on the 3D gimbal, the yaw behavior was slightly changed. For the most part, yaw was perfect at least on the gimbal except for descent where it would get tussled in the turbulence. However, the hover yaw instability seems new with the beta. Other beta testers, please chime in on the yaw and let me know if you're seeing similar behavior.

 

[AnselA]

Just curious. Are beta testers doing straight flight tests to different directions (atzimuths)? What is the declination effect when flying e.g. east/west direction compared to north/south?

 

[Dadcat]

J-Hook is almost gone. Altitude, Altitude, Altitude. It does not maintain a level Altitude unless it is in a steady hover.

Looks like they've replaced the J-Hook to the left with a J-Hook down. I'm sure this is better because the ground is so much more forgiving than trees.

I wonder if that's reversed in New Zealand where magnetic inclination is opposite of the northern hemisphere. Maybe they'll have an upward hook.

Seriously though, from your report and the requested additional data from Onfourblades, it sounds like the engineers think they can tweak this problem by dinking with the gains. Your "twitchiness" in yaw for example.

Thanks for the video. Appreciate the commentary.

 

[John Shaw]

I am slightly southeast of Seattle Washington USA
The local declination is 17 degrees.
I have a Phantom 2 Vision
I use IOC
Weather today was perfect, clear, sunny, and very light winds, In aviation terms "CAVU" (Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited)

I gave my initial report yesterday. This AM I met my son, who was on his way to work, at the soccer field. Therefore two sets of eyes and lots of chatting as we ran each test. We are apparently getting more known there and a number of the morning walkers and kids on the way to school watch and wave. One gentleman was taking videos with his cell phone so we circled him and he appreciated the show.

Our tests today confirmed what I reported yesterday.
1. There is some motion on initial hovering but no TBE.
2. The drift and JHook on the initial run seems significantly less.
3. On the return with a straight down right stick it has already figured it out fairly well as there is very little drift or JHook.
4. The second run has very slight drift and runs after that are essentially perfect. I can't tell whether it is drift or my own slight misalignment in starting yaw angle. For normal flying I don't think you would even notice it. We do now because for the testing we are referencing the lines on the soccer field.
5. After 3 runs I switched to course lock. The Phantom takes off at an angle which is usually less than before the Beta but one time it looked very similar.
6. I brought it back, reset the course lock in flight, and every run after that was essentially perfect.
7. After changing batteries it seemed to repeat the exactly same sequence. Therefore it doesn't appear to remember the correction but for me it seems to figure it out quickly enough that it would seldom matter.

Additional tests and comments based on our discussion in this tread.
1. When I first switched to Course Lock we very carefully watched the motion of the Phantom as it made a run with a noticeable drift angle (prior to inflight CL reset) and it clearly had no yaw motion at all. So it pitched and rolled but didn't yaw. It's as if it just lowered the left front arm and headed it that direction but never changed heading.
2. I did do a pure rotation while hovering and it did describe a small circle as opposed to a pure rotation.
3. I did not notice any significant altitude changes while testing. There always seems to be some minor altitude variations but nothing dramatic. It is baro altitude.
4. My testing yesterday was primarily runs to the south and today it was primarily runs to the west. I did not notice any difference with heading.

That's all till unless other things come to mind, or discussion.
I am noticing it is more fun and less stressful now that it is behaving better.

 

[shartlza]

I love that you guys are really digging into this and making sure it is done correctly. I am very excited for this fix to come out.

On another note, Ianwood, is that the Goodyear blimp behind you in your video?? For a moment I was concerned that you were near an airport runway. :lol: Then in one shot I saw a blimp in the background. It seemed awfully low!!

 

[Xrover]

On a side note, this website is getting more difficult to access. i keep getting Server errors.

I am going to try some more flights today on Beta 3.05

So far, my main issues are:

1. The losing of Altitude when flying forward and after releasing the sticks. I carefully watched the P2 as I flew it in a straight line away from me at an altitude around 5-10 meters while in GPS Mode. I could visually see it dropping in altitude while it's moving fwd. Looking at the OSD it was showing a constant decrease in altitude. In 3.04 and prior, it might drop altitude for a split second but would immediately correct itself. When releasing sticks in Beta 3.05 the P2 while not J-Hook as it used to but does snap into a hard pitch to stop the forward motion but also drops altitude and continues to do so randomly. The P2 does not attempt to recover the Altitude lost. (Big Issue)

2. When you apply Yaw either in a Hover or Fwd. Flight, The P2 will slide out from it's axis rather then Yaw around it's center axis. (Looks like it starts the TBE when you apply a Yaw input.)

 

[Xrover]

I love that you guys are really digging into this and making sure it is done correctly. I am very excited for this fix to come out.

On another note, Ianwood, is that the Goodyear blimp behind you in your video?? For a moment I was concerned that you were near an airport runway. :lol: Then in one shot I saw a blimp in the background. It seemed awfully low!!

That was the CIA Aerial Drone and BlimpTechnology Testing Center Ian was flying at. Most likely during his lunch break no doubt.

 

[SilentAV8R]

I'm curious what gain settings folks are using, especially those that notice an issue in pure yaw. I'm wondering if you crank up the gain if that changes anything when doing a 360-degree rotation. With a flybarless RC heli if the gains are too low the aircraft will wander a bit when you rotate it. Increase the gain and that goes away.

 

[KassioLM]

Clock is ticking and no date yet to a public release version... :? :? :?

 

[Xrover]

I just connected my P2 to the Assistant Software. Immediately I was prompted that there was a P330CB Firmware update to 1.0.1.30. It updated on it's own and it didn't ask me if i wanted to update. I'm not sure if or how this might affect the 3.05 Beta Firmware I am running.

The update say's "Repair plus gimbal jitter"

Also, Is it possible to go back from Beta 3.05 to 3.04?

 

[shartlza]

I just connected my P2 to the Assistant Software. Immediately I was prompted that there was a P330CB Firmware update to 1.0.1.30. It updated on it's own and it didn't ask me if i wanted to update. I'm not sure if or how this might affect the 3.05 Beta Firmware I am running.

The update say's "Repair plus gimbal jitter"

Also, Is it possible to go back from Beta 3.05 to 3.04?

I also had this happen to me yesterday. I was checking a new battery I just got and it just updated it, and at first i thought it was a battery thing, but then i looked it up and it said it was for the gimbal. I really don't like that they force these firmware upgrades without you accepting the upgrade. This could be the standard in the future. :roll:

 

[xtonex]

the 1.0.1.27 update was the same way

 

[Xrover]

Wondering if this will cause any problems for those running Beta 3.05?

 

[tom3holer]

I finally got a chance to fly with the new Beta firmware today.
It has been rainy or in todays case windy but did have time to fly a bit today.

I will say that I am in agreement with most of the new beta testers in what they found.

I live in the Northeast portion of the US and my particular area had a dec of -15deg.
The flight today showed much less signs of TBE and did seem to track fairly straight after a couple of minutes.
A short run in CL reviled that it was still an issue although less than before. I had hoped to see if anything might be stored in memory but the wind was gusting to 20kts so I called it a day.

So to sum my very limited experience with the new S/W things are much improved, not perfect but much better.
Will be reporting more when the wx complies.

Tom

 

[ianwood]

So, it seems we are at about 80% of a solution with some caveats. Higher declination areas are still seeing more than others. Sar104's results still need to be factored in but they seem to be much lower than 80%. I need to retest course lock. The one time I tried it, it worked pretty much fine. And I'm having yaw issues.

On my yaw issues, I just started editing some of my footage from the weekend. I am definitely seeing some new un-commanded yaw that's not just occurring during hover. It seems to be coming from the FC as the gimbal is not compensating for it. This is a bit of a concern as it is like having the limitation of a 2D gimbal all over again just in a new way.

 

[Xrover]

So, it seems we are at about 80% of a solution with some caveats. Higher declination areas are still seeing more than others. Sar104's results still need to be factored in but they seem to be much lower than 80%. I need to retest course lock. The one time I tried it, it worked pretty much fine. And I'm having yaw issues.

On my yaw issues, I just started editing some of my footage from the weekend. I am definitely seeing some new un-commanded yaw that's not just occurring during hover. It seems to be coming from the FC as the gimbal is not compensating for it. This is a bit of a concern as it is like having the limitation of a 2D gimbal all over again just in a new way.

Have you updated the other firmware?
I don't know if the newest P330CB Gimbal Jitter fix would do anything.

 

[ianwood]

That'll be this weekend. I need to do some further tests.