Within a couple of hours of this posting, Rover-3.4.1-rc1 will be available for beta testing. If using the mission planner you should be able to install it by going to the Initial Setup >> Install Firmware screen, press the “Beta firmwares” link, check that the label under the car icon changes to “ArduRover V3.4.1.-rc1” and then push the car icon.
This beta version’s changes are in the release notes but also copied below:
- steering output caps removed (previously limits could result in wide turns on fast vehicles)
- lane based speed control (vehicle slows to stay close to line between waypoints), WP_OVERSHOOT replaces SPEED_TURN_GAIN
- MOT_SPD_SCA_BASE allow configuring speed (in m/s) above which speed scaling begins
- disable acceleration limits when ATC_ACCEL_MAX is zero
- accept DO_CHANGE_SPEED commands in Auto, Guided, RTL, SmartRTL
- DPTH dataflash log messages for recording downward facing echosounders on boats
The first item, “steering output caps removed” is the critical one that should allow tighter cornering on fast vehicles using Ackerman style steering (i.e. those with separate motor and steering - i.e. not R2D2/tank style vehicles). There are no parameter that need to be set to take advantage of this improvement, it should just work.
The 2nd item probably the biggest change. You should find that the SPEED_TURN_GAIN parameter is gone and instead you can control how wide the vehicle turns at corners by adjusting the WP_OVERSHOOT and TURN_MAX_G parameters. Reducing these should lead to the vehicle slowing down more for corners. Don’t set the WP_OVERSHOOT too low though or you may find the vehicle lows down now and then even as it’s driving straight segments between waypoints. There is also a danger that vehicles will poorly tuned steering will slow down a lot even on straight segments.
Thanks again for helping with testing, it really helps!
