• INAV Version:INAV 2.6.0
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  • Post category:RC News

On the 4th of December, and early Christmas present was delivered in the form of iNav 2.6. Four months after 2.5.2 dropped, a new major release is here. There are plenty of cool new things in this release, so what’s new? We’ll take a look at some of the new features for fixed wing, and list some more for you to check out if they interest you.

Before going any further, it is worth noting that H7 support is not in iNav 2.6. It likely won’t be in iNav until version 2.7. Speaking of iNav 2.7; F3 flight controllers will not be supported.

Changes in the Configurator

We’ll start off with changes to Configurator 2.6. This is where most iNav pilots will see the differences. The first thing you may notice is in the header bar of the configurator its self. Now, not only does it show the configurator version number. But, it will also show the firmware version on the connected flight controller. This not only saves time, as you no longer need to type the version command in the CLI. But, it will also assist solving problems, as the correct firmware versions will be seen.

Configuration

iNav 2.6 GPS Settings

On the Configuration page, not much has changed. But there is a handy feature for setting your time zone on your GPS. This feature has been in iNav for a while, but has been hidden in the CLI. Now you can easily set it in the GPS section.

Advanced Tuning

iNav 2.6 launch settings

There have been a few additions to the Advanced Tuning page. Most noticeable is probably that the Fixed Wing Auto Launch Settings are now on this page. Finally we no longer need to head in to the CLI to configure the auto launch settings. The settings are ordered starting with pre-launch, then detection, launch, and finally post-launch. The post launch is a new addition in 2.6. In fact, the whole auto launch system has been refactored. There is now an end transition time parameter. This adds a smooth exit to the launch.

INAV 2.6 Fixed Wing Navigation settings

There are more Fixed Wing Navigation Settings now on the Advanced Tuning page. These include settings for control smoothness, cruise yaw rate, loiter direction, and allow manual throttle increase in navigation modes.

There is also a new section for Waypoint Navigation Settings; which has settings for the waypoint radius and waypoint safe distance.

One final setting that has been added on the Advanced Tuning page is the RTH Home Altitude in the RTH and Landing settings section.

Plane settings

There are a couple of changes that are not so easy to spot. You know that box that pops up after first flashing iNav, that asks if are setting up an Airplane, quad, rover, etc. Well, when you click Airplane, some of the default settings have changes. This includes the default RTH landing setting, navigation radius, and the rates have been changed to match the Standard Airplane preset.

Dart 250g Preset

The Dart 250g preset that you can select, now matches the tuning values recommended by Marc Hoffmann in his guide on this site. So if you’re setting up a Dart 250g, following the guide here, there are some settings that will be already correct using the iNav preset now. But they’re great settings for stock Dart 250gs.

Changes in the firmware

I’ve already covered that the auto launch system has changed, but there are a few other changes worth mentioning.

AIR removed from the OSD

AIR has been removed from the OSD modes display. This is because Airmode its self is not a flight mode. It is a modifier that keeps the stabilisation active at low throttle. It also functions on Horizon and Angle, so just having it replace Acro in the OSD made no real sense.

Auto Launch phases added to the OSD and new warning beeps

As mentioned, auto launch has been reworked. Some I covered in the configurator section. But, there’s more! The phases of the launch are now displayed in the OSD, so you can see exactly what’s happening. Also, you can not configure the launch settings in the OSD menu.

There is also a new beep. When you enable launch, then arm, there is now beep to let you know that the throttle is not raised. It is similar to, but different from the armed and throttle raised beep.

FrSky additions

Support for F.Port 2 has been added to iNav. This will mainly be useful for people with ACCESS. Also, the use of SmartPort sensors/peripherals has been enabled, by hooking them up to a spare UART.

Safehomes

Safehomes is a new feature that lets you set alternate landing locations. For example, where you fly is a strip surrounded by trees. But, a few metres away is a big empty field. You can set the safehome to the centre of that field. That way, if you need to do a failsafe landing, it will be in a clear area. You can set multiple safehomes, so it’s perfect if you fly from multiple locations. Safehomes will set the home point to the nearest safehome within a 200m radius, when you arm.

Crossfire elements added to the OSD

New elements have added to the OSD for Crossfire receivers. The data is automatically taken from the CRSF protocol, so no need to set anything up for this to work. Information displayed includes LQ, SWR, and TX Power.

Show Warnings and more in the DJI FPV OSD

This feature allows you to configure the craft name to show messages that you otherwise could not get on the DJI OSD. This includes warnings, trip distance, 3D speed, throttle, and efficiency.

Programming

The programming tab has changed quite considerably. So what’s new in iNav 2.6? The first thing you may notice is that there are now 8 global variables across the top of the screen; an increase of 4 over 2.5. Next, you may notice the absence of the programming page’s tab bar. This is because logic conditions and global functions have been merged, and the are all just entered on this single page.

Warning: If you previously used global functions in iNav 2.5. They will not automatically appear in iNav 2.6. I would recommend taking a screen grab of your global functions in 2.5 before updating. Then in 2.6, add the global functions after the logic conditions on this programming page.

Other changes are that there are now 32 programming lines, which can be used for either logic or functions. More functions and flight variables have also been added including trigonometry functions, more waypoint variables, and the 3D distance between the home point and your model.

More additions

What else is new in iNav 2.6.?Here are some more additions that you may want to check out. I’ve also included links to the pull requests for the features we covered earlier. The pull requests are in historical order, oldest first.

Configurator settings

ChangePull Request
Added altitude in metres to Mission Control1016
Added launch settings to advanced tuning page1020
Settings updated in Airplane default settings1090
Extra Fixed Wing options – Control Smoothness1020
Extra Fixed Wing options – RTH Home Altitude1094
Extra Fixed Wing options – Waypoint settings1098
GPS Time zone offset and auto DST added1105
Firmware version added to header bar1121

Basic settings

ChangePull Request
Remove AIR from OSD display5711
Add SmartPort peripheral support5724
Add launch mode settings to the OSD menu5951
Added craft name to the Armed screen5970
F.Port 2 support added5976
Auto Launch update5988
Safehomes5995
Added LQ and more CRSF elements to the OSD6213
Show warnings and more in DJI OSD via craft name6230
Support for M9N GPS modules and UBLOX 9 added 6269
Last release with F3 support6323

Advanced and tuning

ChangePull Request
Number of in-flight adjustments increased to 206018
Added turn assist pitch gain for coordinated turns6101
Added smooth throttle to navigation modes6104
Added TPA and breakpoint to in-flight adjustments6242
Control smoothness added to in-flight adjustments6311
Added ALWAYS_OFF to nav_overrides_motor_stop6354

Long Range

ChangePull Request
Added Azimuth OSD element5906
Manual throttle increase added to OSD menu6306

Programming

ChangePull Request
Set OSD layout using global functions5934
Unify global functions and logic conditions in to single entity5971
Number of logical conditions increased to 326001
Added SIN, COS, TAN, and range scaling functions6108
GVARS 1 to 4 added to OSD elements6195
3D Home Distance parameter added to logic conditions6226