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!
