External position estimation on intel aero

PX4 Autopilot Configuration & Flight Modes ⚙️
1

I am having a very hard time using the latest px4 firmware on the intel aero rtf drone platform to perform external position estimation through mavros.

I have read the other threads on this topic however, I believe my problem is unique as there is no way for me to access the FCU params ATT_EXT_HDG_M or LPE_FUSION through QGC. I can access them and set them using the mavlink shell; however, when I list the mavlink parameters it indicates that these two are unused.

I have attempted using the plugins mocap_pose_estimation, fake_gps, and vision_pose_estimation. I have successfully verified that messages are being sent to the flight controller using the mocap and fakegps plugins however the /mavros/local_position/pose topic does not mirror my mocap data.

My suspicion that the ATT_EXT_HDG_M and LPE_FUSION adjustments were having no effect, I adjusted the EKF2_AID_MASK bits to accept vision position estimation and vision yaw estimation. Upon reboot, it seems I am unable to access flightcontroller data (i.e. imu, magnetometer, barometer do not provide data and mavros topics are not being published to). I then try sending VISION_POSITION_ESTIMATE mavlink messages however they have no effect.

Maybe I am missing something very obvious here, although I feel that I have tried everything. Any help would be greatly appreciated. If anyone could suggest why the parameters ATT_EXT_HDG_M and LPE_FUSION are listed as unused, it may help me troubleshoot my issue further.

Thank you.

dtaillie

2

I don’t understand why there is still LPE_FUSION when you use EKF2.

Here are some suggestions that may be useful.

  1. You may need to set your laptop IP on the aero kit to make QGC work. See the wiki of Intel Aero Kit.
  2. LPE is not yet supported on the Aero Kit according to what I see in the Intel community. You can only use EKF2 fusion.
  3. Try the latest stable version of PX4 firmware, make it with “make aerofc-v1_default” and flash it to your Aero board. Also see the wiki of Intel Aero Kit for more details.