PX4 Stack on non-RTOS

1

Greetings,

I’m interested to know if anyone has tried running the PX4 stack on a non real time operating system such as Yocto or Ubuntu. I’ve seen quite few strong opinions out there about the feasibility of doing so, but it’s difficult to find anyone who has actually tried.

Thinking it through in my head, I can come up with reasons why it would work, and about equally many reasons why it would not work. Seems like the kind of thing we won’t know for sure until someone tries.

The hackerspace says that the latest DJI aircraft are running Android. If the core flight controls are happening on Android then it seems a sure thing. However, I could also believe that DJI has an embedded system somewhere doing the core controls and the Android portion is serving more as companion computer.

Thanks,
Nate

2

The point is not about feasibility. It is all about if that fits your application.

Unlike smart phone, drone is something that full of diversity. There is no standard way of doing something in this field.

You do not know what is correct before you know clearly about the requirement from your application.

3

Of course, the UAV is not running on Android.

DJI provides a communication through an Android application and people then say: “The main loop in on Android”. No. It simply means the equivalent of the RC is an Android application.

If you want all performance of real-time and simplicity of Ubuntu, simply connect an offboard computer (RPi, Odroid, …) to your FCU. (Flight control unit)