Ardusub setup ( ROV roll hold)

PX4 Autopilot
1

Hi all,

We’re building an ROV using Pixhawk (ArduSub) with a Raspberry Pi companion computer (ROS2 + MAVROS). The vehicle needs to attach and operate along vertical surfaces, so maintaining controlled roll while maneuvering is a core requirement.

Stack

  • Pixhawk running ArduSub

  • Companion computer: Raspberry Pi (ROS2 + MAVROS)

  • Joystick control

  • No external XY positioning (no DVL / external localization)

Goal

We want joystick-based control similar to POSHOLD stability, but still allow roll control so the vehicle can move along the surface while attached.

Thanks in advance — happy to share more details about the vehicle config if helpful.

2

Hi Ferbin,

I have actually used Ardusub for a robotics competition last year (Using Pixhawk + mavros) I found it really difficult to to achieve POSHOLD stability without any external sources of localization and we resorted to using a DVL A50 to get a better position estimate.
One repo that help me a lot was GitHub - clydemcqueen/orca4: ROS2 AUV based on the BlueROV2, ArduSub and Navigation2 · GitHub. As far as I know just having the Pixhawk alone would not get a good position estimate because there is no GPS underwater anyway.