Help Needed for SIYI A8 Mini Integration with PX4 (v1.15)

PX4 Autopilot
1

Hi,

I need some help integrating the SIYI A8 Mini 4K Gimbal Camera into our PX4-based system and here’s my setup:

  • Flight controller: Cube Orange with PX4 v1.15.4
  • Camera: SIYI A8 Mini (no remote controller)
  • Companion computer: Raspberry Pi 4 (only has internet via SIM card, no LAN)
  • Ground station: QGroundControl

Our goal is to perform a survey mission in QGC where the aircraft takes one photo every 2 seconds during flight.

Here are my questions:

  • How should I connect the SIYI A8 Mini to the Pixhawk without using a SIYI remote controller?
  • Which port and PX4 parameters should I set?
  • Is PX4 v1.15.3/4 compatible with this camera in terms of MAVLink camera triggering?
  • Can I trigger the camera to capture images every 2 seconds automatically during a QGC survey mission?
  • If not natively supported in QGC, can I use MAVSDK via the Raspberry Pi to control the capture?
  • Additionally, I’d like to view the camera’s live video feed on the ground, but since my Raspberry Pi has no LAN (only SIM-based internet), is there any way to access the RTSP or UDP stream for live viewing?

Any advice or working examples would be a huge help. Thanks in advance!

2

Update firmware

First of all, update gimbal and camera firmware. It’s two different procedures, the gimbal involving the Windows tool, the camera involving a file on the SD card.

Gimbal config

Connect the gimbal serial to serial port of the Cube Orange.

Configure a MAVLink instance:

  • MAV_x_MODE → Gimbal
  • MAV_x_FLOWCTRL → Off
  • MAV_x_FORWARDING → On
  • SER_y_BAUD → 115200

Then check with mavlink status whether you can see MAVLink arriving.

Configure the gimbal driver to use Gimbal protocol v2 both between QGC and Cube and Cube and gimbal.

  • MNT_MODE_IN → v2 (4)
  • MNT_MODE_OUT → v2 (2)

Reboot and try if you can get it to move using commands like:

gimbal test pitch -45 or `gimbal test yaw 45.

It should also show up in QGC at this point and be controllable, unless I forgot something.

Camera manager

I’m aware that SIYI implemented camera functionality using MAVLink but I have not tested it personally. It’s up to you to try it out by forwarding MAVLink from the camera to PX4. If you forward camera MAVLink (which is sent via Ethernet) to QGC, it might just work.

If you have no success with all of that, consider using my MAVSDK based camera manager: GitHub - julianoes/siyi-a8-mini-camera-manager: Camera Manager for SIYI A8 mini for RPi based on MAVSDK

Serial to Cube. Ethernet to RPi.

Should be.

Yes, look at the trigger options and select time-based triggering (Parameter Reference | PX4 Guide (v1.15)).

Both should work.

That’s for you to set up, e.g. using some sort of VPN like Wireguard.

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