I am using MAVSDK on a Companion Computer to talk to PX4. Autonomous flights using mission planning and Mission plugin, other commands like Takeoff, Land, RTL etc using Action plugin is working great.
But issue is if I want to command manual modes like (Stabilized, Pos/Alt Hold, Guided, Loiter etc) through same MAVSDK interface, is it possible?
Is it possible to send direct Mavlink commands with proper CMD ID for these modes using MAVSDK? Which plugin?
If not what are the options? I hate to switch away of from MAVSDK and go direct Mavlink socket interface. I Use MAVSDK C++ interface.
It’s currently not possible to set any flight mode, however, in my opinion, I don’t think it’s really needed (yet).
Let me explain how you get to these modes:
Mission: use mission->start_mission()
Guided: with PX4 this is called offboard, use offboard->offboard_start()
Loiter: use mission->pause_mission()
Stabilized, Pos/Alt Hold: for these manual modes you probably need an RC (or MAVLink joystick input), so the way to get to the modes is just to move the sticks and that will hand control to position control. Regarding altitude control, I wonder why or when you would actually need that. And the same for stabilized: I consider this a mode only used when testing/prototyping, and not automated operation (e.g. when using MAVSDK). So for testing prototyping I would use RC and switches to choose between Stabilized, Altitude and Position control.
