April 12, 2023
Join us
https://discord.com/channels/1022170275984457759/1022185721450213396/1065287189791002776
Agenda
- Community Announcement
- Community Q&A
- General Discussions
Community Announcement
A.1 : v1.14 Beta Testing is open!
https://discuss.px4.io/t/v1-14-beta-call-for-flight-testing/31551
A.2: CFP for PX4 Dev Summit 2023 is open!!
Submit your proposal to the most prominent event devoted to open-source drones.
Have an idea, but are you unsure if it’s worth the shot? Ask below in this thread!
CFP Deadline: July 9, 2023
October 21-22, 2023
New Orleans, LA, USA
https://events.linuxfoundation.org/px4-developer-summit/program/cfp/
Community Q&A (No deep technical discussions)
Guideline for asking a Question
- Specify what you are trying to achieve
- Specify what environment / platform you are using
- Prepare a Link or Document to help understand if possible
- First, ask the question on Discord or create a Github Issue!
- If you take over 5 minutes for the question, please continue in Discord or a Github Issue.
Q.1 : Bootloader hardware type comparison - Farhang
How are different board revisions detected?
Answer: Resistor divider in the baseboard, embedded in the hardware.
Q.2: Holybro X500 V2 setup - mch82
There’s telemetry radio (RX / TX) connected to the QGC, is that enough to fly the drone?
Answer: No RC is really needed. But it’s better to have the redundant telemetry (RC).
Q.3: Optical Flow
https://discuss.px4.io/t/testing-optical-flow-for-1-14-beta/31684
https://docs.px4.io/main/en/sensor/optical_flow.html
Q.4: 4G unit connection via companion computer - whynot
Question: Is it possible to hook up a 4g raspberry hat a companion computer
with Pixhawk; in a manner, that my drone and QGC are connected via Internet, and the TCP IP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IokyotAGbJI
Answer:
- yes its possible. i have used recently waveshare 4g/5g sim module/hat with Raspberry Pi for the same. - Balram
- you could also use the ‘mavlink router’, and go ahead with maybe adding VPN, etc.
Note: Could be nice to check out this paper! https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/A-Safe%2C-Open-Source%2C-4G-Connected-Self-Flying-Plane-Burke/79f6719ac260b62f9c4cc19f7d49f651cb5403ec
Q.5: Asking for mentorship - Maria
Hello, my name is Maria and I am working with PX4 for a group senior design project. Two questions:
Q1: Is anyone from the team available for a mentorship session? We have not been able to launch and would like some guidance.
The goal is to do gazebo sim, and holybro?
Q2: where is the development team on creating a docker container for px4 that is Macos compatible?
All the docker containers of px4 are not compatible for Mac, so doesn’t work.
Q.6: Raspberry pi Pico board bringup troubleshooting - Josh
Added RP2040 support last year. Currently working on getting Micro SD to work.
- Custom board design: This is open source currently!
- SPI works fine (sensor communication works)
- SD Card via NuttX works fine
But, when running with PX4, the file / Micro SD card is not detected.
Action Item:
- Start a Github PR to discuss the issue in detail. Could be anything between startup race condition, etc.
- And then, when board is working, feel free to add this hardware as officially supported in PX4
Discussion:
- Lack of floating point hardware: Currently single core
- For now the scheduling can be turned off for now - Daniel
- Step1: Get second core working / Step 2: Get it to work fully
Q.7: Direct joint control in Gazebo - Jay
Currently in unsigned range, which is limiting.
https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/pull/21439
- float vs int
Q.8: Rover Mission not working - Alex
Currently in Mission, it ‘stops’ in the waypoint, and when switched to manual mode & back to mission, then the waypoint somehow advances.
GZ model: Would be nice to use Fuel model directly.
Relevant PR is already up:
https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/pull/21409
Q.9: PX4Flow powering - Mcsauder
Currently can’t get data through I2C now. Also doesn’t get powered thru I2C.
https://docs.px4.io/main/en/sensor/px4flow.html
Answer:
- There are some issues with startup timing
TODO: Update the docs to say it is ‘NOT’ recommended for builds → https://github.com/PX4/PX4-user_guide/pull/2449
Q.10: Extending the arm of a multirotor - whynot
Currently extending the arm length of the multirotor to accommodate bigger propeller, which parameters should be changed?
Answer:
- Make sure to get the arm sturdy as well (mechanically), as it may have issues in the future
- You don’t need to change any geometry related parameters when just extending arm. You just need to tune the multirotor again.
- Tuning doc is here: https://docs.px4.io/main/en/config_mc/pid_tuning_guide_multicopter_basic.html#multicopter-pid-tuning-guide-manual-basic
Auxilary: You can check out this doc as well: https://docs.px4.io/main/en/config/actuators.html#motor-geometry-multicopter
General Discussions
D.1 : Optical Flow testing for v1.14 beta
By sturner: https://discord.com/channels/1022170275984457759/1022185721450213396/1092830779429625977
Just tested with latest 1.14 and an ARK Flow. Possible that we have other issues with our configuration. This is with external vision inputs enabled where we are able to arm:
https://review.px4.io/plot_app?log=731de912-a5cb-4271-a868-ea927bd73f3b
With external vision inputs disabled, we are unable to arm: https://review.px4.io/plot_app?log=c2b658cc-72ea-4b9f-9153-c13852865406