PX4 Dev Call: July 16, 2025 (Team sync, and Community Q&A)

farhang · July 15, 2025, 11:40pm

PX4 Sync / Q&A - 2025-07-16T15:00:00Z

List of all Dronecode events

Agenda

Announcements
Future Events
Flight Testing Update
Release Discussion
Duckietown Presentation
Bug Report / Q&A

Announcements

QGC v5 Released
The QGC team expects a stable release next week! Please test and report issues now.

Next Dronecode Meetup

ROS + PX4 Meetup in LA!

Upcoming meetup in Korea

Future Events

Open Source Summit EU 2025

ROSCon 2025 Singapore

Flight Testing Update

About the Test Team
The team at Ascend Engineering (Chicago). are running flight testing for the community.

How to reach out to the team

GitHub: Tag user @PX4/testflights
Discord: #flight-testing
Weekly on the PX4 Dev Call

How to Request Testing (GitHub)

Write down the steps to test your issue/pull request
- Make sure to note the risk involved in flying
- Write down things to look out for / anticipate - eg: “we are looking for no yaw jumps”
Add issue/pull request to the Flight Testing project board
Make sure to specify any hardware/software requirements as much as possible

Resources:

Release Discussion / Updates

We are going to be promoting the release branch to stable, and push a stable release ASAP.

However we are going to make a note for the following issues which are not yet solved

github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot

[Bug] Altitude estimation issues

opened 03:33AM - 02 Apr 25 UTC

dakejahl

bug-report

### Describe the bug Airframe is the Dexi (ark_pi6x_default) - No GPS - Flow + …Distance sensor for postion/altitude hold Below is a quick hover test in Manual mode inside my house. https://review.px4.io/plot_app?log=2d4d8f06-edca-4e79-a5b9-5c729d971e15 The plot on the left is from EKF replay with EKF2_HGT_REF set to Range ![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/f8775776-8c3f-41b7-8874-cbd7b1ca7734) As you can see when EKF2_HGT_REF is set to range the estimate tracks the distance sensor once it starts to hover, although there is still a large bias in the estimated height (I've applied an offset to show that they align) ![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/42c69609-da7a-491b-9ea9-46cd6e8c15b8) **The problem** The issue I want to focus on however is the standard case where EKF2_HGT_REF = 1 (GPS). Since we are not moving horizontally and the distance sensor data is continuous, we _should_ meet the requirements for "range aid". This should allow the autopilot to control the Z position around the distance sensor data directly.

github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot

[Bug] Unstable height estimates

opened 07:26AM - 30 Nov 24 UTC

mkesselaers

bug-report

### Describe the bug We are using an ARK Pi6xFlow without GPS and are trying …to reliable takeoff to 2 meters. We use both EKF2_BARO_CTRL as EKF2_RNG_CTRL and the HGT_REF is set to barometric. When taking off, sometimes it goes to 2m, but most of the time to somewhere between 3 and 5. Using 1.16.0 alpha, the height was around 1m ### To Reproduce 1. Drone switched on 2. Armed 3. Takeoff to 2m command issued 4. Measure physical distance as soon as the height seem stable) ### Expected behavior Go to the correct height (more or less since exact would be impossible off course) ### Screenshot / Media _No response_ ### Flight Log barometric hgt ref (result 3.2m): https://review.px4.io/plot_app?log=514ae575-9d2e-4687-ab55-6e8836979b02 Range hgt ref (result 2m) https://review.px4.io/plot_app?log=b3753550-44ac-439a-905b-933f7a3932c3 Using 1.16.0 alpha : https://review.px4.io/plot_app?log=8122ff4b-e309-41f5-9257-55d74abbdb5d ### Software Version release 1.15.0 stable One test with 1.16.0 alpha ### Flight controller ARK Pi6xFlow board (Dexi Airframe from DroneBlocks) ### Vehicle type Multicopter ### How are the different components wired up (including port information) ARK board to ESC to Motors. Pi CM4 on ark-board, using MicroUXCREAgent to transform UORB to ROS2 topics. RC and a LED ring are connected to the ARK board as well ### Additional context After takeoff, the height should remain stable, regardless of what the terrain is doing. That's why we want to use barometric height reference, since a distance sensor will cause problems. We're also adding VIO using markers, but don't believe that this would be more reliable then a barometer

v1.16 Release Discussion

Release Candidate v1.16.0-rc2

Release Testing

github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot

[v1.16 Release Candidate] - Flight Testing & Flight Issues (log archive)

opened 04:08PM - 08 Jan 25 UTC

mrpollo

bug-report

## :exclamation: About 💡 For the upcoming v1.16 release, we are asking the Commu…nity for flight tests. This issue will be used for keeping track of all the tests from the Community. If you're unsure about upgrading, please read the preliminary release notes on the PX4 docs. Pay close attention to the Upgrade Guide before deciding if v1.16 is right for you. - [v1.16 Release Notes](https://docs.px4.io/main/en/releases/1.16.html) ## ❓ Why we need flight testing 🌏 Thousands of people around the world depend on the stable release of PX4. 🖐️ Before every major release, as much testing as possible is needed to ensure that our release actually works! 😯 Simply said, **more testing = better release** 🤗 We would like to encourage every community member to join us in improving PX4! ## 🤷 How you can help with flight testing 😱 Even if you have never contributed a flight testing report, fear not! Please follow the steps below for the details of how you can contribute to flight testing. 1. **Select** a category from the "flight testing matrix" below 1. **Flash** the firmware (documented below) 1. **Test** 1. **Upload** the log (documented below) 1. **Report** the test in this issue thread! ## Test Procedures https://docs.px4.io/main/en/test_and_ci/test_flights.html ### How to flash v1.16 pre-release firmware ![beta_flashing](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/23277211/230138126-c7b02c00-f07b-4a4f-b6b7-866d69db6520.png) 1. Open QGC 3. Click the Q icon on upper right > Vehicle Setup > Firmware (Step 1 in picture) 4. Connect your flight controller to the computer 5. When the Firmware setup window pops up, click "Advanced settings" checkbox 6. Select "Beat Testing (beta)" from the drop down (Step 2 in picture) 7. Click "Ok" This should automatically flash & reboot your flight controller with the latest v1.16 beta release! ### How to share your log First, retreive the log from the flight controller in QGC Q icon > Analyze Tools > Log Download, and find the log you want to download. ![log_uploading](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/23277211/230143915-4dad89ec-ab6d-43f3-9e5f-7a4624faa56e.png) Then: 1. Go to https://logs.px4.io/ 2. Click on "Flight Report" tab (this allows public viewing of the log in the [browse page](https://logs.px4.io/browse)) 3. Add the ULog file 5. Fill in the description, feedback, and video URL (if available) 6. Click "Upload" 7. Copy and paste the link of the log, and share it to this thread When posting on this thread, please mention what kind of test it was (especially if it is one of the testing matrix options) & general info behind it! ## Questions? Feel free to ask any questions regarding flight testing in the #dev-team channel in the [discord server](https://discord.gg/dronecode)! ## Results (05/12/25) 💪 **Release Testing** | Date | Status | Submitter | Release | Platform | Flight Controller | Flights / Logs | Notes | Link | | --------- | ------ | ------------ | -------------- | ---------- | ----------------- | -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 1/16/2025 | ❌ | afwilkin | v1.16.0-alpha1 | Quadcopter | Pixhawk 4 | 2 | | [Link](https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/issues/24188#issuecomment-2596594336) | | 1/23/2025 | ✅ | afwilkin | v1.16.0-alpha1 | Quadcopter | Pixhawk 4 | 2 | | [Link](https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/issues/24188#issuecomment-2611482935) | | 1/29/2025 | ✅ | afwilkin | v1.16.0-alpha1 | Quadcopter | Pixhawk 4 | 6 | | [Link](https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/issues/24188#issuecomment-2622581014) | | 1/29/2025 | ✅ | afwilkin | v1.16.0-alpha1 | Quadcopter | Pixhawk 4 | 2 | | [Link](https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/issues/24188#issuecomment-2622581014) | | 2/10/2025 | ✅ | afwilkin | v1.16.0-alpha1 | Quadcopter | Pixhawk 4 | 5 | | [Link](https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/issues/24188#issuecomment-2649177017) | | 3/5/2025 | ✅ | DroneWuKong | v1.16.0-rc1 | Quadcopter | Pixhawk 6X-RT | 11 | | [Link](https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/issues/24188#issuecomment-2851994468) | | 5/9/2025 | ✅ | afwilkin | v1.16.0-rc1 | Quadcopter | Pixhawk 6C | 2 | | [Link](https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/issues/24188#issuecomment-2867864092) | | 5/13/2025 | ✅ | TeddyZaremba | v1.16.0-rc1 | Quadcopter | VOXL 2 | 8 | [Precision land issue](https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/issues/24850) | [Link](https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/issues/24188#issuecomment-2880662926) | | 5/19/2025 | ⚠️ | dk7xe | v1.16.0-rc1 | Quadcopter | Pixhawk 6X-RT | 9 | Various inconsistencies | [Link](https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/issues/24188#issuecomment-2895445954) | | 5/20/2025 | ✅ | dirksavage88 | v1.16.0-rc1 | Quadcopter | Pixhawk 6X | 8 | QGC v5 Crash | [Link](https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/issues/24188#issuecomment-2898223625) | | 5/21/2025 | ⚠️ | DroneWuKong | v1.16.0-rc1 | Quadcopter | Cube Orange+ | 1 | No GPS | [Link](https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/issues/24188#issuecomment-2899811372) | | 5/21/2025 | ⚠️ | JulianOes | v1.16.0-rc1 | Quadcopter | Cube Orange+ | 1 | Tuning required | [Link](https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/issues/24188#issuecomment-2901915380) |

Project Board

Duckietown Presentation

Duckietown presentation (1.8 MB) : “Porting the Duckietown platform to PX4”

Duckiedrone Resources

Community Q&A / PRs for Review

Q1:

Discussed PRs:

Discussed Issues:
1.

Joey451-OG · July 16, 2025, 1:52pm

If y’all want to take a look at this, I’ll appreciate it!
https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/issues/25198

rroche · July 16, 2025, 2:54pm

github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot

feat: spacecraft support

main ← dev-sc_ctl_allocation

opened 09:12AM - 17 Apr 25 UTC

Pedro-Roque

+5583 -371

### Solved Problem Adds controls and control allocation to spacecraft vehicle t…ypes ### Solution - Add spacecraft/ ### Changelog Entry For release notes: ``` Feature: spacecraft vehicle ``` ### Alternatives Use the knows-it-all control_allocator module ### Test coverage - Unit/integration test: - - Simulation/hardware testing logs: - ### Context Full integration of spacecraft type into PX4. For hardware, requires https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/pull/24787 to be merged.

github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot

feat: configurable board pwm freq from Kconfig

main ← pr-kconfig-board-pwm-freq

opened 05:39PM - 30 Apr 25 UTC

Pedro-Roque

+103 -10

### Solved Problem Allows for configurable board PWM frequency from Kconfig. Fo…r slow PWMs (like 10Hz) this value needs to change due to timer overflow on a 16bit register. ### Solution - Add options to Kconfig and proper setting on platforms/nuttx ### Changelog Entry For release notes: ``` New Kconfig Option: CONFIG_BOARD_PWM_FREQ ``` ### Alternatives None me and @dagar could think of. ### Test coverage - Unit/integration test: - - Simulation/hardware testing logs: - ### Context Spacecraft solenoid valves requiring slow PWM.

github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot

BlueROV2: updated control (attitude and position), model

main ← DISCOWER:dev-bluerov

opened 12:16PM - 16 Jun 25 UTC

Pedro-Roque

+2878 -188

### Solved Problem Adds support for BlueROV2 Heavy and cleans the control stack… for UUVs. ### Solution - Refactor UUV_ modules - Refactor BlueROV2 model ### Changelog Entry For release notes: ``` Feature: bluerov2 support ``` ### Alternatives None I can think of? ### Test coverage SITL testing. Will provide logs once I clean this. https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/ded12d71-22e1-4af4-a4e1-a2f69aab93a7

Topic		Replies	Views
PX4 Dev Call: June 25, 2025 (Team sync, and Community Q&A) PX4 Autopilot	2	48	June 25, 2025
PX4 Dev Call: August 24, 2022 PX4 Autopilot	0	661	August 17, 2022
PX4 Dev Call: August 10, 2022 PX4 Autopilot	1	698	August 10, 2022
PX4 Sync / Q&A: May 22, 2024 PX4 Autopilot	0	199	May 22, 2024
PX4 Dev Call: March 23, 2022 PX4 Autopilot	0	618	March 16, 2022

PX4 Sync / Q&A - 2025-07-16T15:00:00Z

Agenda

Announcements

Next Dronecode Meetup

Future Events

Flight Testing Update

Release Discussion / Updates

Duckietown Presentation

Community Q&A / PRs for Review

Related topics