PX4 Sync / Q&A: Feb 26, 2025

farhang · February 26, 2025, 1:02am

PX4 Sync / Q&A: Feb 26, 2025
Dronecode Calendar

Agenda

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

Announcements

Next Dronecode Meetup

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Date: 2025-03-26T04:00:00Z
Registration: US East Coast #1 - March 2025 - Philadelphia, Wed, Mar 26, 2025, 12:00 PM | Meetup

Future Events

OSS NA 2025 - Denver CO - June 23-25
- CFP Closes February 17th
ICUAS May 14-17, Charlotte, USA

Flight Testing Update

We are running a beta program with Ascend Engineering (Chicago). They will be running flight testing for the community as part of an arrangement with Dronecode

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

Flight Testing board:

GitHub

Flight Testing • PX4

Flight Testing

Discussion

Comments:

Broader range of boards to be tested
More specific features

docs.px4.io

Tests Flights | PX4 Guide (main)

PX4 User and Developer Guide

Release Discussion

Project Board

For release coordination, we will be using the project board.

Project Board Link

The project board needs to be updated maybe to reflect what the actually is going on.

v1.16 Release

Discussion

To have a regular stable release based on a fixed schedule maybe every 6 months? March or September is the proposed months for now for each stable release.
There should be also a discussion about how major and minor releases are working out in PX4

Bug report / Q&A

1- [Bug] Unstable height estimates · Issue #24058 · PX4/PX4-Autopilot · GitHub

Side notes: The optical flow has to be validated working as the expected setup and be documented maybe the same path everyone expecting it to work.

2- [Bug]Altitude Control Failure, Unable to Maintain Stable Height · Issue #24390 · PX4/PX4-Autopilot · GitHub

Same discussion as No1

3- [Bug] GPS failure, notify user · Issue #24355 · PX4/PX4-Autopilot · GitHub

Improving the warning level. GPS check code file might be helpful to find out where the warning comes from!
Relative PR: ekf2: GNSS checks relax pos/vel req once passing by dagar · Pull Request #24420 · PX4/PX4-Autopilot · GitHub

4- The general discussion about new Gazebo: Bringing the modules one by one from what we already have in Gazebo classic for PX4 such that we do not lose all the features from Gazebo classic:
Relevant PR here: [wip] gz plugins by dakejahl · Pull Request #24153 · PX4/PX4-Autopilot · GitHub

PRs needing review

github.com/PX4/PX4-gazebo-models

Fix IMU + baro noise model

main ← dakejahl:pr-fix_imu_model

opened 02:40AM - 26 Feb 25 UTC

dakejahl

+19 -25

The IMU noise model is not representative of real world sensors and the random w…alk causes altitude estimation instability. In practice an IMU will tend to have little to no random walk. **Before** ![Screenshot from 2025-02-25 17-39-57](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/033588ca-682d-464b-9d36-762bbf3e877d) **After** ![Screenshot from 2025-02-25 17-40-09](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/2de394e0-fa4e-4548-9fdd-eeeac4fc3fb4)

Notes: What is the timeline to move completely to GZ from Gazebo classic?
@dakejahl Moving all mavsdk SITL tests we have to make the CI.

AlexKlimaj · February 26, 2025, 1:06am

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

github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot

[Bug]Altitude Control Failure, Unable to Maintain Stable Height

opened 06:29AM - 21 Feb 25 UTC

fdcqsjn

bug-report

### Describe the bug We are using a custom flight controller based on the PX4_V…4 hardware, equipped with GPS and a laser rangefinder. The height reference (HGT_REF) is set to GPS, and we are not using the rangefinder data for altitude control. After takeoff, the vehicle can maintain its position in the XY plane relatively well. However, the altitude fluctuates significantly around the setpoint (Z_SETPOINT). Adjusting the MPC_Z_P parameter has little effect on stabilizing the altitude. The issue persists even with the latest 1.16.0 firmware. ### To Reproduce Take off. Manually control the vehicle to a certain altitude. Center the remote control sticks. The altitude continues to fluctuate. ### Expected behavior The relative altitude should be accurate, and the vehicle should maintain a stable hover without significant altitude fluctuations. ### Screenshot / Media None. ### Flight Log https://logs.px4.io/plot_app?log=6fdf707b-1d74-4710-964b-6594fed8969c ### Software Version Release 1.13.0 stable One test with 1.16.0 alpha ### Flight controller Type: PX4_V4 ### Vehicle type Multicopter ### How are the different components wired up (including port information) Not provided. ### Additional context When the vehicle reaches its lowest point and begins to ascend, there is a slight vibration. When using ekf2_rng_ctrl enabled and Terrain Hold mode, the vehicle can maintain a stable altitude within the rangefinder's 8-meter range.

farhang · February 26, 2025, 1:13am

Thank you Alex. Added!

dakejahl · February 26, 2025, 5:21am

github.com/PX4/PX4-gazebo-models

Fix IMU + baro noise model

main ← dakejahl:pr-fix_imu_model

opened 02:40AM - 26 Feb 25 UTC

dakejahl

+19 -25

The IMU noise model is not representative of real world sensors and the random w…alk causes altitude estimation instability. In practice an IMU will tend to have little to no random walk. **Before** ![Screenshot from 2025-02-25 17-39-57](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/033588ca-682d-464b-9d36-762bbf3e877d) **After** ![Screenshot from 2025-02-25 17-40-09](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/2de394e0-fa4e-4548-9fdd-eeeac4fc3fb4)

github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot

[Bug] GPS failure, notify user

opened 03:55AM - 18 Feb 25 UTC

dakejahl

bug-report

### Describe the bug We had a customer experience some momentary GPS interferen…ce which kicked the vehicle out of position mode and into altitude mode. They reported the issue to us because it was not clear from the log what caused the failure. The log file contains some cryptic warnings. ![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/52a27c86-4773-4481-b8cd-a0e1699717ea) After analyzing the log it appears that the speed accuracy exceeded the max threshold. Although I tried to reproduce this in sim and was unable to cause the failure by simply increasing the speed accuracy. It's hard to tell where exactly in ekf code the failure occurs without some kind of indicator. ### To Reproduce Experience GPS interference. Maybe a long term goal would be to add a failure injection test mode into sim for simulating GPS interference. ### Expected behavior There should be an event notification that informs the user at GCS that the vehicle has lost position hold (xy_valid goes false). Ideally it would be even more specific and indicate the exact reason for failure (eg speed accuracy exceeds max threshold). The log file should also contain this notification and we should suppress the other side effect warnings. ### Screenshot / Media ![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/fedd2282-555d-40ee-8b42-ad16f076de5a) ### Flight Log https://logs.px4.io/plot_app?log=c25d5ee4-1531-4dc3-9906-637c52488da4 ### Software Version v1.15.0 ### Flight controller ARKV6X ### Vehicle type Multicopter ### How are the different components wired up (including port information) _No response_ ### Additional context _No response_

abuislam · February 26, 2025, 6:23am

Thanks for the update! Looking forward to the flight testing results and the v1.16 release. Exciting to see the community growing!

MightyPiggie · February 26, 2025, 12:32pm

Hey, I am not sure if this is the right place, if its not just ignore my question.

But I’ve asked this question on the forum and Discord already, but I would love to get some more insight from you guys.

https://discuss.px4.io/t/custom-control-for-auv/43924?u=mightypiggie
https://discord.com/channels/1022170275984457759/1026905798426763334/1340709175180922921

rroche · February 26, 2025, 5:03pm

Next Dronecode Meetup

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Date: 2025-03-26T04:00:00Z
Registration: US East Coast #1 - March 2025 - Philadelphia, Wed, Mar 26, 2025, 12:00 PM | Meetup