Hi everyone,
I am developing a high-speed target overfly maneuver for a fixed-wing UAV in PX4 v1.15 using ROS 2 Offboard Mode.
The aircraft reaches the target area correctly, but during the descent phase it does not follow the steep dive/pass profile I want. Instead, it keeps a very shallow descent angle, and sometimes starts orbiting or circling near the target.
My current approach is to send TrajectorySetpoint messages in Offboard Mode. I also tried extending the target point forward beyond the actual target so the aircraft would not treat the target as a stopping/loiter point. Even with this, the aircraft still does not descend aggressively enough.
What I want is a short, controlled, high-speed “look-down / dive-pass” maneuver toward a marked point, followed by recovery/climb-out at a safe minimum altitude.
My question is:
For PX4 fixed-wing, is there a correct way to command this kind of steep temporary descent using Offboard position control, or is TrajectorySetpoint the wrong interface for this?
Should this be handled through TECS tuning, fixed-wing mission items, MAVLink fixed-wing setpoint types, or attitude setpoints instead?
I would prefer to avoid raw attitude control if possible, but I need the aircraft to follow a much steeper descent path than it currently does.
Any guidance would be appreciated.