# UAVCAN Firmware Upgrading
PX4 will automatically upgrade firmware on UAVCAN nodes if the appropriate firmware is supplied. The firmware build process is manufacturer dependent (instructions for different firmware linked below).
WARNING
UAVCAN devices typically ship with appropriate firmware preinstalled. These instructions are primarily needed when developing UAVCAN devices.
# Flashing/Updating a UAVCAN Binary
To flash the UAVCAN device, all you need to do is copy the UAVCAN firmware binary into the root directory of the flight controller’s SD card and reboot.
After restarting the flight controller the UAVCAN device will automatically be updated with new firmware. If successful the firmware binary will be removed from the root directory and there will be a file named XX.bin in the /ufw directory of the SD card.
Note
UAVCAN firmware is usually created as part of the build process. Commonly the firmware image is built in build/name_of_your_uavcan_device, where name_of_your_uavcan_device is specific to the device you are flashing (e.g. build/ark_can-flow_default), and will be named with the format XX-X.X.XXXXXXXX.uavcan.bin.
# Building UAVCAN Firmware
# ARK Flow
Please refer to the Ark Flow documentation under Building Ark Flow Firmware to learn how to build and flash this firmware.
# Sapog Codebase (Pixhawk ESC 1.4 and Zubax Orel 20)
Please refer to the project page (opens new window) to learn how to build and flash this firmware.
# Zubax GNSS
Please refer to the project page (opens new window) to learn how to build and flash this firmware.
# Vectorcontrol ESC Codebase (Pixhawk ESC 1.6 and S2740VC)
Download the ESC code:
git clone https://github.com/thiemar/vectorcontrol
cd vectorcontrol
# Flashing the UAVCAN Bootloader
Before updating firmware via UAVCAN, the Pixhawk ESC 1.6 requires the UAVCAN bootloader be flashed. To build the bootloader, run:
make clean && BOARD=px4esc_1_6 make -j8
After building, the bootloader image is located at firmware/px4esc_1_6-bootloader.bin, and the OpenOCD configuration is located at openocd_px4esc_1_6.cfg. Follow these instructions to install the bootloader on the ESC.
# Compiling the Main Binary
BOARD=s2740vc_1_0 make && BOARD=px4esc_1_6 make
This will build the UAVCAN node firmware for both supported ESCs. The firmware images will be located at com.thiemar.s2740vc-v1-1.0-1.0.<git hash>.bin and org.pixhawk.px4esc-v1-1.6-1.0.<git hash>.bin.