PX4 Guide (v1.15)

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PX4-Autopilot v1.14 Release Notes ​

Read Before Upgrading ​

The v1.14 release includes a few breaking changes for users upgrading from previous versions, in particular we are moving away from using mixer files to define the vehicle geometry, motor mappings and actuators.

Additionally, we deprecated the Fast-RTPS interface used by ROS 2 in favor of a much cleaner solution that doesn't require a custom build target, and goes away with the additional message generation step.

Please continue reading for upgrade instructions.

Major Changes ​

  • Dynamic Control Allocation
  • Improved Preflight Failure Check Reporting
  • Failsafe Simplification and Simulation
  • Default Simulation is now New Gazebo
  • Improved ROS 2 Interface thanks to uXRCE-DDS

Dynamic Control Allocation ​

We are very excited to enable the new dynamic control allocation by default; it allows users to define vehicle configurations at runtime without needing a mixer file, thanks to the new vehicle setup dashboard in QGroundControl.

INFO

The new actuator configuration UI is available on QGroundControl 4.2.0 or newer.

Improved Preflight Failure Check Reporting (QGC Arming Check Report) ​

PX4 v1.14 adds much improved preflight failure reporting through the events interface. If the vehicle won't arm, you can more easily find out why in the QGC Arming Check Report. No more wondering if it's a problem with the safety switch, a poor calibration, or something in the internals of the estimator!

INFO

The QGC Arming Check Report UI is available in the QGC Daily Build (QGC v4.2.0 and later)

As part of this change, it is now possible to switch to any mode when disarmed (previously you could not switch to a mode that required GPS if you didn't have a good position estimate). PX4 will only allow you to arm when the conditions for the current mode are met, and will report failure checks that are not relevant to the current mode as warnings.

For more information see: QGroundControl Flight-Readiness Status.

Failsafe Simplification ​

Safety Failsafe handling has been simplified, in particular with respect to what happens if a failsafe is triggered when another failsafe is already in progress.

  • There is now a hold delay before the action is performed, giving the user time to override the failsafe if needed.
  • If multiple failsafes are triggered, the more severe action is taken. For example if both RC and GPS are lost, and manual control loss is set to Return mode and GCS link loss to Land, Land is executed.

The new Failsafe State Machine Simulation allows you to test failsafe behaviour under all possible configurations and conditions.

New Gazebo ​

Given the recent changes by the Open Robotics simulation team, we are introducing name changes for our gazebo simulations, mirroring Open Robotics naming scheme, starting with v1.14:

Most importantly this affects the PX4 build target names as well:

  • Gazebo targets are prefixed with gz_ (e.g. make px4_sitl gz_x500).
  • Gazebo Classic make targets are now prefixed with gazebo-classic_ (e.g., make px4_sitl gazebo-classic_cloudship).

Improved ROS 2 Interface via uXRCE-DDS ​

We updated the ROS 2 interface, replacing Fast-RTPS with uXRCE-DDS, resulting in an improved experience across the board. The change also avoids the need for _rtps build targets, enabling the interface on even more targets by default.

Upgrade Guide ​

For users upgrading from previous versions, please take a moment to review the following:

  1. The actuator changes require you to verify vehicle geometry and motors/servos mappings match your vehicle. In QGC, find the Actuator Configuration Dashboard, and make sure to confirm the airframe geometry matches actuals from your vehicle, as well as update motor and ensure motors and servos are mapped to outputs as they are wired to the frame and with the correct ESC type specified. Note: take advantage of the sliders in the UI. They can be used to confirm motor wiring.

    We highly recommend running an ESC Calibration if using PWM ESC motors and then setting appropriate disarmed minimum and maximum values for the motors (in the actuator UI).

    The calibration is critical if you are using a custom mixer file or the airframe you assigned in an earlier version is not present in PX4 v1.14.

    However, an ESC Calibration is still recommended even if you are using an airframe that precisely matches a specific vehicle in the Airframe Reference (such as the Holybro X500 V2) as your wiring and ESCs calibration may not match the defaults.

  2. Default disarmed PWM was changed from 900us to 1000us. Verify if you previously used the default PWM disarmed values and if the changes impact your setup. For details, you can find related information in the step 7 of ESC calibration document.

  3. Fast-RTPS users must port their code to the new uXRCE-DDS interface. Application code should only require minor modifications. These include (minimally):

Modifying topic names to match the new naming pattern, which changed from fmu/<topic_name>/out to fmu/out/<topic_name>, and Adusting the QoS settings.

For more information see Fast-RTPS to uXRCE-DDS Migration Guidelines

Other changes ​

Hardware Support ​

Common ​

Control ​

  • Land and take off again in mission: Landing doesn't disarm if the mission is not done - PX4-Autopilot#19659
  • Separate trajectory setpoint message: Message is now separate from vehicle_local_position_setpoint message. - PX4-Autopilot#19622
  • Bugfix: "Invalid setpoint" message on takeoff or mode switch: The message popped up as false positive depending on timing - PX4-Autopilot#20581
  • Bugfix: Step switching Altitude to Position: Switching from Altitude to Position with speed produced a jerk step - PX4-Autopilot#20905

Estimation ​

Sensors ​

Simulation ​

  • MAVLink forwarding over USB: Forward MAVLink traffic to/from USB by default - PX4-Autopilot#20745

Multi-Rotor ​

VTOL ​

  • Quad-chute: enable to reset failure state. Reset failure state once operator trigger transition to FW again - PX4-Autopilot#20913
  • Simplify Tailsitter transitions to FW in Stabilized: Adapt the tilt threshold automatically on configured max tilt setting - PX4-Autopilot#21582
  • Refactor uncommanded descend Quad-Chute: Enables to set altitude error threshold to trigger a Quad-chute - PX4-Autopilot#21598
  • Enable control-surface-less Quad-tailsitters: Enables to use differential thrust to control full body attitude in FW mode on tailsitters - PX4-Autopilot#20511
  • Skip VTOL_Takeoff mission item if already in-air - PX4-Autopilot#19985

Fixed-wing ​