Upgrading PX4 for VOXL2

[Abdullah01]

Dear ModalAI team, @Chad-Sweet

We are working on VOXL2 and trying to upgrade the firmware for the PX4 to the latest supported version because the VOXL2 is shipped with an old version.
We are following the instructions in the following documentation VOXL 2 PX4 Build Guide, and the instructions are not clear, and using the Qualcomm package manager (QPM) to upgrade the PX4 is not completed.

Can you support us with clear instructions on how to upload the PX4 to the latest supported version?

Thank you.

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[mzahana]

I am facing the same issue.

[Eric Katzfey]

@Eng-Abdullah-Ghazi-AlMusalami ModalAI releases use Debian packages for distribution so there is no need to build anything or download anything from Qualcomm. You simply install the package to get the update. What version of voxl-px4 do you have now?

[Abdullah01]

@Eric-Katzfey

Ok, can you provide me the instructions of how to do so?

It is not clear in the documentations. And the version in PX4 is 1.12.

What is the latest supported version? Also, is there a way to install 1.14?

Thank you

[Eric Katzfey]

@Abdullah01 The latest supported release contains voxl-px4 based on 1.12. You install the package on target with: dpkg -i voxl-px4_1.12.31_arm64.deb. Our 1.14 version is not yet released so you would have to build it from our development branch yourself and realize that there are a few limitations with it.

[Abdullah01]

@Eric-Katzfey

Ok, .

What about 1.13, is it going to be released soon? and is it going to be supported for PX4?

[Eric Katzfey]

@Abdullah01 We have no plans to support PX4 1.13.x on VOXL2.

[Filip Slezak]

@Eric-Katzfey Is this just a command to execute on the voxl, px4 will be updated and all else remain equal - custom configs and all?

Thanks

[Eric Katzfey]

@Filip-Slezak Depends. Which custom configs are you referring to? Parameter settings are stored in /data/px4/param/parameters and would not be overwritten when installing an updated voxl-px4 Debian package.

[Filip Slezak]

@Eric-Katzfey Yeah ok I think I got it. So just execute the above dpkg install. Would be cool if it checked for updates itself every once in a while

[Aaky]

@Eric-Katzfey I am interested in trying out 1.14 with released system image 1.5.5 (SDK 0.9.5) over voxl2. What are the limitations of this PX4 version as of now?

[Eric Katzfey]

@Aaky The main limitations are that it doesn't support RB5 nor M0065 hardware yet. Only VOXL2 and VOXL2 mini.

[Aaky]

@Eric-Katzfey Thank you for the update.

• Does it mean I can try PX4 1.14 dev branch code directly on VOXL2 hardware with system image 1.5.5 (SDK 0.9.5)?

• Will it support position hold and normal VIO based position flight mode?

• Also regarding M0065, if I want to use Modalai ESC instead of M0065, will it work?

[Eric Katzfey]

@Aaky Yes, the newer PX4 will support position hold and normal VIO flight modes. The ModalAI ESC will work fine, just not M0065. If you are interested in trying our latest software platform release (currently in beta) it contains all of our latest software including 1.14.0-2.0.34 PX4. If you would like to try this I can email a link to you.

[Aaky]

This post is deleted!

[Eric Katzfey]

@Aaky I sent the link. We have tried GPS position hold and VIO but not fusion. PX4 is supposed to have better support for that in 1.14.0 but we haven't tested it yet. We would love to hear how your testing with that progresses.