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  3. Native Barometer and GPS height estimation bad

Native Barometer and GPS height estimation bad

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  • Jeffrey MaoJ Offline
    Jeffrey MaoJ Offline
    Jeffrey Mao
    Contributor
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    Hi Modalai,

    Recently we tried flying with the native barometer/recommended 3DR GPS on the website and found the performance was quite bad comapred to other products

    https://www.modalai.com/products/m10000640

    Do you have any suggestions on how to improve them or an alternative product to do no Vision based height estimation

    Eric KatzfeyE 1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • Jeffrey MaoJ Jeffrey Mao

      Hi Modalai,

      Recently we tried flying with the native barometer/recommended 3DR GPS on the website and found the performance was quite bad comapred to other products

      https://www.modalai.com/products/m10000640

      Do you have any suggestions on how to improve them or an alternative product to do no Vision based height estimation

      Eric KatzfeyE Offline
      Eric KatzfeyE Offline
      Eric Katzfey
      ModalAI Team
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      @Jeffrey-Mao You shouldn't have an issue with the barometer. But the GPS does suffer performance issues due to it's plastic mount, proximity to WiFi antenna, and proximity to RC antenna. We are currently designing a new way to mount things such that the GPS performance does not suffer so much.

      Jeffrey MaoJ 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • Eric KatzfeyE Eric Katzfey

        @Jeffrey-Mao You shouldn't have an issue with the barometer. But the GPS does suffer performance issues due to it's plastic mount, proximity to WiFi antenna, and proximity to RC antenna. We are currently designing a new way to mount things such that the GPS performance does not suffer so much.

        Jeffrey MaoJ Offline
        Jeffrey MaoJ Offline
        Jeffrey Mao
        Contributor
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        @Eric-Katzfey thanks for the quick response. Yeah personall we ended up mounting the GPS further up with a pole in a custom design. Do you guys have a link to the px4 parameters you use with the barometer onboard the Voxl2 or does it need some sort of calibration?

        Eric KatzfeyE VinnyV 2 Replies Last reply
        0
        • Jeffrey MaoJ Jeffrey Mao

          @Eric-Katzfey thanks for the quick response. Yeah personall we ended up mounting the GPS further up with a pole in a custom design. Do you guys have a link to the px4 parameters you use with the barometer onboard the Voxl2 or does it need some sort of calibration?

          Eric KatzfeyE Offline
          Eric KatzfeyE Offline
          Eric Katzfey
          ModalAI Team
          wrote on last edited by
          #4

          @Jeffrey-Mao We haven't had problems with the barometer nor have I heard of any users having an issue with it. It does not need any calibration. Are you using it on a custom drone? If so, do you have a way to shield it from sunlight? That is a common issue with barometers, they are sensitive to sunlight. Can you share a log file when it is performing poorly? You could also add a distance sensor to your drone.

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          • Jeffrey MaoJ Jeffrey Mao

            @Eric-Katzfey thanks for the quick response. Yeah personall we ended up mounting the GPS further up with a pole in a custom design. Do you guys have a link to the px4 parameters you use with the barometer onboard the Voxl2 or does it need some sort of calibration?

            VinnyV Offline
            VinnyV Offline
            Vinny
            ModalAI Team
            wrote on last edited by
            #5

            HI @Jeffrey-Mao
            Another consideration for baro is active airflow. We typically provide a "cap" on our baros in our drones or flight-decks to ensure it is not exposed to sunlight (as Eric stated) but also active airflow which can show up like air pressure noise.
            Our 3D models repository has a 3D file of this cap, in this case for FlightCore to give you an example:
            https://storage.googleapis.com/modalai_public/modal_drawings/Flight_Core_Barometer_Cap.STEP
            Hope this helps.

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