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    Firmware Structure (Adding VTOL support) - Clarifications

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    • G
      garret
      last edited by

      Dear all,

      I am trying to enable VTOL frame in HITL simulation. I have been looking through PX4 documentation and the custom px4 fork modalai is using. So far my understanding is that I should turn on missing modules in the boards/modalai/voxl2/default.px4board file. I have successfully rebuild px4 firmware using these instructions. However, I am still not seeing necessary parameters appearing in QCG. This makes me wondering about dependencies between different parts of the code. If you could provide clarifications on the following I would highly appreciate it:

      • Here is the SDK and PX4 versions I am running:
      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      system-image: 1.8.02-M0054-14.1a-perf
      kernel:       #1 SMP PREEMPT Mon Nov 11 22:47:44 UTC 2024 4.19.125
      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      hw platform:  M0054
      mach.var:     1.0.1
      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      voxl-suite:   1.4.1
      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      current IP:   wlan0: <IP HERE>
      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      
      voxl2:/$ px4-versions
      modalai-slpi/unknown,now 1.1.19 arm64 [installed,automatic]
      px4-support/now 1.0-6 arm64 [installed,local]
      voxl-fpv-px4/unknown 1.14.0-8.93.1 arm64
      voxl-px4/unknown,now 1.14.0-2.0.94 arm64 [installed,automatic]
      voxl-px4-imu-server/unknown,now 0.1.2 arm64 [installed,automatic]
      voxl-px4-params/unknown,now 0.6.3 arm64 [installed,automatic]
      libfc-sensor/unknown,now 1.0.7 arm64 [installed]
      1.8.02-M0054-14.1a-perf
      
      voxl2:/$ px4-ver all
      HW arch: MODALAI_VOXL2
      PX4 git-hash: 5e6a8c257371b6c45e55662daac5fe9fbd08040b
      PX4 version: 1.14.0 0 (17694720)
      Vendor version: 2.0.94 0 (33578496)
      OS: Linux
      OS version: Release 4.19.125 (68386303)
      Build datetime: Jul  1 2025 17:48:13
      Build uri: localhost
      Build variant: default
      Toolchain: GNU GCC, 7.5.0
      PX4GUID: 100a41444f4d5649414c324c584f30303030
      UNKNOWN MCU
      
      
      • there seem to be two ways to deploy the code. I wonder what the difference is. Can I just always rely on the boards/modalai/voxl2/scripts/install-voxl.sh script or should I do .deb package instead? what is the general rule of thumb for using one vs the other?

      • Is enabling modules in default.px4board file enough to enable functionality I am looking for? What exactly is this file accomplishing? My understanding from px4 documentation is that modules are running the whole show. However, I wonder if modules need extra setup to communicate with uORB or any custom modalai parts of the code ?

      • I have been looking at the voxl-px4, voxl-px4-hitl, voxl-px4--start and voxl-px4-hitl-start scripts and noticed there is a bunch of modules being initialized that are not in the default.px4board file. For example, in voxl-px4-hitl-start

      # Start all of the processing modules on DSP
      qshell sensors start -h
      qshell ekf2 start
      qshell mc_pos_control start
      qshell mc_att_control start
      qshell mc_rate_control start
      qshell mc_hover_thrust_estimator start
      qshell mc_autotune_attitude_control start
      qshell land_detector start multicopter
      qshell manual_control start
      qshell control_allocator start
      qshell rc_update start
      qshell commander start -h
      qshell commander mode posctl
      qshell load_mon start
      

      Does that mean I can enable modules manually without rebuilding the firmware ? Can i just enable VTOL by adding modules required to the voxl-px4-hitl-start file?

      • what is editable in qgc vs what needs to be done in code? Can I enable the functionality I need through just QGC?

      Thank you in advance for your response

      G Eric KatzfeyE 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • G
        garret @garret
        last edited by

        This post is deleted!
        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • G
          garret @garret
          last edited by garret

          @garret quick update from me. i was able to get "vtol_att_control" module to start along with all the fw_* and mc_* controllers. i now seem to have access to the necessary vtol parameters through QGC. However, the connecting to QGC is super slow now and also I am getting mag0: Timeout and baro0: Timeouterrors after running voxl-px4-hitl.

          here is the full boot up log just in case:

          voxl2:/$ voxl-px4-hitl
          Found DSP signature file
          INFO  [px4] mlockall() enabled. PX4's virtual address space is locked into RAM.
          INFO  [px4] assuming working directory is rootfs, no symlinks needed.
          INFO  [muorb] Got muorb init command
          Sending initialization request
          Got topic data before configuration complete
          Got topic data before configuration complete
          Got topic data before configuration complete
          Got topic data before configuration complete
          Got topic data before configuration complete
          Got topic data before configuration complete
          Got topic data before configuration complete
          Got topic data before configuration complete
          Got topic data before configuration complete
          Got topic data before configuration complete
          Got topic data before configuration complete
          Got topic data before configuration complete
          Got topic data before configuration complete
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: muorb aggregator thread running
          INFO  [muorb] muorb protobuf initalize method succeeded
          INFO  [muorb] succesfully did ADVERTISE_TEST_TYPE
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Creating pthread test_MUORB
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Successfully created px4 task PX4_test_MUORB with tid 2097656
          INFO  [muorb] succesfully did SUBSCRIBE_TEST_TYPE
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Creating pthread test_MUORB
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Successfully created px4 task PX4_test_MUORB with tid 2097655
          INFO  [muorb] succesfully did TOPIC_TEST_TYPE
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Creating pthread test_MUORB
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Successfully created px4 task PX4_test_MUORB with tid 2097654
          INFO  [muorb] succesfully did UNSUBSCRIBE_TEST_TYPE
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Creating pthread test_MUORB
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Successfully created px4 task PX4_test_MUORB with tid 2097653
          INFO  [muorb] muorb test passed
          
          ______  __   __    ___ 
          | ___ \ \ \ / /   /   |
          | |_/ /  \ V /   / /| |
          |  __/   /   \  / /_| |
          | |     / /^\ \ \___  |
          \_|     \/   \/     |_/
          
          px4 starting.
          
          INFO  [parameters] Starting param sync THREAD
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Advertising remote topic log_message
          INFO  [px4] startup script: /bin/sh /usr/bin/voxl-px4-hitl-start 0
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Starting param sync THREAD
          Running on M0054
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: before starting the qshell_entry task
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Creating pthread qshell
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell entry.....
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Successfully created px4 task PX4_qshell with tid 2097652
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Init app map initialized
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: after starting the qshell_entry task
          INFO  [param] selected parameter default file /data/px4/param/hitl_parameters
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(parameter_client_reset_request) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [uORB] Marking DeviceNode(parameter_client_reset_response) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Advertising remote topic parameter_update
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(parameter_client_set_value_request) as advertised in process_remote_to
          INFO  [uORB] Marking DeviceNode(parameter_server_set_used_request) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(parameter_server_set_used_response) as advertised in process_remote_to
          INFO  [uORB] Marking DeviceNode(parameter_client_set_value_response) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [parameters] BSON document size 2018 bytes, decoded 2018 bytes (INT32:53, FLOAT:43)
          INFO  [logger] logger started (mode=all)
          INFO  [logger] Start file log (type: full)
          INFO  [logger] [logger] /data/px4/log/2025-07-02/19_36_21.ulg	
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Advertising remote topic mavlink_log
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Advertising remote topic event
          INFO  [logger] Opened full log file: /data/px4/log/2025-07-02/19_36_21.ulg
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Advertising remote topic logger_status
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'sensors start -h'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: sensors start -h
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'sensors'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg2 = '-h'
          
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic sensor_selection
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic sensors_status_imu
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_acceleration
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_angular_velocity
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic sensor_combined
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_air_data
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_gps_position
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_magnetometer
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic sensor_preflight_mag
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: sensors start -h
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic qshell_retval
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 70283703, local time: 70289506
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'ekf2 start'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: ekf2 start
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'ekf2'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_attitude
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_local_position
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic estimator_event_flags
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic estimator_innovation_test_ratios
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic estimator_innovation_variances
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic estimator_innovations
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic estimator_sensor_bias
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic estimator_states
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic estimator_status_flags
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic estimator_status
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: ekf2 start
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 70697060, local time: 70701423
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'mc_pos_control start'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: mc_pos_control start
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'mc_pos_control'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic takeoff_status
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: mc_pos_control start
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 70881803, local time: 70884861
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'fw_pos_control start'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: fw_pos_control start
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'fw_pos_control'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic position_controller_status
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic position_controller_landing_status
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic tecs_status
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic launch_detection_status
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic landing_gear
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic flaps_setpoint
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic spoilers_setpoint
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: fw_pos_control start
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 71194603, local time: 71197800
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'mc_att_control start'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: mc_att_control start
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'mc_att_control'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: mc_att_control start
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 71291921, local time: 71293922
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'fw_att_control start'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: fw_att_control start
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'fw_att_control'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: fw_att_control start
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 71376777, local time: 71378810
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'mc_rate_control start'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: mc_rate_control start
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'mc_rate_control'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic rate_ctrl_status
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: mc_rate_control start
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 71542510, local time: 71544910
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'fw_rate_control start'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: fw_rate_control start
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'fw_rate_control'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [uORB] Marking DeviceNode(rate_ctrl_status) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: fw_rate_control start
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 71685112, local time: 71688487
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'vtol_att_control start'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: vtol_att_control start
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'vtol_att_control'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [uORB] Marking DeviceNode(flaps_setpoint) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [uORB] Marking DeviceNode(spoilers_setpoint) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vtol_vehicle_status
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_thrust_setpoint
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_torque_setpoint
          INFO  [uORB] Marking DeviceNode(vehicle_thrust_setpoint) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [uORB] Marking DeviceNode(vehicle_torque_setpoint) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: vtol_att_control start
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 71820328, local time: 71823028
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'mc_hover_thrust_estimator start'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: mc_hover_thrust_estimator start
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'mc_hover_thrust_estimator'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: mc_hover_thrust_estimator start
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 71866787, local time: 71869655
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'mc_autotune_attitude_control start'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: mc_autotune_attitude_control start
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'mc_autotune_attitude_control'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic autotune_attitude_control_status
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: mc_autotune_attitude_control start
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 71922119, local time: 71924972
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'land_detector start multicopter'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: land_detector start multicopter
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'land_detector'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg2 = 'multicopter'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: land_detector start multicopter
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 71981835, local time: 71985165
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'manual_control start'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: manual_control start
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'manual_control'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_land_detected
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: manual_control start
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 72060721, local time: 72063250
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic manual_control_setpoint
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'control_allocator start'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: control_allocator start
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'control_allocator'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic control_allocator_status
          INFO  [uORB] Marking DeviceNode(control_allocator_status) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic actuator_motors
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic actuator_servos
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic actuator_servos_trim
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: control_allocator start
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 72577791, local time: 72580927
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'rc_update start'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: rc_update start
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'rc_update'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: rc_update start
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 73009950, local time: 73012100
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'commander start -h'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: commander start -h
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'commander'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg2 = '-h'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Creating pthread commander
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Successfully created px4 task PX4_commander with tid 2097647
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic led_control
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: LED: open /dev/led0 failed (22)
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic tune_control
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: commander start -h
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 73282818, local time: 73285620
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Preflight Fail: Accel Sensor 0 missing
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Preflight Fail: barometer 0 missing
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Preflight Fail: ekf2 missing data
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Preflight Fail: Gyro Sensor 0 missing
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Preflight Fail: Compass Sensor 0 missing
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic health_report
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic failsafe_flags
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic actuator_armed
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_control_mode
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_status
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic failure_detector_status
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'commander mode posctl'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: commander mode posctl
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'commander'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'mode'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg2 = 'posctl'
          
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_command
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: commander mode posctl
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_command_ack
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 73321888, local time: 73324809
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'load_mon start'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: load_mon start
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'load_mon'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: load_mon start
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic cpuload
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 73355849, local time: 73358005
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'flight_mode_manager start'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: flight_mode_manager start
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'flight_mode_manager'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [uORB] Marking DeviceNode(vehicle_command) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: flight_mode_manager start
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 73487516, local time: 73488991
          INFO  [dataman] data manager file '/data/px4/dataman' size is 7866640 bytes
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Advertising remote topic transponder_report
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Advertising remote topic rtl_time_estimate
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Advertising remote topic position_setpoint_triplet
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'pwm_out_sim start -m hil'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: pwm_out_sim start -m hil
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'pwm_out_sim'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg2 = '-m'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg3 = 'hil'
          
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic actuator_outputs
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: pwm_out_sim start -m hil
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 74688971, local time: 74692095
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic actuator_outputs_sim
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'dsp_hitl start -g -m -o'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: dsp_hitl start -g -m -o
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'dsp_hitl'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'start'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg2 = '-g'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg3 = '-m'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg4 = '-o'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Creating pthread dsp_hitl__main
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Successfully created px4 task PX4_dsp_hitl__main with tid 2097645
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: dsp_hitl start -g -m -o
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: DSP HITL Serial Port is open: 0
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic sensor_accel
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic sensor_gyro
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Got 5 from orb_subscribe
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 74734798, local time: 74736644
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic esc_status
          INFO  [mavlink] mode: Onboard, data rate: 100000 B/s on udp port 14556 remote port 14557
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Advertising remote topic telemetry_status
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic sensor_mag
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic battery_status
          ERROR [muorb] SLPI: Sending updates at 74781185, delta 45889
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic sensor_baro
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic sensor_gps
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_imu
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_imu_status
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic home_position
          INFO  [mavlink] partner IP: 127.0.0.1
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Advertising remote topic obstacle_distance
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_odometry
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic estimator_aid_src_fake_pos
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic estimator_aid_src_fake_hgt
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic estimator_aid_src_gravity
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic ekf2_timestamps
          INFO  [uORB] Marking DeviceNode(vehicle_thrust_setpoint) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [uORB] Marking DeviceNode(vehicle_thrust_setpoint) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [uORB] Marking DeviceNode(vehicle_torque_setpoint) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [uORB] Marking DeviceNode(vehicle_torque_setpoint) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [uORB] Marking DeviceNode(flaps_setpoint) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [uORB] Marking DeviceNode(spoilers_setpoint) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_local_position_setpoint
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_attitude_setpoint
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic trajectory_setpoint
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_constraints
          INFO  [uORB] Marking DeviceNode(landing_gear) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Advertising remote topic offboard_control_mode
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Advertising remote topic mission_result
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Advertising remote topic timesync_status
          INFO  [mavlink] mode: Normal, data rate: 100000 B/s on udp port 14558 remote port 14559
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(telemetry_status) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_rates_setpoint
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic landing_gear_wheel
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic actuator_controls_status_0
          INFO  [uORB] Marking DeviceNode(actuator_controls_status_0) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic sensors_status_mag
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic sensors_status_baro
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic estimator_aid_src_mag_heading
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic estimator_aid_src_mag
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic estimator_aid_src_baro_hgt
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic estimator_gps_status
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic estimator_aid_src_gnss_hgt
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic estimator_aid_src_gnss_pos
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic estimator_aid_src_gnss_vel
          INFO  [mavlink] MAVLink only on localhost (set param MAV_{i}_BROADCAST = 1 to enable network)
          INFO  [px4] Startup script returned successfully
          pxh> ERROR [muorb] SLPI: MAG #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          ERROR [muorb] SLPI: BARO #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          pxh> qsheERROR [muorb] SLPI: BARO #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!
          pxh> qshell dsp_hitl statERROR [muorb] SLPI: MAG #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!
          ERROR [muorb] SLPI: BARO #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          pxh> qshell dsp_hitl statusINFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic vehicle_global_position
          INFO  [uORB] Advertising remote topic estimator_baro_bias
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Advertising remote topic geofence_result
          
          INFO  [qshell] Send cmd: 'dsp_hitl status'
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Marking DeviceNode(qshell_req) as advertised in process_remote_topic
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: qshell gotten: dsp_hitl status
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg0 = 'dsp_hitl'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI:   arg1 = 'status'
          
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Running: yes
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Messages received from simulator:
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: 	Heartbeat received: 150
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: 	HIL Sensor received: 1003
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: 	Odometry received: 0
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: 	GPS received: 12
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Outputs to PX4:
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: 	IMU updates: 2412
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: 		Current accel x, y, z: -0.135196, 0.199197, -9.980605
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: 		Current gyro x, y, z: 0.002064, 0.002343, -0.004121
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: 	Magnetometer sent: 850
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: 	Barometer sent: 500
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: 	GPS sent: 12
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: 	Odometry sent: 0
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Outputs to simulator:
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: 	Heartbeats sent: 12
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: 	Actuator updates sent: 4828
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Unknown messages received: 0
          INFO  [muorb] SLPI: Ok executing command: dsp_hitl status
          INFO  [qshell] qshell return value timestamp: 86887060, local time: 86898155
          pxh> ERROR [muorb] SLPI: BARO #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          ERROR [muorb] SLPI: MAG #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          ERROR [muorb] SLPI: BARO #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          ERROR [muorb] SLPI: MAG #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          ERROR [muorb] SLPI: MAG #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          ERROR [muorb] SLPI: BARO #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          ERROR [muorb] SLPI: MAG #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          ERROR [muorb] SLPI: BARO #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          ERROR [muorb] SLPI: MAG #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          ERROR [muorb] SLPI: BARO #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          ERROR [muorb] SLPI: MAG #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          ERROR [muorb] SLPI: BARO #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          ERROR [muorb] SLPI: BARO #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          ERROR [muorb] SLPI: MAG #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          ERROR [muorb] SLPI: MAG #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          ERROR [muorb] SLPI: BARO #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          ERROR [muorb] SLPI: MAG #0 failed:  TIMEOUT!	
          
          

          I am wondering if slow connection to QGC and sensor timeouts are because of chocking communication channel with all the extra data. Do you think voxl2 can handle increasing mavlink stream of data? If so, where can I take a look to increase it?

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • Eric KatzfeyE
            Eric Katzfey ModalAI Team @garret
            last edited by

            @garret The install-voxl.sh and related scripts are only there for developer use. They can help speed things up when making and testing many changes. Normally the package should be built and deployed. The default.px4board file controls what gets built. So, if you have new modules you first have to make sure they are built by adding them into that file. There is one for the Linux side (aka voxl2) and one for the DSP side (aka voxl2-slpi). High level stuff like Mavlink and logging go on the Linux side, all real time flight control functionality goes on the DSP side. Once it has been built it needs to be started. That is done by adding the start command into the startup file boards/modalai/voxl2/target/voxl-px4-start. If the driver / module is on the DSP side it has to be started with the qshell command.

            Eric KatzfeyE 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • Eric KatzfeyE
              Eric Katzfey ModalAI Team @Eric Katzfey
              last edited by

              @Eric-Katzfey Those timeouts indicate that the processor is overloaded. Perhaps try enabling the new modules one by one to see if you can figure out which one is taking up too much time.

              G 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • G
                garret @Eric Katzfey
                last edited by garret

                @Eric-Katzfey surprisingly after leaving voxl2 overnight the QGC connection stopped being an issue. However, baro/mag timeout still occurs.

                However, I wonder how I can check if this is indeed processor overload. When I am running voxl-px4-hitl + connect voxl2 to QGC the total CPU usage is only slightly over 70%:
                91eef573-9e02-43ff-a81a-0b144a01952b-image.png
                387aaa62-a50c-4290-9390-68b08236dc86-image.png

                Similarly, when I looked at mavlink messages, nothing really stood out as too heavy:

                • onboard services:
                  5c88c560-5844-4f0e-a422-6903a85694f9-image.png

                • from gcs:
                  da6b9cb9-1c99-4f31-8333-3a4ad4354013-image.png

                Some of the things I tried:

                • adjusting -r parameter in voxl-px4-hitl-start script. I went as high as 500000. That affected neither the cpu use nor the frequency of timeout error for baro/mag. Specifically, this is line I changed
                # start the onboard fast link to connect to voxl-mavlink-server
                mavlink start -x -u 14556 -o 14557 -r 100000 -n lo -m onboard 
                
                
                • I also tried adjusting upd_mtu in /etc/modalai/voxl-mavlink-server.conf. I went as high as 300, but it had no effect either.
                • adjusted dsp_hitl baudrate to 2000000 in voxl-px4-hitl-start. Also with little to no effect
                qshell dsp_hitl start -g -m -o -b 2000000
                

                Correct me if I am wrong, but as far as I understand the issue must be DSP communicating with Linux side. Where could I look to try and speed it up if possible?

                i also may be able to get ARK V6 Flight Controller to run with voxl2 - would that be able to solve my issue?

                Thank you in advance for your response

                G 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • G
                  garret @garret
                  last edited by

                  This post is deleted!
                  Eric KatzfeyE 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • Eric KatzfeyE
                    Eric Katzfey ModalAI Team @garret
                    last edited by

                    @garret You need to look at the CPU utilization in the DSP where the majority of the PX4 code is running. top will show you only what's happening on the applications processor (Linux) side. The PX4 log contains this information.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • Eric KatzfeyE
                      Eric Katzfey ModalAI Team @garret
                      last edited by

                      @garret If the Iris configuration doesn't produce timeouts then possibly it's Gazebo not sending sensor updates fast enough. But I'm just guessing at this point. We've never tried a VTOL configuration so you are in new territory here. I'd first take a PX4 log and verify that the DSP CPU load is not exceeding 65 - 70%. Then perhaps start putting some diagnostic prints around the reception of the sensor messages from Gazebo and see how often they are being sent. Just have to start isolating the root cause.

                      G 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • G
                        garret @Eric Katzfey
                        last edited by garret

                        @Eric-Katzfey I tried examining the logs for default modal AI px4 firmware IRIS configuration and my customized firmware with vtol modules enabled. Strangely, the CPU usage seems identical and above 75% even in the default case.

                        Log plots here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UZfAYMRQ-VfYnyf1u__l9NAUHnM8Q0PJ/view?usp=sharing.

                        I assume one of the cpus is the apps one and the other is the dsp one. This is still strange, since according to my comment above the total cpu usage of the apps was slightly over 70%.

                        @garret said in Firmware Structure (Adding VTOL support) - Clarifications:

                        total CPU usage is only slightly over 70%

                        As for the gazebo sending messages, still looking into it. However, I did some quick diagnostic and found that gazebo's publication rate seems sufficient:

                        • IRIS case
                        root@nikita-ThinkPad-P16s-Gen-2:/usr/workspace/voxl2_hitl_gazebo# gz topic -d 1 -z /gazebo/modalai_world/modalai/mag
                        Hz:  89.91
                        Hz:  88.87
                        Hz:  76.84
                        Hz: 105.65
                        Hz:  87.52
                        Hz:  90.77
                        Hz:  83.98
                        Hz:  85.79
                        Hz:  57.25
                        Hz: 134.63
                        Hz:  82.31
                        Hz:  88.04
                        Hz:  48.27
                        Hz: 227.83
                        Hz:  87.30
                        Hz:  75.15
                        Hz:  60.36
                        Hz: 105.97
                        Hz: 101.91
                        Hz:  92.13
                        Hz:  89.28
                        Hz:  83.36
                        Hz:  88.95
                        Hz:  88.49
                        Hz:  55.99
                        Hz: 156.46
                        Hz:  85.59
                        Hz:  90.70
                        Hz:  50.35
                        Hz: 129.66
                        Hz:  92.53
                        Hz:  87.62
                        Hz:  84.50
                        Hz:  66.56
                        Hz:  90.34
                        Hz:  89.11
                        Hz:  73.71
                        Hz:  58.14
                        Hz: 117.21
                        Hz:  88.86
                        Hz:  49.12
                        Hz: 179.37
                        Hz:  91.40
                        Hz:  89.39
                        Hz:  62.59
                        Hz: 108.00
                        Hz:  87.86
                        Hz:  75.88
                        Hz:  84.17
                        Hz:  77.79
                        Hz:  72.78
                        Hz:  87.25
                        Hz:  93.21
                        Hz:  64.89
                        Hz:  73.10
                        Hz:  92.97
                        Hz:  53.24
                        Hz: 196.72
                        Hz:  90.09
                        Hz:  89.55
                        Hz:  48.60
                        Hz: 121.67
                        Hz:  68.07
                        Hz:  96.66
                        Hz:  91.59
                        Hz:  89.99
                        Hz:  91.62
                        Hz:  72.11
                        Hz:  91.43
                        Hz:  78.47
                        Hz:  91.06
                        Hz:  81.71
                        Hz:  72.23
                        Hz:  93.85
                        Hz:  82.83
                        Hz:  84.47
                        Hz:  73.80
                        Hz: 114.91
                        Hz:  85.34
                        Hz:  95.42
                        Hz:  79.51
                        root@nikita-ThinkPad-P16s-Gen-2:/usr/workspace/voxl2_hitl_gazebo# gz topic -d 1 -z /gazebo/modalai_world/modalai/baro
                        Hz:  45.30
                        Hz:  33.52
                        Hz:  40.19
                        Hz:  38.64
                        Hz:  39.93
                        Hz:  45.78
                        Hz:  41.65
                        Hz:  42.63
                        Hz:  44.85
                        Hz:  39.09
                        Hz:  45.65
                        Hz:  36.76
                        Hz:  41.51
                        Hz:  43.36
                        Hz:  34.07
                        Hz:  47.10
                        Hz:  45.87
                        Hz:  39.17
                        Hz:  53.24
                        Hz:  40.17
                        Hz:  37.47
                        Hz:  37.41
                        Hz:  50.90
                        Hz:  37.27
                        Hz:  53.60
                        Hz:  38.04
                        Hz:  45.86
                        Hz:  43.55
                        Hz:  43.98
                        Hz:  44.47
                        Hz:  40.48
                        Hz:  39.65
                        Hz:  44.65
                        Hz:  43.66
                        Hz:  41.32
                        Hz:  42.98
                        Hz:  40.23
                        Hz:  44.23
                        Hz:  42.25
                        Hz:  30.15
                        
                        
                        • VTOL case
                        root@nikita-ThinkPad-P16s-Gen-2:/usr/workspace/voxl2_hitl_gazebo# gz topic -d 1 -z /gazebo/standard_vtol_hitl_world/standard_vtol_hitl/mag
                        Hz: 261.34
                        Hz: 268.29
                        Hz: 165.38
                        Hz: 301.10
                        Hz: 219.42
                        Hz: 318.94
                        Hz: 258.53
                        Hz: 260.81
                        Hz: 259.69
                        Hz: 261.20
                        Hz: 230.35
                        Hz: 246.97
                        Hz: 105.02
                        Hz: 27011.70
                        Hz: 584.93
                        Hz: 245.19
                        Hz: 210.23
                        Hz: 137.50
                        Hz: 317.01
                        Hz: 217.37
                        Hz: 213.23
                        Hz: 245.10
                        Hz: 102.70
                        Hz: 7085.62
                        Hz: 255.86
                        Hz: 214.26
                        Hz: 358.80
                        Hz: 135.56
                        Hz: 601.92
                        Hz: 197.99
                        Hz: 289.66
                        Hz: 146.01
                        Hz: 710.52
                        Hz: 285.12
                        Hz: 183.18
                        Hz: 283.64
                        Hz: 267.36
                        Hz: 196.66
                        Hz: 293.54
                        Hz: 261.75
                        Hz: 189.79
                        Hz: 285.15
                        Hz: 269.74
                        Hz: 210.62
                        Hz: 247.68
                        Hz: 278.95
                        Hz:  92.07
                        Hz:   9.93
                        Hz: 39858.11
                        Hz: 249.81
                        Hz: 2192.14
                        Hz: 263.26
                        Hz: 255.81
                        Hz: 268.84
                        Hz: 204.21
                        Hz: 119.26
                        Hz:   9.63
                        Hz:   9.72
                        Hz:   9.71
                        Hz:   9.96
                        Hz: 2776.08
                        Hz: 133.24
                        Hz: 274.92
                        Hz: 823.84
                        Hz: 202.26
                        Hz: 276.13
                        Hz: 276.10
                        Hz: 216.36
                        Hz: 339.81
                        Hz: 270.43
                        Hz: 266.76
                        Hz: 261.38
                        Hz: 265.82
                        Hz: 268.36
                        Hz: 256.52
                        Hz: 276.77
                        Hz:  93.41
                        Hz: 1257.61
                        Hz: 263.08
                        Hz: 263.41
                        Hz: 146.94
                        Hz: 270.98
                        Hz: 243.40
                        Hz: 283.23
                        Hz: 150.90
                        Hz: 1511.17
                        Hz: 274.21
                        Hz: 258.02
                        Hz: 144.53
                        Hz: 2885.13
                        Hz: 247.98
                        Hz: 137.59
                        Hz: 829.43
                        Hz: 247.74
                        Hz: 254.85
                        Hz: 264.31
                        Hz: 209.19
                        Hz: 275.45
                        Hz: 267.43
                        Hz: 270.33
                        Hz: 245.57
                        Hz: 228.72
                        Hz: 232.26
                        Hz: 264.85
                        Hz:  93.60
                        Hz: 49265.94
                        Hz: 499.46
                        Hz: 233.43
                        Hz: 273.17
                        Hz: 234.92
                        Hz: 233.14
                        Hz: 258.48
                        Hz: 278.42
                        Hz: 225.91
                        Hz: 280.44
                        Hz: 135.68
                        Hz: 276.36
                        Hz: 134.54
                        Hz: 282.50
                        root@nikita-ThinkPad-P16s-Gen-2:/usr/workspace/voxl2_hitl_gazebo# gz topic -d 1 -z /gazebo/standard_vtol_hitl_world/standard_vtol_hitl/baro
                        Hz: 132.49
                        Hz: 129.18
                        Hz: 129.00
                        Hz: 130.49
                        Hz: 111.43
                        Hz: 151.83
                        Hz:  97.87
                        Hz: 133.37
                        Hz: 108.81
                        Hz: 145.29
                        Hz:  88.34
                        Hz: 257.54
                        Hz: 127.70
                        Hz: 102.37
                        Hz: 131.12
                        Hz: 124.66
                        Hz: 104.16
                        Hz: 135.17
                        Hz: 117.07
                        Hz: 123.88
                        Hz: 134.75
                        Hz: 130.16
                        Hz: 134.76
                        Hz:  70.86
                        Hz: 577.87
                        Hz: 123.25
                        Hz: 120.28
                        Hz: 104.71
                        Hz: 179.62
                        Hz: 125.18
                        Hz: 119.61
                        Hz: 121.50
                        Hz: 148.17
                        Hz: 126.87
                        Hz: 103.36
                        Hz: 132.89
                        Hz: 145.11
                        Hz: 114.83
                        Hz: 113.25
                        Hz: 148.53
                        Hz: 132.36
                        Hz: 128.08
                        Hz: 124.23
                        Hz:  72.73
                        Hz: 282.04
                        Hz: 127.52
                        Hz: 128.52
                        Hz: 124.72
                        Hz: 121.43
                        Hz: 112.05
                        Hz: 126.82
                        Hz: 108.68
                        Hz: 165.72
                        Hz: 128.03
                        Hz: 124.98
                        Hz: 100.47
                        Hz:   9.51
                        Hz: 137.65
                        Hz:  93.98
                        Hz:  88.69
                        Hz: 135.25
                        Hz: 129.01
                        Hz: 130.18
                        Hz:  89.62
                        Hz: 143.84
                        Hz: 126.38
                        Hz: 138.17
                        Hz: 133.42
                        Hz: 122.09
                        Hz: 136.52
                        Hz: 136.22
                        Hz: 117.27
                        Hz:  54.04
                        Hz: 39575.75
                        Hz: 160.93
                        Hz: 127.02
                        Hz:  87.96
                        Hz: 260.10
                        Hz:  93.48
                        Hz: 110.70
                        Hz: 144.94
                        Hz: 129.48
                        Hz: 132.85
                        Hz: 119.29
                        Hz: 123.63
                        Hz: 143.99
                        Hz: 103.66
                        Hz: 136.10
                        Hz:   9.17
                        
                        

                        Weirdly there is some frequency jumps with VTOL world. Could this be the cause of the error? If you have an idea where these come from , I would appreciate the hint.

                        Although, when looking at the logs again, this is the magnetometer plots:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yxWfiHGunIUJAk8WNnSOku5CxXks31so/view?usp=sharing

                        Apologies for small dot thickness, but it can be noted that magnetometer coming from the vehicle is at twice the frequency that it is coming from the sensor. Ironically, these rates are also off from the frequencies pasted above. For IRIS default the vehicle's magnetometer is at about 2Hz, and same for VTOL. Sensor frequency for IRIS is about 1Hz and same for VTOL. I wonder how this is possible, since for EKF2 to run smoothly it requires at least 5Hz update rate on sensors. I assume I am misinterpreting the data, so if you spot a mistake in my analysis please let me know.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • G
                          garret @Eric Katzfey
                          last edited by

                          @Eric-Katzfey An update from me:

                          I have looked at the cpu usage from voxl-portal and got even more confused. When comparing with my previous posts, the results differ again. To summarize:

                          • after adb shell into voxl2, "top" suggested total linux cpu usage of ~70% when running px4
                          • voxl-inspect-services gave about ~15%
                          • PX4 logs give varying cpu usage from 0% to 88% depending on the core
                          • voxl portal outputs about 10% cpu usage on every core when running px4 hitl sim.

                          Is there a reason all these sources differ so much?

                          I also looked further into potential reasons for timeout errors on vtol. Keeping px4 parameters identical, the error shows up only when loading a vtol frame in gazebo docker. I wonder if there is anything special that you can think of about how gazebo docker is treating a vtol vs multicopter? I looked into both .world and .sdf files line by line, but nothing stood out. Wondering if there is something I am missing somewhere else.

                          Lastly, to follow up on super low rate for "sensor_mag" and "vehicle_magnetometer" from the px4 log.
                          @garret said in Firmware Structure (Adding VTOL support) - Clarifications:

                          https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yxWfiHGunIUJAk8WNnSOku5CxXks31so/view?usp=sharing

                          Identical frequency in both multicopter and vtol case makes me wonder if there is a hardcoded bottleneck somewhere for this specific data - could you point it out to me if that is the case?

                          Hoping to hear from you and thank you for your cooperation.

                          Eric KatzfeyE 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • Eric KatzfeyE
                            Eric Katzfey ModalAI Team @garret
                            last edited by

                            @garret You have to be careful looking at CPU utilization on the Linux side. Sometimes the number reflects usage on a single core or the usage of a single process and sometimes it is total usage across all cores. The utilization on the DSP is what usually matters more for PX4 since most of the code runs on the DSP.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • Eric KatzfeyE
                              Eric Katzfey ModalAI Team @garret
                              last edited by

                              @garret Unfortunately, I only have experience with the IRIS model in Gazebo so cannot comment on why it would act differently with the VTOL.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • Eric KatzfeyE
                                Eric Katzfey ModalAI Team @garret
                                last edited by

                                @garret This is the code that deals with the Mavlink messages coming in from Gazebo and the sending of Mavlink messages back to Gazebo: https://github.com/modalai/px4-firmware/blob/voxl-dev/boards/modalai/voxl2-slpi/src/drivers/dsp_hitl/dsp_hitl.cpp

                                G 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • G
                                  garret @Eric Katzfey
                                  last edited by

                                  @Eric-Katzfey I am 99% confident I found the issue. When running gazebo for IRIS, the real time factor is 1. When running vtol the real time factor drops to ~0.5 or lower. I just tried running gazebo for iris and manually lower the real time factor. i was able to replicate the issue. I think it is because in the mavlink communication script you shared the update for mag and baro happens only in cases where HIL_SENSOR messege is receiver. If the message is delayed, the sensors timeout.

                                  I will start looking into troubleshooting, but if you know what can be done to speed up gazebo's computation or to ease the load of VTOL model, I would appreciate the hint

                                  G 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • G
                                    garret @garret
                                    last edited by

                                    @garret I also wonder if there is a reason for running gazebo provided in docker except for iris comparability? Could i theoretically run voxl2 with a newer version of gazebo? It seems like those might be more efficient with modelling physics

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                                      garret @Eric Katzfey
                                      last edited by

                                      @Eric-Katzfey good afternoon, still working on this - was wondering if you know how to enable airspeed sensor for the hitl sim? I think I am getting closer to finishing the vtol setup for hitl sim, but need this piece of the puzzle

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                                      • Eric KatzfeyE
                                        Eric Katzfey ModalAI Team @garret
                                        last edited by

                                        @garret As best I can tell the diff_pressure field in the Mavlink HIL_SENSOR message sent from Gazebo would have this info but it is an optional field so not sure if Gazebo is actually populating it. If it is then it will be made available within PX4 via the differential_pressure topic.

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                                          garret @Eric Katzfey
                                          last edited by garret

                                          @Eric-Katzfey gazebo evidently is not publishing diff_pressure but I am confused as to why. from what I have seen online, usually it just works out of the box for people when they build the world. i even checked all the .sdf models in the gazebo classic repo and all the mavlink plugins for fixed wing and for quads are identical. where would this be configured ?

                                          all I see in gazebo is the airspeed topic like such:

                                          gz topic -d 4 -e /gazebo/standard_vtol_hitl_world/standard_vtol_hitl/airspeed/link/airspeed
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5204
                                            nsec: 800000000
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.6875033675151349e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.0985729541323173e-06
                                          altitude: 21.067402929998934
                                          velocity_east: 0.0041351439189235657
                                          velocity_north: 0.014366458095080673
                                          velocity_up: -0.077853461599531493
                                          
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5205
                                            nsec: 0
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.65648519834101e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.0864227239372417e-06
                                          altitude: 21.051106543280184
                                          velocity_east: 0.0091959411425546929
                                          velocity_north: 0.01927891127394361
                                          velocity_up: -0.07690062638957737
                                          
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5205
                                            nsec: 200000000
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.6218446606961743e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.0702784253073972e-06
                                          altitude: 21.037869208492339
                                          velocity_east: 0.0070925229066759387
                                          velocity_north: 0.018342345861654636
                                          velocity_up: -0.059754401868207442
                                          
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5205
                                            nsec: 400000000
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.5894898632271678e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.06327351450745e-06
                                          altitude: 21.026238181628287
                                          velocity_east: 0.0012297001505018705
                                          velocity_north: 0.018024321587302515
                                          velocity_up: -0.052280255081160854
                                          
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5205
                                            nsec: 600000000
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.5569699380192946e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.06390211416581e-06
                                          altitude: 21.017491457983851
                                          velocity_east: -0.001618067383164185
                                          velocity_north: 0.017209061152664136
                                          velocity_up: -0.039400112952817
                                          
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5205
                                            nsec: 800000000
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.5292924599121225e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.0691216897048133e-06
                                          altitude: 21.008538438007236
                                          velocity_east: -0.0040763711507462008
                                          velocity_north: 0.013864325720556073
                                          velocity_up: -0.0538369387758966
                                          
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5206
                                            nsec: 0
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.5047486190666175e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.0773220885855787e-06
                                          altitude: 20.995235768146813
                                          velocity_east: -0.0045764253450751866
                                          velocity_north: 0.013940962132516522
                                          velocity_up: -0.077954621888091963
                                          
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5206
                                            nsec: 200000000
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.4757025411756733e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.08466180642776e-06
                                          altitude: 20.978572748601437
                                          velocity_east: -0.0033555745179364043
                                          velocity_north: 0.017347668957779176
                                          velocity_up: -0.073148434894389075
                                          
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5206
                                            nsec: 400000000
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.4462882142533986e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.0904497539150887e-06
                                          altitude: 20.967332033440471
                                          velocity_east: -0.0037972556503345928
                                          velocity_north: 0.014495664657131601
                                          velocity_up: -0.046656718127848877
                                          
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5206
                                            nsec: 600000000
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.4263857227869763e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.0997367347435748e-06
                                          altitude: 20.958831951953471
                                          velocity_east: -0.0064765043007881376
                                          velocity_north: 0.0076519004378160452
                                          velocity_up: -0.033514086003998168
                                          
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5206
                                            nsec: 800000000
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.4205381481821041e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.114123401948635e-06
                                          altitude: 20.954045912250876
                                          velocity_east: -0.0096772272248651318
                                          velocity_north: -0.0012674915998885131
                                          velocity_up: -0.017786372762228858
                                          
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5207
                                            nsec: 0
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.4309173571265127e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.13402138663806e-06
                                          altitude: 20.950159355998039
                                          velocity_east: -0.011961145916546649
                                          velocity_north: -0.0095852711307301761
                                          velocity_up: -0.025342314157376228
                                          
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5207
                                            nsec: 200000000
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.4519823130523982e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.1555908382890325e-06
                                          altitude: 20.942453072406352
                                          velocity_east: -0.011399544148833641
                                          velocity_north: -0.012656908303145411
                                          velocity_up: -0.051105507815038427
                                          
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5207
                                            nsec: 400000000
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.4771499703750814e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.17306133168418e-06
                                          altitude: 20.930765697732568
                                          velocity_east: -0.0081463581387440729
                                          velocity_north: -0.01625191237728766
                                          velocity_up: -0.054660789923046446
                                          
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5207
                                            nsec: 600000000
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.5137210585576305e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.189130765359672e-06
                                          altitude: 20.922167201526463
                                          velocity_east: -0.011325751538111934
                                          velocity_north: -0.023812409686585705
                                          velocity_up: -0.035000133967963913
                                          
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5207
                                            nsec: 800000000
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.5623360600389142e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.2156165213313913e-06
                                          altitude: 20.914503942243755
                                          velocity_east: -0.017165060266171105
                                          velocity_north: -0.029491893881218659
                                          velocity_up: -0.045721487981602388
                                          
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5208
                                            nsec: 0
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.6179932252596015e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.2454542642759144e-06
                                          altitude: 20.903589533641934
                                          velocity_east: -0.015005264062594741
                                          velocity_north: -0.030936998989148992
                                          velocity_up: -0.063867407905587342
                                          
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5208
                                            nsec: 200000000
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.6711078160365384e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.2693231056106074e-06
                                          altitude: 20.890134408138692
                                          velocity_east: -0.012109170323674366
                                          velocity_north: -0.027940003604763453
                                          velocity_up: -0.057342687350434116
                                          
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5208
                                            nsec: 400000000
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.7202299626737322e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.2900878427818057e-06
                                          altitude: 20.882502269931138
                                          velocity_east: -0.010841424041424621
                                          velocity_north: -0.026452180041652139
                                          velocity_up: -0.026357105140536331
                                          
                                          time {
                                            sec: 5208
                                            nsec: 600000000
                                          }
                                          link_name: "standard_vtol_hitl::airspeed::link"
                                          latitude_deg: -6.7652733709128169e-06
                                          longitude_deg: -8.3080433416888439e-06
                                          altitude: 20.877778694964945
                                          velocity_east: -0.00944769266055363
                                          velocity_north: -0.023288046186138157
                                          velocity_up: -0.014516012694954387
                                          

                                          and but when it comes to the received mavlink messages:
                                          15c48b47-7839-4a89-bbf6-1f9d59beee1a-image.png

                                          this is the closest I have to diff_pressure
                                          c4334d34-47c7-4d7c-a1ec-ef7dbcafe317-image.png

                                          Eric KatzfeyE 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • Eric KatzfeyE
                                            Eric Katzfey ModalAI Team @garret
                                            last edited by

                                            @garret Here's the source code for our branch of Gazebo: https://github.com/modalai/PX4-SITL_gazebo-classic/tree/voxl-dev

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