Skip to content
  • Categories
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • Users
  • Groups
Collapse
Brand Logo

ModalAI Forum

  1. ModalAI Support Forum
  2. Ask your questions right here!
  3. Gaining VIO altitude estimates only in one direction

Gaining VIO altitude estimates only in one direction

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Ask your questions right here!
7 Posts 3 Posters 829 Views 1 Watching
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • H Offline
    H Offline
    hmlow
    Regular
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    Hi devs,

    Im stumped and really need help.
    I've shifted all the hardware from a Seeker into my own airframe, and have done the following:
    -configured the extrinsics
    -re-calibrated IMU
    -re-calibrated tracking camera
    -the new airframe flies well in Manual/Stabilized mode

    I have yet to switch to Position mode because - while on the ground (motors not spinning; no vibration etc), when i move the aircraft in the positive x-direction (reference frame where the VIO initializes - pointing fwd towards the nose of the aircraft), the z-position estimate decreases (ie it thinks it is gaining altitude).

    The same phenomenon happens regardless of the aircraft's orientation/heading as long as i move towards the x-direction. The Z position estimate moves by -0.3m for approximately 5m moved in X direction. X and Y positions are estimated correctly

    As i move back towards the starting pt (negative x-direction), the change in z-position estimate reverses and it goes back to 0 (almost) at the starting point. Again, this is regardless of the aircraft orientation.

    Im stuck... help needed and appreciated.

    Thanks

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • H Offline
      H Offline
      hmlow
      Regular
      wrote on last edited by
      #2
      This post is deleted!
      1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • Chad SweetC Offline
        Chad SweetC Offline
        Chad Sweet
        ModalAI Team
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        Just FYI, on our reference platforms as altitude increases, z decreases as well. We just rotate it in voxl-vision-px4. Check out this blog post here: https://www.modalai.com/blogs/blog/how-to-autonomously-navigate-with-px4

        H 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • Chad SweetC Chad Sweet

          Just FYI, on our reference platforms as altitude increases, z decreases as well. We just rotate it in voxl-vision-px4. Check out this blog post here: https://www.modalai.com/blogs/blog/how-to-autonomously-navigate-with-px4

          H Offline
          H Offline
          hmlow
          Regular
          wrote on last edited by
          #4

          @Chad-Sweet actually what I meant was when I moved the aircraft purely in the X direction, the Z estimates decreases.

          Sorry if I wasn't clear

          1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • H Offline
            H Offline
            hmlow
            Regular
            wrote on last edited by
            #5

            Hi... any of the devs have an idea of what i might have misconfigured?

            I've just set up another brand new set of VOXL and tracking camera and im facing the same problem.

            Since the issue is systemic, it could be some misconfiguration but i cant figure out what i might have done wrongly

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • James StrawsonJ Offline
              James StrawsonJ Offline
              James Strawson
              ModalAI Team
              wrote on last edited by
              #6

              How is the VOXL oriented on the new airframe, is it the same as on the seeker?

              voxl-qvio-server is only aware of the relation between the imu and tracking camera, and as such outputs its odometry relative to how the IMU is orientated when it starts up, even if that's crooked or upside-down. It also outputs an estimate of the gravity vector in that frame which voxl-vision-px4 then uses to try to correct for any tilt the drone may have when it started up using the imu-to-body relation in the extrinsics config file. If the voxl board is oriented differently on the drone body compared with seeker then that entry in the extrinsics config file will need to be updated too.

              To see the raw output of voxl-qvio-server before the gravity and orientation corrections are done, you can run voxl-inspect-qvio. This should output position in XYZ relative to how the IMU was oriented then the drone starts up which in the case of Seeker is crooked due to the front legs.

              voxl-inspect-pose -l will output the corrected orientation that's sent to PX4.

              H 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • James StrawsonJ James Strawson

                How is the VOXL oriented on the new airframe, is it the same as on the seeker?

                voxl-qvio-server is only aware of the relation between the imu and tracking camera, and as such outputs its odometry relative to how the IMU is orientated when it starts up, even if that's crooked or upside-down. It also outputs an estimate of the gravity vector in that frame which voxl-vision-px4 then uses to try to correct for any tilt the drone may have when it started up using the imu-to-body relation in the extrinsics config file. If the voxl board is oriented differently on the drone body compared with seeker then that entry in the extrinsics config file will need to be updated too.

                To see the raw output of voxl-qvio-server before the gravity and orientation corrections are done, you can run voxl-inspect-qvio. This should output position in XYZ relative to how the IMU was oriented then the drone starts up which in the case of Seeker is crooked due to the front legs.

                voxl-inspect-pose -l will output the corrected orientation that's sent to PX4.

                H Offline
                H Offline
                hmlow
                Regular
                wrote on last edited by
                #7

                @James-Strawson ah I get it now. There was nothing wrong at all, it was all about reference frames. I should be looking at voxl-inspect-pose -l instead.

                Thanks!

                1 Reply Last reply
                0

                Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.

                Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.

                With your input, this post could be even better 💗

                Register Login
                Reply
                • Reply as topic
                Log in to reply
                • Oldest to Newest
                • Newest to Oldest
                • Most Votes


                ModalAI
                Categories Recent Tags ModalAI.com Docs
                © 2026 ModalAI® · Accelerating autonomy for smaller, smarter, safer drones · Powered by NodeBB
                • Login

                • Don't have an account? Register

                • Login or register to search.
                • First post
                  Last post
                0
                • Categories
                • Recent
                • Tags
                • Popular
                • Users
                • Groups