voxl 2 external rangefinder compatibility

jonathankampia

I am trying to find the best solution for minimizing altitude drift during low altitude outdoor VIO navigation. I have read this documentation about VL53L1X rangefinders, but I really would prefer not having to set this up as it would require modifying our drones to accommodate the tracking & hires cameras specific to the kits that come with the M0173 board.

Is it possible to connect a VL53L1X rangefinder to port J19 and interact with the sensor through the px4 firmware? Looking through the voxl branched 1.14 firmware there seems to be drivers for the VL53L1X sensor. I know it's not possible to use voxl-rangefinder-server through J19 as the page I linked says, but I see no reason I can't use the port through px4 itself.

Also, would the process (if possible) simply be:

Connect the VL53L1X sensor
Assuming the sensor connects properly, modify EKF2_HGT_REF to prioritize rangefinder

Or are there any intermediate steps? I am not really sure if these drivers run automatically or if you have to enable them via certain parameters. For example, SENS_EN_VL53L1X, which should enable the driver on boot, is not visible by default.

Thanks!