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PixRacer with Ardupilot

Posted by Randy on February 9, 2016 at 4:47pm

This is a discussion to focus the feedback and support of ardupilot on the PixRacer board from AUAV.co.

We believe that all teething problems encountered are now resolved and so we recommend people load Copter-3.3.4 which is available for all multicopters through the Mission Planner's (and other GCS's) Install Firmware screens.  Note that because regular Pixhawks are still on Copter-3.3.3 the install icon may show Copter-3.3.3 but rest assured, Copter-3.3.4 will be installed (you can check the version by looking at the very top of the Mission Planner).

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Tags: apm:copter, arducopter, ardupilot, pixracer
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Replies

  • Dave July 8, 2016 at 2:14pm

    3.3.4 (Pixracer) works on the clone. When default 3.3.3 (current stable) is selected in MP that's what will install.  3.4Rc1, Arduplane 3.6 and the latest PX4 do not work.

    Thorsten said:

    Marcell,

    Pixracer is flying fine with current Ardupilot master and Randy mentioned somewhere that AC3.4rc2 will be rebased on master. Just a guess, but there have been some updates in the PX4Firmware which might be responsible preventing your clone to start.

    Best regards,

    Thorsten



    Marcell Kovacs said:

    Hi Philip,

    This is great news. See it in stock.

    Will ArduCopter 3.4 and later versions support pixracer?

    post by Michael: "3.4 has nothing to do with PixRacer." scares me a bit. how is it then?

  • T3
    Thorsten July 8, 2016 at 11:37am

    Marcell,

    Pixracer is flying fine with current Ardupilot master and Randy mentioned somewhere that AC3.4rc2 will be rebased on master. Just a guess, but there have been some updates in the PX4Firmware which might be responsible preventing your clone to start.

    Best regards,

    Thorsten



    Marcell Kovacs said:

    Hi Philip,

    This is great news. See it in stock.

    Will ArduCopter 3.4 and later versions support pixracer?

    post by Michael: "3.4 has nothing to do with PixRacer." scares me a bit. how is it then?

  • Luis Vale Gonçalves July 8, 2016 at 10:43am

    You can check the revisions history and work on your fork until you manage to make it work. The code commits are well documented, so it's not too difficult. I haven't looked at that part of the code for a long long time.

    For me it just works :)

    Marcell Kovacs said:

    Thanks guys. Ordered one. I have big hopes this will work. :)

    For the comment from Luis:

    The release of a off cycle version of ArduPilot Copter 3.3.4 was done only to have a release version with support for the PixRacer, because the development version (3.4dev) already had that support (the necessary drivers), so it was back ported to 3.3.

    This is good to hear, but there is something different in the startup scripts (compared to 3.3.4pixracer) preventing my ugly clone to start up. There is no retry anymore in the boor process. Do you have any information on this? Maybe do you know a revision where it was removed? I would try to hack it back.

  • Marcell Kovacs July 8, 2016 at 6:43am

    Thanks guys. Ordered one. I have big hopes this will work. :)

    For the comment from Luis:

    The release of a off cycle version of ArduPilot Copter 3.3.4 was done only to have a release version with support for the PixRacer, because the development version (3.4dev) already had that support (the necessary drivers), so it was back ported to 3.3.

    This is good to hear, but there is something different in the startup scripts (compared to 3.3.4pixracer) preventing my ugly clone to start up. There is no retry anymore in the boor process. Do you have any information on this? Maybe do you know a revision where it was removed? I would try to hack it back.

  • Luis Vale Gonçalves July 8, 2016 at 5:52am

    You can achieve both purposes with either a PixRacer or a PixHawk. Check the number of ports and their type so that you can plug all the extra stuff you might need.



    Marcell Kovacs said:



    Michael Burmeister said:

    I think your a little confused here.  3.4 has nothing to do with PixRacer.  3.4 is all about new motor mixing and terrain following.  The fact that Pixracer works with this release is a side note that one of the developer decided to do.  If you want support for the Pixracer you should be using the PX4 flight stack as they made changes just for that hardware.

    As far as making clones work with the firmware, I believe that they try to make all hardware regardless of who made it work.

    This is where DJI and Apple excel as they do not release any hardware that is not fully supported by the firmware.

    Well, I wasnt confused until your post :)

    So this is the reason for having a 3.3-pixracer branch with not-merged, pixracer specific changes on github. And my understanding pixracer supports both PX4 and Ardupilot as well, was wrong. On PX4, i have other issues, but lets not get into that on this forum.

    What is the recommended FC for:

    - 250 size quadcopter. (not racing, just learning to fly, test autopilot, hacking, having fun with DIY sensors like sonar, run self-written-scripts, servo camera tilt stabilization)

    - 450 size quadcopter for hobby aerial photography, supporting about the same than 250.

    Its ok if i have to solder, read documentation, measure voltages, create special cables, do configuration etc.

    The only requirement is that it needs to 'work', and have a longer-than-APM lifespan (expecting updates for at least a year).

    Thanks a lot for clarification.

  • Luis Vale Gonçalves July 8, 2016 at 5:38am

    Hmm, 

    Don't know from where you got that "accurate" info.

    Both PX4 and ArduPilot share a common structure of drivers and operating system.

    The release of a off cycle version of ArduPilot Copter 3.3.4 was done only to have a release version with support for the PixRacer, because the development version (3.4dev) already had that support (the necessary drivers), so it was back ported to 3.3.

    Ardupilot is a team effort and each member has a broad skill set. Some of the support for the drivers of the PixRacer was indeed done by dev team members of ArduPilot and both PX4 and Ardupilot use that. 

    ArduPilot Copter release cycle is longer than PX4, and that might seem that a release version of PX4 had direct support from the beginning, but I'm not sure at the moment of the timeframe.

    You are correct that the 3.4 release version of ArduPilot Copter has some significant internal changes (and user facing too) and all those changes take time to test throughly because we have both a large number of supported hardware platforms (including the PixRacer) and a huge number of users with an astonishing variety of platforms.


    Michael Burmeister said:

    I think your a little confused here.  3.4 has nothing to do with PixRacer.  3.4 is all about new motor mixing and terrain following.  The fact that Pixracer works with this release is a side note that one of the developer decided to do.  If you want support for the Pixracer you should be using the PX4 flight stack as they made changes just for that hardware.

    As far as making clones work with the firmware, I believe that they try to make all hardware regardless of who made it work.

    This is where DJI and Apple excel as they do not release any hardware that is not fully supported by the firmware.

  • Marcell Kovacs July 8, 2016 at 5:10am

    Hi Philip,

    This is great news. See it in stock.

    Will ArduCopter 3.4 and later versions support pixracer?

    post by Michael: "3.4 has nothing to do with PixRacer." scares me a bit. how is it then?

  • Phillip Kocmoud July 8, 2016 at 4:25am

    We actually have plenty in-stock, I have forced an update to the site to remove that erroneous data.. We already ship from inside the EU and the USA.


    Marcell Kovacs said:

    As a clone user, based on your information, i decided to give a try and buy an original. But... PixRacer is out of stock :( 

    Do you know how long does it usually take to be in stock again?

    If this will take long:

    Do you maybe have a spare pixracer to sell? Im only looking for original, used is good as well. (only if it does not hurt the economy, Auav, etc.. you know.)

    Anyways, i will still try to fix my clone with 3.4, regardless of having a genuine one or not. Hope you wont hate me for that.

    Then I can use my drone and hack a faulty one at the same time :)

  • Marcell Kovacs July 8, 2016 at 4:10am



    Michael Burmeister said:

    I think your a little confused here.  3.4 has nothing to do with PixRacer.  3.4 is all about new motor mixing and terrain following.  The fact that Pixracer works with this release is a side note that one of the developer decided to do.  If you want support for the Pixracer you should be using the PX4 flight stack as they made changes just for that hardware.

    As far as making clones work with the firmware, I believe that they try to make all hardware regardless of who made it work.

    This is where DJI and Apple excel as they do not release any hardware that is not fully supported by the firmware.

    Well, I wasnt confused until your post :)

    So this is the reason for having a 3.3-pixracer branch with not-merged, pixracer specific changes on github. And my understanding pixracer supports both PX4 and Ardupilot as well, was wrong. On PX4, i have other issues, but lets not get into that on this forum.

    What is the recommended FC for:

    - 250 size quadcopter. (not racing, just learning to fly, test autopilot, hacking, having fun with DIY sensors like sonar, run self-written-scripts, servo camera tilt stabilization)

    - 450 size quadcopter for hobby aerial photography, supporting about the same than 250.

    Its ok if i have to solder, read documentation, measure voltages, create special cables, do configuration etc.

    The only requirement is that it needs to 'work', and have a longer-than-APM lifespan (expecting updates for at least a year).

    Thanks a lot for clarification.

  • Michael Burmeister July 8, 2016 at 3:48am

    I think your a little confused here.  3.4 has nothing to do with PixRacer.  3.4 is all about new motor mixing and terrain following.  The fact that Pixracer works with this release is a side note that one of the developer decided to do.  If you want support for the Pixracer you should be using the PX4 flight stack as they made changes just for that hardware.

    As far as making clones work with the firmware, I believe that they try to make all hardware regardless of who made it work.

    This is where DJI and Apple excel as they do not release any hardware that is not fully supported by the firmware.

This reply was deleted.

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