Kind of a high level question but... why does one of the most expensive FCs on the market (Pixhawk 2.1) not come with OSD functionality?

ArduPlane
1

When I first started my FPV/Long Range adventures, my friends convinced me to purchase the best options first, to not risk something stupid happening because of cheap hardware. They recommened the Pixhawk 2.1 + Cube and the Here2 gps.

Of course I loved it, but one of the huge hurdles was to figure out how to get some OSD embedded into the video output.

As anyone who’s done this already, you know you have to purchase another module like MinimOSD, and some third party software to flash that device, and plug it in between your cam and VTX. There’s virtually no documentation on how to wire this, and barely any guidance on how to get the OSD configged. If you google “OSD VTX pixhawk wiring”, the diagram I created is actually one of the top results because of just how little info exists on getting this to work.

Much later, I wanted to build another FPV platform, something lighter and cheaper. So I bought myself a Matekf411 and wired it all up myself.

I noticed two things right off the bat:

  1. INAV is leaps and bounds more user friendly than MissionPlanner
  2. The OSD IS BUILT INTO THE BOARD.

#2 blew my mind. No third party software or OSD injector necessary. You just turn on “OSD” and it worked on the first try.

So… my question is this…

Why does the Pixhawk 2.1 have no native OSD capabilities, and why do I feel like I’m the only one bothered by it. Does someone know something I don’t?

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Man, you are asking the right questions. I set up a nano Goblin on a F411 and it was great, but lacked the mission capabilities of Ardupilot. You can actually run Ardupilot on Matek boards, such as the F405 and one of the F7 boards. I purchased the F405 for the OSD, but also the built-in current and voltage sensors. Had I done more research I would have put the F7 board in it because the F405 doesn’t have a built-in inverter for FrSky Fport telemetry.

I think the answer to your question is that it’s open-source, and until someone designs new hardware, your only option is to buy a Matek board.

PS. I also HATE minimOSD hardware. The MWOSD GUI and firmware are amazing, but the boards are garbage in my experience. I actually have a thread open now where I couldn’t get the boot loader to work on a new board. I had to buy another board…

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hello,

I am not part of Hex/Proficnc, but I would say that Cube hardware don’t have OSD capabilities as most use case until now don’t require it … ArduPilot is getting better for small drone, so more want to do FPV things.