PX4/Pixhawk Offboard Mode

ArduCopter Copter 3.5
1

Hello guys

I’m researching how to best fly the pixhawk with an on-board computer, while relying on some of the flight mode functions already built into the pixhawk such as altitude hold.

I have a down-looking lidar connected to the pixhawk and can perform altitude hold while flying with a radio. If I fly the pixhawk in offboard mode and use the on-board computer to send a height command through mavlink, will the pixhawk know to maintain altitude using this sensor?

Thanks

Ash

2

This is what you’re looking for

http://ardupilot.org/dev/docs/companion-computers.html#companion-computers

3

Hello Luis, no i’m not looking for a list of companion computers. I’m trying to understand what happens to some of the automated control functions like altitude hold when pixhawk is switched to offboard mode.

4

ArduPilot has no offboard mode.

Instead you use Guided Mode and the commands can be issued via Mavlink from an external source, such as a companion computer. On the link I sent there is a page that sends to dronekit-python as a possibility, but ROS connections are also possible via MavRos