Deploying Custom Controllers on Pixhawk 6X with PX4 Firmware 1.12.3: Compatibility Challenges

Hello everyone,

I'm working on deploying a custom control algorithm from MATLAB to a **Pixhawk 6X** board running **PX4 firmware 1.12.3**. However, I've encountered compatibility challenges, possibly due to the interaction between the firmware version, the board, and MATLAB’s PX4 support.

Issue Overview

The primary issue appears during the deployment process, where MATLAB struggles to communicate effectively with the Pixhawk 6X. From my research, it seems PX4 1.12.3 may not fully support the hardware improvements in Pixhawk 6X, resulting in functionality gaps, especially for custom deployments.

Specific Symptoms

- Motor Count Detection: QGroundControl displays an “unable to determine motor count” error, possibly due to parameter or communication issues.

- MATLAB Deployment Issues: MATLAB fails during upload, indicating a mismatch between the controller setup and the firmware's hardware support.

Tried Solutions

I've attempted the following:

1. Checking and reloading the airframe configuration to verify compatibility.

2. Testing with alternative QGroundControl versions, including 4.1.7 and newer.

3. Investigating compatibility by considering upgrades to PX4 1.13 or 1.14, which seem to include fixes for newer hardware like Pixhawk 6X.

Seeking Advice

Does anyone have experience deploying custom controllers on Pixhawk 6X with PX4 firmware, especially using MATLAB? Any insights on firmware version choices, parameters, or potential patches would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for your help!

[M.]

I made a lot of troubleshooting, and it finally works; but the setup is different from the one that is on matlab.

[Swastik Sarkar]

Hi @M.,

Could you please share the solution you developed? It would be beneficial for others in the community.

Answer 1

[Ankur Bose]

There is a newer version of Pixhawk 6x board that requires 1.14.3 PX4 Firmware version. What you can go is

1. Upgrade to MATLAB R2024b
2. You will be required to clone the PX4 Firmware in WSL by following the commands in this documentation. For the command to clone to the firmware run the command in WSL

git checkout v1.14.3 -f

instead of

git checkout v1.14.0 -f

Run the rest of commands mentioned in this documentation as it is.

Complete the hardware setup screen for Pixhawk 6x by providing the path of this firmware and try to upload code to Pixhawk 6x