Has anyone here used a Pixhawk PX4 to control their quadcopter? If you are thinking about it I ...

[G+_Steve C]

Has anyone here used a Pixhawk PX4 to control their quadcopter?  If you are thinking about it I'd suggest looking elsewhere.  While it looks great in the glossy ads and flying in YouTube videos, the problem is they don't supply any software so you have to use the crappy shareware like Qgroundcontrol that never works!  I've been trying to get the software to run for a year now, since the middle of 2014, and still haven't got past the errors and far enough to actually Arm the aircraft.  Since new versions with bug fixes keep coming out all the time I've tried at least 4 dozen versions of QGC now but it still won't work and I think I finally burned out the board from handling it so much while I was turning it over and left and right trying to calibrate the compass, gyro, etc.   I've spent hours and hours fighting with different versions of the programs and the software developers trying to get them to fix the problems that make it unusable but with no success.  It's so depressing that I never did build the copter that I got the same time as the PX4. There are other programs besides Qgroundcontrol like APM Planner and Mission Planner but they never worked either and the developers refused to fix them so that only left QGC which is just as bad.  If anyone ever got a PX4 to fly using the crappy shareware I'd like to know how they did it because it doesn't seem possible!

[G+_Mr covert]

I've been so happy with my pixhawk I'm using them in future builds. I configure it via pc over Mavlik. Looking forward to trying out the pixhawk mini in my next build

[G+_Scott W]

Mission planner works great on my Pixhawk and APM.

[G+_Steve C]

I find this hard to believe since I've never got Qgroundcontrol to ever work properly on the PX4, NOT EVEN ONCE! 

It's never been able to get all the way through calibration and down to where I can actually try to Arm the aircraft!

I've been trying for over a year with no success, can you guys tell me how you were able to get yours to work?

The first problem was that neither Mission Planner or APM Planner could configure the PX4 as any kind of copter or anything else but a plane.  I don't have a plane.  I contacted the software developers but they refused to fix it so the only option left was QgroundControl.

When I first tried Qgroundcontrol the middle of last year it wouldn't even run on the PC at all but the software guys were willing to try and fix it and after many many updates and numerous crashes they got it running, then added back some features and finally got it to the point of configuring the PX4, then configuring it as a quadcopter!  After each update I was able to get a little farther through the program until in Nov, Dec. it would calibrate the sensors and even configure the R/C radio system.  I never could get as far as trying to Arm the system but then the updates started getting worse and I couldn't read anything on the screen of my laptop anymore and had to change to a desktop with a large HD monitor. Then when I tried the latest version of QGC it wouldn't recognize the R/C radio anymore!  Even going back to an earlier version it still won't recognize the radio now so I think the latest version of QGC broke my PX4!

[G+_Eddie Foy]

Steve C have you tried flashing the firmware via USB and Atmel (or whosoever chip is in there Is it an arduino?) utility?  Sounds like something is buggered up.  I've had no real problem with the APM or PixHawk and the suggested software.  All of the ones I've tried connect and work fine.

[G+_Scott W]

Did you follow the directions here: http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/common-loading-firmware-onto-pixhawk/

Is you Pixhawk a clone or an authentic Pixhawk from 3DRobotics?

I have had issues using an APM clone with mission planner, but always able to get it to work. 

I really think the issue is on your end, either hardware (a bad Pixhawk clone) or software not installed correctly. 

Pixhawks and APM's are one of the most widely used Flight Controllers.  

[G+_Steve C]

Scott, of course I did it that way since that's the only way it will work but I've been trying all the crappy shareware for over a year now and none of it will work all the way through. 

It's an authentic PX4 as far as I can tell.

When I tried Mission Planner and APM Planner one wouldn't configure the PX4 at all and the other one would configure it as a plane but not any kind of copter, I forget which one.  Both would let it run in the flight simulation mode, turning it and twisting it around while the icon moves on Google maps, if it had already been setup using Qgroundcontrol, after QGC had been updated to where it would actually run well enough to do that, but that didn't always work depending on which version of APM Planner and QGC was being used.

There's no problem on my end except crappy software! 

When I first got the PX4 and found that none of the software would work I mentioned it on the forums but everyone thought I was crazy, however all the problems are documented on Github! 

You can got to the problem reporting area of Github for Qgroundcontrol starting about June 2014 and see when it wouldn't run at all, then it was updated to get it running, then it didn't do anything but features were added, then it crashed a lot and couldn't program and configure the PX4, finally by Dec. 2014 they had a lot of the bugs out of the software and it was mostly working and I could actually calibrate the sensors and setup the R/C transmitter but never got all the errors cleared to get as far as trying to actually Arm the aircraft.

 

What most people don't know is they come out with a new version of QGC with bug fixes almost every day!

The updates released in 2015 seem to be going backwards though since it won't run on my laptop anymore, all I get now is a fuzzy display that has text I can't read so I had to move to a more powerful desktop with a widescreen HD display in order to read the text!

 

So are you still using the original firmware that originally worked from about 4 years ago when it was first released?

There are lots of people on the forums who claim to have a PX4 that works and the only way I can figure that's possible is if they are still using the original firmware and software that came out with the board when it was first released back about 4 years ago and have never tried to update.

I can't be sure but I assume it must have all worked when it was first released to the public.

From what I've read the Pixhawk project was developed at a University in Switzerland where they designed the hardware and software to make it fly then it was released to the Open Source community were was supposed to maintain it.  The software people don't seem to have been doing a very good job though since programs like Qgroundcontrol wouldn't even run anymore by 2014!

When I tried the latest release of QGC recently, Ver.2.7.1, I found that my R/C radio is not recognized anymore and it doesn't work with the older versions anymore either so it looks like Ver. 2.7.1 broke my PX4!

I doubt there is any way this PX4 will ever be ready to fly and the whole thing has just been a waste of time!

[G+_Scott W]

"When I tried Mission Planner and APM Planner one wouldn't configure the PX4 at all and the other one would configure it as a plane but not any kind of copter"

 

There is different Firmware for Plane and Copter. If you currently have the Plane firmware installed, you need to install the Copter firmware. If it is currently configurable as a plane, then you have that firmware installed.

Have you tried doing a factory reset on the EEPROM?

[G+_Steve C]

Thanks a lot Capt. Obvious!   Of course there is different firmware, everyone knows that since it's obvious.  The first thing the programs do is install the firmware then have you choose the type of copter you are using, quad, hex or whatever and install it.  Seems like it should be the other way around but that's how they do it.  Mission Planner and APM Planner could never update it with the right kind of craft though so I'd have to go back to using QGC each time.

I've never seen anything that mentions doing a factory reset though, how do you do that?

[G+_Eddie Foy]

You have a bad pixhawk.  You are the only person that has probs here.  Stop your bitching about working software not being able to program a bad device.

[G+_Steve C]

Why shouldn't I bitch?  What you said is the same thing lots of idiots on the other forums told me last year until I pointed out the software wouldn't even run anymore and you can't program the PX4 unless the crappy software works!   Didn't you read the part about all the software bugs and problems being DOCUMENTED on the Github problem reporting site?

I've wasted over a year of my time and spend a lot of money on the worthless thing so I think Pixhawk and 3DRobotics owes me a refund!

[G+_Mr covert]

Where did you get the pixhawk from ?

[G+_Scott W]

"Thanks a lot Capt. Obvious!   Of course there is different firmware, everyone knows that since it's obvious"

 

I have no idea your skill level with software or hardware, just asking questions. Maybe your bad attitude is why you get no help.

Im done....

[G+_Scott W]

Carson Black Very well said Carson

[G+_Mr covert]

It's a matter of education. When you find something missing from open source project you are using, you have yourself to blame as much as anyone else using it for not adding whatever you found is missing?

[G+_Steve C]

The whole open source software thing is nothing but a huge SCAM!  It's a way for Pixhawk and 3D Robotics to avoid having to take responsibility for the crappy software that doesn't work and avoid having to provide any software at all or provide support for it!  When you look at the Pixhawk and 3DR websites they make it look like everything is just great which is a huge LIE!   The Qgroundcontrol website and all it's crazed fanboys have nothing but praise for how great the software is but there's no mention of the fact that it wouldn't run at all for a large part of 2014 until dozens of bug fixes and patches were implemented to get it going again!  I probably can't sue 3DR or Pixhawk for fraud since they didn't provide the software and I probably can't sue Qgroundcontrol either since it's not even a company, just another tab on Github so everyone escapes from responsibility this way!  Actually the crappy software was getting better until the first of the year but since then it's just got worse and hardly works at all again so I doubt there is any way to ever get a Pixhawk PX4 to fly!  My AR Drone came with software already installed and had everything it needed to fly without depending on crappy open source software that is written by someone in his mom's basement!  The AR Drone even has more features!

[G+_Steve C]

Eddie Foy:You have a bad pixhawk.  You are the only person that has probs here.  Stop your bitching about working software not being able to program a bad device.

 

So Eddie, do you have one that flies or are you just being a jerk and giving me a hard time?  I haven't yet found one in the Phoenix area but I heard rumors of one in Tucson!   If you do have one that works or know anyone who does, did you program it starting from scratch or did you use an RTF model from 3DR that already flies?

I've got a second one and that one doesn't work either, can't read the battery voltage and I can't clear all the alarms to ever get as far as trying to arm it.  You might ask why I got a second one after determining they are useless and can never fly using the crappy shareware?  Well, I had ordered it before I determined they are useless and it took a long time to arrive.  In the meantime I found the AR Drone that ACTUALLY WORKS and have been spending more time with that.