Software Updates - September 14 2017

No, you will still need to update the pixhawk in the same ‘upload’ manner. The firmware file can be downloaded here. Click the link, then on the page, right click and ‘save as’. Then upload that file for the pixhawk update. Sorry I forgot about this bit!

I’m glad you’re running now, thanks for the update.

The new QGC displays for input hold, gain, camera tilt, and light level are going to be great (particularly the input hold indicator!) but right now they aren’t working for me. Any tricks? The vehicle responds to these controls, but the displays in the instrument console don’t update.

Scott, you need to be running the latest ArduSub (3.5.1). Update according to the last step of the instructions here.

Thanks Jacob, that did the trick! We had just replaced our wonky Pixhawk and hadn’t yet loaded the latest ArduSub.

Unfortunately, it turns out we still can’t use the new QGC due to the video lag problems. Hoping for an eventual fix there… looking forward to video recording and the other recent improvements.

Hi Scott, what version of Windows are you using? For better video performance, you can try the tips in this forum post, or you can use this version with recording disabled.

Thanks for thetip, Jacob. However, it is still not showing current :frowning:

@305155973 did you reboot the ROV after changing the settings?

Jacob-

I tried QGC version “3.2.4 BlueRobotics Rev1” on three separate laptops- two running Windows 10 and one running Windows 7. The video “lag” looked like a variable speed output, where the video would fall behind by 2-4 seconds, then race to catch up to real-time, then fall behind again.

I just tried the version you linked above, “3.2.4 BlueRobotics Rev1 (Recording Disabled)”, and the video lag is different; it is a constant-speed display, but lagged by something like 0.75 - 1 second. By comparison, QGC v 1.1.2.5 gives us no visible lag or stutter, so that’s what we are currently using.

I also tried the tips from Bo (just on one Win10 laptop): there was no effect of battery power, no effect of changing font size, and the combinations of Nvidia settings I experimented with did not help. My settings did not exactly match Bo’s recommendations, in that there were program-specific options for designating the 3D processor, but not program-specific options for designating the PhysX processor… I’ll keep exploring that. But, the smooth and real-time performance we get from the old QGC makes me think it’s not just our hardware.

Ok Scott, can you get in touch with me at support@bluerobotics.com? It would be great if you could run some test for me.

Hi Jacob, a great update thanks. All went well except for a “No IO thread heartbeat” error. Replaced the PixHawk card with a new 16gb Sandisk and is all working well now, thanks a lot.

Hi Jacob, I want to read the data raspberry Pi received from QGC. I wonder if there is anyway for custmers to know how the raspberry Pi read the data in system. All I can find on web is an img only. Is there any code or instruction to explain how the img works.

Hi @ggttkl, You will need to use MAVProxy for that, take a look in our forum, probably you will be able to find out a lot of useful information already.

About the image that you are talking about, is it the software diagram ?

If yes, you can see MAVProxy as a man-in-the-middle between the pixhawk and QGC.

@ggttkl, The image has a line in /etc/rc.local that will start the script at ~/companion/.companion.rc at boot. This script starts MAVproxy, the video streaming process, and a few other utilities. You can refer to the code here.

Thanks for your reply. It seems that Ardupilot frame and Ardusub frame have the same companion code. If yes, the code you provided is exactly what I want. Thank you again!

Our companion is not the same as the other ardupilot vehicles. GitHub - bluerobotics/companion: Companion computer startup scripts and examples

1 Like

Hello,

Is this still the latest version of Ground control?

I’ve had some difficulty tracking this down. It might be beneficial to users to have a page that lists all the versions of ground control, and the latest one. It would also be good to have the version included in the name of the file so I know which one I’m downloading. As it is I have to navigate through a bunch of forums and try and find the latest file.

Here is a list of all of our QGC releases and available downloads: Releases · bluerobotics/qgroundcontrol · GitHub

Jacob-
Could you also put the recording-disabled versions there? I am still struggling with video lag and relying on the disabled version. As it is, getting a new laptop set up to test is quite an exercise in searching old forums.

Hi Scott, I have not produced such a version for some time. The issue has been resolved in the current release software. You can find QGC in the link above, and check the 192.168.2.2:2770/system page for available updates on the ROV.