LOIT_RADIUS parameter

Blue Robotics Software
1

Our setup:
BlueOS V1.4.0-beta.17
ArduRover V4.5.7
FlightController Navigator
Frame Surface Boat

When setting our boat to loiter (“hold”), what is the max LOIT_RADIUS that we can use? The blue OS Parameters description indicates this value can ONLY be 1-20m, so what happens when this is set to 50 meters through MavLINK messages (we are using MavSDK). Is that value ignored? Or does that value become 20 internally to ardupilot and underlying code?

Thanks in advance.

2

Hi @rtcsl,

BlueOS just shares the parameter ranges specified in the firmware.

As with any programmed functionality, specifying bounds is more about defining the region where things are designed to operate, and where functionality will be maintained through future updates. Behaviour outside of that region is technically undefined, though you can read the code to get a sense of what is likely to happen for the implementation in any given release (just with no guarantees it will stay that way).

As far as I can tell there’s (currently) no special handling of LOIT_RADIUS in the firmware code to enforce its recommended operating region - it just uses the value you specify. You should be able to force out of range values in BlueOS as well (not just using MAVLink), and you could test the resulting behaviour in a SITL simulation if that’s helpful.

I would note that loitering within a 100m wide circle feels like you may be looking for some other behaviour. I’m curious what you’re hoping to achieve here - have you considered circle mode instead, or do you really only care about the vehicle staying somewhere within that large region?

The BlueOS version is largely irrelevant for firmware functionality, but I’m curious why you’re on this very old beta release (from a year ago). It’s generally recommended to only be using a beta release if you’re actively beta testing, in which case I’d expect you to be on a very recent beta (e.g. 1.4.4-beta.7, or possibly 1.5.0-beta.36).

If you’re not beta testing, is there a reason you’re not using the latest stable release (v1.4.3), or at least a stable release?