Software

In short, the software stack consists of two devices, the VOXL and the NUC, connected via Ethernet so that ROS can communicate between devices.

Main Software Components

PX4 Platform

The VOXL Flight's software stack is based on the PX4 flight stack. For a beginner guide, see this guide by PX4.

In short, this bundle includes the following

• PX4 Autopilot
• QGroundControl (QGC)
• MAVSDK (communication between QGC and flight controller using MAVLink protocol)

ROS

ROS is a flexible software framework to allow different compartmentalized processes for robotics.

PANTHER

The Planner software is based on the MIT-ACL's PANTHER.

Software Versions

Operating Systems

The VOXL Flight uses the system image for SDK version V0.9.5, loaded onto the VOXL using the SDK Upgrade instructions.

The NUC is flashed with the standard Ubuntu 20.04 image.

ROS

The NUC uses ROS Noetic while the VOXL's image (see OS section) comes bundled with ROS Indigo. The two versions are both ROS 1, and as such are generally compatible.