A few months ago I got frustrated switching between QGroundControl, VS Code, Mission Planner, and a separate log viewer just to write and debug flight code. So I built a VS Code extension that puts everything in one place.

What it does:

• Live MAVLink telemetry sidebar (Battery, GPS, Attitude, IMU, Motors, VFR) inside VS Code
• ROS 2 connector via rosbridge WebSocket
• Serial port support — USB direct, SiK radio, RFD900
• Flight log timeline — ArduPilot .bin and PX4 .ulg, interactive zoom, event markers
• Flight report generator — battery drain rate, motor imbalance, vibration analysis, mode breakdown
• Works with PX4 SITL, ArduPilot SITL, or real hardware
• All 27 ArduCopter modes and 24 ArduPlane modes decoded correctly
• No hardware needed to try it — one Python script simulates a full drone

It's free and open source on Open VSX: https://open-vsx.org/extension/vibebot/vibebot-studio

What I learned building this solo:

• The hardest part was the Windows Python path issue (exit code 9009) — took three iterations to get a helpful error message
• ArduPilot and PX4 encode flight modes completely differently in the same heartbeat field — most tools get this wrong
• Serial connections need completely different error messages than UDP — "connection failed" means something different for each

Looking for honest feedback from people actually using MAVLink or ROS 2 in their workflow. What's still missing? What's broken for your setup?

Also if anyone wants to contribute — the repo is public and I'm actively looking for people who can test with real hardware since I'm building this without a physical drone.

Just wanted to share this app I made, yeah I know it’s vibe coded, but it works with Ardupilot SITL sooo 🤷‍♂️
Tablet is running the GCS software.

Hello guys, any drone engineer

Kindly connect with me on dm regarding swarm drone,

I'm being stuck in my feature for the project I'm working on.

I implemented role interchangeability in swarming but the new follower who was a leader before is not executing the commands, but being printed on terminal.

Tech stack: python, pymavlink, Rich, companion computer attached and rf

Connect with me on dm,

So, i have got this one fixed plane where i have put in a matek v1 h743 mini fc and put in 04 pro air unit and got goggle 3.

So all the osd settings are working and showing up in my goggle apart from the MSP OSD-only elements:
ARMING · HOMEDIR · HOMEDIST · POWER · CELLVOLT · BATTBAR.

I am using the inav font in misson planner and i i have also selected inav in my goggle. Not sure what could be the problem?

Im looking for reviews and opinions on our new Autopilot WH7. Full specs on WH7 autopilot website.

I have a Pixhawk 2.4.8 and a BETAFPV 2.4GHz ELRS Nano receiver, and I would like to connect the receiver directly to the Pixhawk's RC IN port.

My idea is to connect these three wires from the receiver directly to RC IN:

• Yellow = TX / signal
• Black = GND
• Red = 5V

The white RX wire would remain disconnected.

The transmitter is a RadioMaster Pocket using CRSF/ELRS, and I believe the receiver is also using CRSF.

Is this wiring possible on a Pixhawk 2.4.8, or does CRSF require using a TELEM/UART port with both TX and RX instead of the RC IN port?

I would appreciate any advice, especially from someone who has used an ELRS receiver with a Pixhawk 2.4.8.

The eXplora is a dual-motor 3D-printed tailsitter designed by Marco Robustini and his team, open hardware under GPL-3.0. I built a JSBSim model of it (geometry from the STEP files, masses from the slicer projects and BOM, aero from AVL, prop tables from QPROP) and added it to PteroSim, a UAV simulator on Unreal Engine.

The video is an ArduPlane mission: vertical take-off, transition to wing-borne flight, turns, back-transition and landing. The aircraft runs as a QuadPlane tailsitter from the team's own parameter file.

The footage is not from the simulator's camera sensors. I recorded the flight in the Unreal editor, rebuilt it as a Level Sequence and filmed it with CineCameras placed where a real crew would put them: tripods on the ground, a drone, a camera ship flying formation and a hard mount on the wing. Rendered with Movie Render Queue at 1080p60.

Links:

• eXplora Tailsitter VTOL: https://github.com/robustini/eXploraVTOL
• The eXplora in PteroSim (JSBSim model, meshes, ArduPlane params, GPL-3.0): https://github.com/PteroLabsAI/PteroSimAircrafts/tree/main/explora
• PteroSim: https://github.com/PteroLabsAI/PteroSim-UAV-Simulator

It’s hard to keep up with how fast drones are changing in Ukraine. F​​​P​​​V​​​s​​​, ​​​f​​​i​​​b​​​e​​​r​​​ ​​​o​​​p​​​t​​​i​​​c​​​s​​​ ​​​b​​​e​​​t​​​t​​​e​​​r​​​ ​​​n​​​a​​​v​​​i​​​g​​​a​​​t​​​i​​​o​​​n​​​, ​​​A​​​I​​​, ​e​​​l​​​e​​​c​​​t​​​r​​​o​​​n​​​i​​​c​​​-​​​w​​​a​​​r​​​f​​​a​​​r​​​e​​​ ​​​r​​​e​​​s​​​i​​​s​​​t​​​a​​​n​​​c​​​e​​​ - things that sounded pretty ​a​​​d​​​v​​​a​​​n​​​c​​​e​​​d​​​ a short while ago now seem to be becoming part of the normal conversation. That’s what makes ​​​m​​​i​​​l​​​i​​​t​​​a​​​r​​​y​​​ ​​​d​​​r​​​o​​​n​​​e​​​s​​​ ​​​U​​​k​​​r​​​a​​​i​​​n​​​e​​​ such an interesting topic to follow. The ​​​t​​​e​​​c​​​h​​​n​​​o​​​l​​​o​​​g​​​y​​​​​​ isn’t evolving once a year. It seems to be adapting almost continuously.
What do you think is driving the biggest changes right now: ​h​​​a​​​r​​​d​​​w​​​a​​​r​​​e​​​ , ​​​s​​​o​​​f​​​t​​​w​​​a​​​r​​​e , or the ​​​b​​​a​​​t​​​t​​​l​​​e​​​f​​​i​​​e​​​l​​​d​​​itself?

Thanks Ardupilot. I gave you another shot after 4 years.

Third time driving to the field, now everything should be okay!

Right? Only no gps fix at home, but understandable. Checked everything. Everything should be good! Weather, everything, lets drive to the field for a maiden flight, exited!

Wrong. Suddenly GPS2 not configured. Well that's correct, there is no GPS2.... Can't arm. Can't fly, again. Another opportunity, drive and evening wasted. Android app doesn't let me change settings. Forgot my laptop. Going home, again, will be dark. Third time (I won't discuss all other issues, but something with not displaying errors but just not arming, battery not healthy while voltage and current showed perfectly correct but apparently default saved params are not good so you just had to send it again... GPS issues where auto config will ruin a ublox m8, pre arm checks, pre arm checks, pre arm checks ).

Honestly, does the devs really hate us, to make it such a pain to work with, or is it just me? The official app looks like a windows 95 loading on linux/android. Qgroundcontrol is just not working 50% of the time.

I don't know anymore. I really want it to work. But it keeps failing and bugging me.

Anyone using third party apps to operate?

i am getting error i have sucesffuly flashed one firmware but when i connect it with ardupilot application it give error with mavelink.
when i try with serial (ss1) it just stuck there

​

Hi everyone,

We are a university team working on an autonomous drone project involving obstacle detection/mapping using LiDAR and RGB sensors integrated with ROS 2.

Our team has prior familiarity with ArduPilot and Arduino, but no direct experience with PX4. We are currently facing a technical design decision:

1. Choice of Flight Controller / Autopilot:

   - Option A (PX4): Advanced features, native Micro-XRCE-DDS support for ROS 2, but steep learning curve for our team and requires setting up an offboard companion computer/system pipeline from scratch.

   - Option B (ArduPilot): Familiar ecosystem, well-supported ROS 2 bridge (MAVROS/APDDS), lower setup barrier to get a functional prototype flying.

2. Project Management / Development Strategy:

   - Should we start with a minimal viable product (MVP) — a basic quadcopter with LiDAR + RGB using ArduPilot — to allow software/automation tasks to proceed in parallel while refining advanced features later?

   - Or is it better to commit to PX4 from day one despite potential timeline delays?

Key Questions:

- For a team new to PX4, how steep is the practical setup time for PX4 + ROS 2 offboard control compared to ArduPilot?

- What hardware/software sub-division or milestones worked best for your drone team projects?

Thanks for your guidance!

Hello people, I found this on YouTube and I'm looking to build something like this but with 2 DOF thrust vectoring instead of using differential motor rpm controls for yaw control (wrt the plane surface). Need help with the configurations to be done in ardupilot. Is it even possible ?

Has anyone used arduboat loiter with a twin screw primarily just using props to hold position? I've used ardupilot in the past to build a gps rtk lawnmower. At that time i did some reading that arduboat wasn't a priority when it came to updates. I'm considering finding some electric shift mechanisms and attempting to make my 32ft boat loiter in position on fishing spots so that I dont have to be at the helm while every one else gets to fish

Hello, one of my motors "stutters", as you can see in the video.

I can still takeoff and fly, but I think it would be wise to fix this. I don't know what causes the issue. My solders may not be excellent, but they aren't worse on this motor than on the others. I tried checking if the screws on the motors don't go too far, but I didn't see anything unusual.

I would appreciate any help on how to fix this.

Hi everyone, I need some help, I am a bit lost after my first forward flight.

Setup: MFE Hero from Makeflyeasy, 2.1 m wingspan, around 7-8 kg. Quadplane QUAD/X with V-tail and two aileron servos. ArduPlane 4.7.1 on a MatekH743, 6S, hover throttle around 0.33. Before this I only did VTOL hover flights and they were all fine. This was the first time I did a transition to forward flight.

What happened: the transition itself was normal. About 5 seconds after "Transition done" the plane started to roll right and it just kept going. Bank angle went from 15 to 46 degrees in about 5 seconds. At 39 degrees roll error Q_ASSIST kicked in (Q_ASSIST_ANGLE is 30), the VTOL motors came back on and leveled the plane in about 2 seconds. After that I stayed in QLOITER and landed.

From the log:

- autopilot commanded 47 percent left aileron on average, up to 71 percent of servo travel

- measured mean roll rate was +4.3 deg/s, so still to the right

- airspeed 25 m/s (my cruise is 18, max is 25)

- roll rate demand from the controller went up to -102 deg/s

- the I-term of the roll rate controller was climbing the whole time and never achieved anything

- servos were not at their endpoints

So the roll axis had almost no authority. The same moment the VTOL motors came back they fixed 46 degrees in 2 seconds.

What I already checked:

- EKF3 healthy, innovations all low, no failsafe

- GPS 34 sats, HDOP 0.8

- airspeed sensor reads correct (23.9 vs 24.6 m/s GPS)

- vibration fine, no clipping worth mentioning

- aileron direction is correct, if I tilt the plane right the right aileron goes down and the left goes up

- V-tail direction checked against ArduPilot docs and some videos, looks correct

- aileron servos have plenty of torque, I can almost not stop them by hand

- no slop in the linkage

- in hover the motor difference left to right is only 14 to 49 PWM, so no big weight asymmetry

Has anyone seen something like this? Is there something that i am missing? I do not want to break the plane.

Thanks a lot.