PX4
[Discussion] Integrated companion/fc pulled out
@bkueng Following our discussion on "longer term having a section on integrated FC/Companion" I thought I'd have a look at what it might look like. Essentially this makes the integrated fc/companion a peer of autopilots and cross links to the companion section for the software setup.
- Is this OK/better/worth doing now.
- Are there any other solutions like this you know of?
I am not 100% convinced of this; after all, there are other solutions that are "advanced", like running PX4 on a companion. Also it gets complicated if we start having non-Pixhawk FCs in these things.
Another possibility is to do (something like) this:
ie. moving FC and FC/Companion as the top level and having peripherals etc underneath. I don't think we need to consider this right now.
Thanks @bkueng . PX4 hasn't really "committed" to the companion software stack; my thinking was that this is not needed yet, but if I do this it might help encourage adoption? Make the hardware accessible and the software standardization will come?
Option 2 is also good, and long term better. I'll leave this open in draft and perhaps look at this again.
Are there any other solutions like this you know of?
Skynode :)
Well, it's custom PX4 build with a sandboxed proprietary container for software development. So you might argue that it isn't "PX4" at all from a development point of view. I guess this might be something you had in a "Turnkey companion solutions" section? More for marketing that PX4 is used than for actual PX4 development. Bit like the things in this list: http://docs.px4.io/main/en/complete_vehicles/#fully-assembled-custom-px4
FYI @julianoes , just added you in case you had interest/thoughts on companion computer structuring. I'm also leaning towards "option 2" in the description.
Well, it's custom PX4 build with a sandboxed proprietary container for software development. So you might argue that it isn't "PX4" at all from a development point of view. I guess this might be something you had in a "Turnkey companion solutions" section? More for marketing that PX4 is used than for actual PX4 development. Bit like the things in this list: http://docs.px4.io/main/en/complete_vehicles/#fully-assembled-custom-px4
You can use it with upstream PX4, and some people do. But yes the companion is currently largely proprietary.
