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Toolchain Long-Term Support for Flight Controller Introduction

1. Pixhawk 6C & 6C Mini

The Pixhawk 6C is the latest upgrade in Holybro’s successful Pixhawk® (flight) controller series, featuring an STM32H7 CPU, IMU vibration isolation, redundant IMUs, and IMU heating functionality. It comes in two form factors. The 6C Mini is a compact version with built-in PWM motor/servo headers, though it has slightly fewer ports. Its key features include:

  1. High-performance STM32H743 processor, offering stronger computational capability and larger memory.
  2. New high-cost-performance design with a compact form factor.
  3. A newly designed integrated vibration isolation system that filters high-frequency vibrations and reduces noise, ensuring accurate sensor readings.
  4. IMU temperature control via onboard heating resistors, maintaining the IMU at its optimal operating temperature.

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2. RflySim Configuration

If using the Pixhawk 6X flight controller hardware, the recommended software installation and configuration is shown in the figure below; the hardware connection configuration remains identical to that of the Pixhawk 2.4.8.

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  • Use the px4_fmu-v6c_default compilation command.
  • Select “7”: Firmware version PX4 1.13.2.
  • Select “1”: WinWSL compiler.

3. Official Firmware and Restoration

Open QGroundControl (QGC) and navigate to the following interface.

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Connect the flight controller to your computer. In the pop-up interface, select Firmware and choose to flash the firmware: px4_fmu-v6c_default.px4

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Wait for the firmware flashing process to complete.

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Restore the flight controller parameters to their default firmware values.

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Set the airframe to HIL Quadcopter X, scroll to the top, and click Apply and Restart. Wait for the restart to complete.

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Connect the RC receiver (note the wiring sequence) and power on the remote controller. Calibrate the remote controller as shown in the figure.

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Set the flight modes as shown below.

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Under the Safety section, enable only Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulation.

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4. Launch Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Simulation

After completing the above setup, close QGC. Run the "[Installation Directory]\Desktop\RflyTools\HITLRun.lnk" script as Administrator. In the pop-up cmd window, enter the flight controller’s port number (e.g., 4).

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Wait until the bottom-left corner of CopterSim displays: PX4: GPS 3D fixed & EKF initialization finished.

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Disarm the aircraft via channel CH5 on the remote controller, and then take off and control the aircraft flight.

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