Pixhawk 6X / 5X / 6C support by Simulink

Quick question about support for newer Pixhawk hardware:

The documentation states that support is available up to Pixhawk 4. Does this mean that newer hardware (e.g. Pixhawk 6X) is not supported? Or is this just an issue of whether the hardware has been tested? According to the documentation (https://de.mathworks.com/help/supportpkg/px4/ug/supported-flight-controllers.html) there is at least the possibility to use unlisted hardware. Has anyone made any experience here?

Thank you very much for a short feedback.

[Benjamin Kelm]

I can confirm that the PX4 Matlab Support Package generally works with the Pixhawk 6X hardware board.

However, when trying out simple test scripts (like the Getting Started uORB example), we run into a flash overflow error when trying to flash:

Memory region         Used Size  Region Size  %age Used
            itcm:          0 GB        64 KB      0.00%
           flash:     1973557 B      1920 KB    100.38%
           dtcm1:          0 GB        64 KB      0.00%
           dtcm2:          0 GB        64 KB      0.00%
            sram:       78436 B       512 KB     14.96%
...
           sram4:          2 KB        64 KB      3.13%
           bbram:          0 GB         4 KB      0.00c:/px4_cygwin/toolchain/gcc-arm/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/7.3.1/../../../../arm-none-eabi/bin/ld.exe: px4_fmu-v6x_default.elf section `.text' will not fit in region `flash'
c:/px4_cygwin/toolchain/gcc-arm/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/7.3.1/../../../../arm-none-eabi/bin/ld.exe: region `flash' overflowed by 7477 bytes
collect2.exe: error: ld returned 1 exit status
%
PX4 Cygwin returned an error of 1
"

We have tried to edit the CMakefile (to exclude certain sensors etc.) like detailed here, yet ran into problems, because of dependencies in the code.

I would greatly appreaciate any help!

[Rasmus]

Did you manage to solve the issue?

[Arun Mathamkode]

Fash overflow issues are seen with Pixhawk 6x while deployment, to resolve this you can consider manually removing unused modules from the cmake file. For example, if you are working with a multi-copter, you can consider removing fixed-wing controllers and related modules and vice-versa.

[Benjamin Kelm]

@Rasmus Yes, we managed to compile a firmware which is just using 92% or so of the flash memory, allowing for sufficient memory for custom applications. Just as @Arun Mathamkode stated, try to deactivate certain modules in the cmake.

Answer 1

[Ankur Bose]

Pixhawk 6x can be used with AV Toolbox Support Package for PX4 Autopilots in R2022b and R2023a. Follow the steps mentioned here.

Answer 2

[Arun Mathamkode]

Flash overflow issues are seen with Pixhawk 6x during deployment, to resolve this you can consider manually removing unused modules from the cmake file. For example, if you are working with a multi-copter, you can consider removing fixed-wing controllers and related modules and vice-versa.

Answer 3

[Arun Mathamkode]

Even though some of the Pixhawk standard boards are not among the officially supported boards from PX4 support package, There are options provided to use those boards with PX4Support package. To use these boards, select "My board is not listed here" in hardware setup screen (instead of selecting one of the supported boards) and use the Target Hardware as PX4 Pixhawk Series in Simulink. Note that, the complete functionality is not tested with any boards which are not listed, but mostly it should work. Highly recommend using R2022b when you are using these option. For example, refer this documentation on how to use Cube orange board with PX4 Support package.