MAVlink

MAVlink

Before waiting for a heartbeat message, it’s essential to send a heartbeat message. This “initializes” the MAVlink communication system.

Sending heartbeat message

from pyMAVlink import mavutil
import time

# Create a connection to the MAVlink device
# For USB, use '/dev/ttyUSB0' (Linux) or 'comX' (Windows).
connection = mavutil.MAVlink_connection('/dev/ttyUSB0', baud=115200)

# Function to send a heartbeat
def send_heartbeat():
    # Create the heartbeat message
    connection.mav.heartbeat_send(
        type=mavutil.MAVlink.MAV_TYPE_GCS,         # MAV_TYPE_GCS for Ground Control Station
        autopilot=mavutil.MAVlink.MAV_AUTOPILOT_INVALID,
        base_mode=0,
        custom_mode=0,
        system_status=mavutil.MAVlink.MAV_STATE_STANDBY
    )

# Send a heartbeat every second
while True:
    send_heartbeat()
    print("Heartbeat sent")
    time.sleep(1)

Receiving a Heartbeat

from pymavlink import mavutil

# Create a connection to the MAVlink device
connection = mavutil.mavutil_connection('/dev/ttyUSB0', baud=115200)

# Wait for a heartbeat from the MAVlink device
print("Waiting for heartbeat...")
heartbeat = connection.wait_heartbeat(timeout=5)

if heartbeat:
    print(f"Heartbeat received from system {heartbeat.get_srcSystem()}, component {heartbeat.get_srcComponent()}")
else:
    print("No heartbeat received within the timeout period.")

MAVlink Shell terminal

The MAVlink Shell is an NSH console that can be accessed via MAVlink over serial (USB/Telemetry) or WiFi (UDP/TCP) links (in particular, on NuttX-based systems like: Pixhawk, Pixracer, etc.).

Force start gps node :

gps start -d /dev/ttyS0 -b 460800 -e /dev/ttyS7 -g 460800 -p nmea

MAVLink Shell

Useful protocols

MAV_CMD_NAV_LOITER_UNLIM

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