clover/docs/en/firmware.md

Pixhawk / Pixracer firmware flashing

Pixhawk or Pixracer firmware may be flashed using QGroundControl or command line utilities.

Modified firmware for Clover

It is advisable to use a specialized build of PX4 with the necessary fixes and better defaults for the Clover drone. Use the latest stable release in our GitHub repository with the word clover, for example, v1.8.2-clover.5.

Latest stable release: .

• Firmware for Pixracer (Clover 4 / Clover 3) – px4fmu-v4_default.px4.
• Firmware for Pixhawk (Clover 2) – px4fmu-v2_lpe.px4.

<script type="text/javascript"> // get latest release from GitHub fetch('https://api.github.com/repos/CopterExpress/Firmware/releases').then(function(res) { return res.json(); }).then(function(data) { // look for stable release let stable; for (let release of data) { let clover = (release.name.indexOf('clover') != -1) || (release.name.indexOf('clever') != -1); if (clover && !release.prerelease && !release.draft) { stable = release; break; } } let el = document.querySelector('#download-latest-release'); el.innerHTML = stable.name; el.href = stable.html_url; document.querySelector('#release').style.display = 'block'; for (let asset of stable.assets) { console.log(asset.name); if (asset.name == 'px4fmu-v4_default.px4') { document.querySelector('#firmware-pixracer').href = asset.browser_download_url; } else if (asset.name == 'px4fmu-v2_lpe.px4') { document.querySelector('#firmware-pixhawk').href = asset.browser_download_url; } } }); </script>

QGroundControl

Open the Firmware section in QGroundControl. Then, connect your Pixhawk or Pixracer via USB.

Choose PX4 Flight Stack. If you wish to install the official firmware (with EKF2 for Pixhawk), choose "Standard version". In order to flash custom firmware, choose "Custom firmware file..." and click OK.

Warning

Do not unplug your flight controller from USB during flashing!

Firmware variants

The name of the firmware file contains information about the target flight controller and build variant. For example:

• px4fmu-v4_default.px4 — firmware for Pixhawk with EKF2 and LPE (Clover 3 / Clover 4).
• px4fmu-v2_lpe.px4 — firmware for Pixhawk with LPE (Clover 2).
• px4fmu-v2_default.px4 — firmware for Pixhawk with EKF2.
• px4fmu-v3_default.px4 — firmware for newer Pixhawk versions (rev. 3 chip, see Fig. + Bootloader v5) with EKF2 and LPE.

Note

In order to flash the px4fmu-v3_default.px4 file, you may need to use the force_upload command in the command prompt.

Command prompt

PX4 may be compiled from the source and automatically flashed to the flight controller from the command prompt.

To do this, clone the PX4 repository:

git clone https://github.com/PX4/Firmware.git

Select the appropriate version (tag) using git checkout. Then compile and upload the firmware:

make px4fmu-v4_default upload

Where px4fmu-v4_default is the required firmware variant.

In order to upload the v3 firmware to Pixhawk, you may need to use the force_upload option:

make px4fmu-v3_default force-upload