Navigation Input API

External navigation interfaces allow you to send position measurements to the drone you are controlling. You provide an additional source of localisation data to fuse into the state estimator onboard the Flight Management Unit (FMU), and actively affect the drone's estimated position.

There are currently two interfaces for sending external position measurements to the FMU: one for global positions, and another for local positions.

Global Navigation

The global navigation interface allows you to update the estimated global position of your drone by sending global measurements to the FMU. A global position measurement consists of the timestamp of the sample, a horizontal position measurement (latitude and longitude), a vertical position measurement (altitude), as well as their respective horizontal and vertical position error variances. You can choose to send just a horizontal position, just a vertical position, or both.

Global Navigation

Local Navigation

The local navigation interface allows you to update the estimated local position of your drone by sending local measurements to the FMU. A local position measurement consists of the timestamp of the sample, a 3D position, a 3D velocity and an attitude quaternion, as well as their respective error variances. You can choose which combination of these measurement fields to send, depending on what measurements you have available.

Local Navigation