PX4 has several interfaces allowing for integration with vision based navigation systems. These are both for vehicle state estimation via camera based odometry systems, and for route replanning and emergency collision prevention from sensors such as stereo cameras or LIDAR. First this presentation will cover how these interfaces work, the different options available, and how to connect to them from ROS. Next will be covered the reference ROS implementations for using these interfaces, specifically PX4 Avoidance for obstacle avoidance and collision prevention, and Auterion/VIO for connecting an Intel T265 VIO camera. Together these allow off the shelf hardware to be used for use cases such as position controlled indoor flight and obstacle avoidance while flying autonomous missions. Finally, the presentation will close with ideas for future ROS projects which could use these interfaces, and how ROS2 changes the interfacing paradigm completely.
