PX4 contains a generic mount/gimbal control driver with different input and output methods. Any input can be selected to drive any output.
First, make sure the driver runs, using vmount start, then configure its parameters.
The parameters are described in src/drivers/vmount/vmount_params.c. The most important ones are the input (MNT_MODE_IN) and the output (MNT_MODE_OUT) mode. By default, the input is disabled. Any input method can be selected to drive any of the available outputs.
If a mavlink input mode is selected, manual RC input can be enabled in
addition (MNT_MAN_CONTROL). It is active as long as no mavlink message is received yet, or mavlink explicitly requests RC mode.
The gimbal uses the control group #2 (see Mixing and Actuators). This is the mixer configuration:
# roll
M: 1
O: 10000 10000 0 -10000 10000
S: 2 0 10000 10000 0 -10000 10000
# pitch
M: 1
O: 10000 10000 0 -10000 10000
S: 2 1 10000 10000 0 -10000 10000
# yaw
M: 1
O: 10000 10000 0 -10000 10000
S: 2 2 10000 10000 0 -10000 10000
Add those you need to your main or auxiliary mixer.
The driver provides a simple test command - it needs to be stopped first with vmount stop. The following describes testing in SITL, but the commands also work on a real device.
Start the simulation with (no parameter needs to be changed for that):
make posix gazebo_typhoon_h480
Make sure it's armed, eg. with commander takeoff, then use for example
vmount test yaw 30
to control the gimbal. Note that the simulated gimbal stabilizes itself, so if you send mavlink commands, set the stabilize flags to false.
