PX4 User Guide
  • Introduction
  • Getting Started
    • Basic Concepts
    • Vehicles/Frames
    • Flight Controllers
    • Sensors
    • Radio Systems
    • Flight Modes
    • Vehicle Status Notifications
      • LED Meanings
      • Tune/Sound Meanings
      • Preflight Checks
    • Payloads & Cameras
    • Flight Reporting
  • Basic Assembly
    • Mounting the Flight Controller
    • Mounting the GPS/Compass
    • Vibration Isolation
    • Cable Wiring
    • CUAV Pixhawk V6X Wiring QuickStart
    • CUAV V5+ Wiring Quickstart
    • CUAV V5 nano Wiring Quickstart
    • Holybro Pixhawk 6C Wiring Quickstart
    • Holybro Pixhawk 6X Wiring Quickstart
    • Holybro Pixhawk 5X Wiring Quickstart
    • Holybro Pixhawk 4 Wiring Quickstart - Discontinued
    • Holybro Pixhawk 4 Mini Wiring Quickstart - Discontinued
    • Holybro Durandal Wiring Quickstart
    • Holybro Pix32 v5 Wiring Quickstart
    • Cube Wiring Quickstart
    • Pixracer Wiring Quickstart
    • mRo (3DR) Pixhawk Wiring Quickstart
  • Standard Configuration
    • Firmware
    • Airframe
    • Sensor Orientation
    • Compass
    • Gyroscope
    • Accelerometer
    • Airspeed
    • Level Horizon Calibration
    • Radio Setup
    • Joystick Setup
    • Flight Modes
    • Battery
    • Safety
      • Failsafe Simulation
    • ESC Calibration
    • Actuators
    • Autotune
  • Vehicle Types & Setup
    • Multicopters
      • Multicopter Config/Tuning
        • MC Filter/Control Latency Tuning
        • MC PID Tuning (Manual/Basic)
        • MC PID Tuning Guide (Manual/Advanced)
        • MC Setpoint Tuning (Trajectory Generator)
          • MC Jerk-limited Type Trajectory
        • Multicopter Racer Setup
      • X500 v2 (Pixhawk 6C)
      • X500 v2 (Pixhawk 5X)
      • X500 (Pixhawk 4)
      • S500 V2 (Pixhawk 4)
      • DJI F450 (CUAV v5+)
      • DJI F450 (CUAV v5 nano)
      • QAV250 (Pixhawk4 Mini) - Discontinued
      • DJI F450 + RTK (Pixhawk 3 Pro)
      • QAV250 (Pixhawk Mini)
      • QAV-R 5" Racer (Pixracer)
      • Omnicopter
    • Planes
      • Fixed Wing Config/Tuning
        • Fixedwing PID Tuning Guide
        • Fixedwing Advanced Tuning Guide
        • Fixedwing Trimming Guide
      • Reptile Dragon 2 (ARK6X)
      • Turbo Timber Evolution (Pixhawk 4 Mini)
      • Wing Wing Z84 (Pixracer)
    • VTOL
      • VTOL Config/Tuning
        • QuadPlane Configuration
        • Back-transition Tuning
        • VTOL w/o Airspeed Sensor
        • VTOL Weather Vane
      • Standard VTOL
        • FunCub QuadPlane (Pixhawk)
        • Ranger QuadPlane (Pixhawk)
        • Falcon Vertigo QuadPlane (Dropix)
      • Tailsitter VTOL
        • Build: TBS Caipiroshka Tailsitter Build (Pixracer)
      • Tiltrotor VTOL
        • Build: Convergence Tiltrotor (Pixfalcon)
    • Airships (experimental)
    • Autogyros (experimental)
      • ThunderFly Auto-G2 (Holybro pix32)
    • Balloons (experimental)
    • Helicopter (experimental)
      • Helicopter Config/Tuning
    • Rovers (experimental)
      • Traxxas Stampede
    • Submarines (experimental)
      • BlueROV2
    • Airframes Reference
  • Flying
    • First Flight Guidelines
    • Flying 101
    • Missions
      • Package Delivery Mission
    • GeoFence
    • Safety Point Planning
    • Flight Modes
      • Position Mode (MC)
      • Altitude Mode (MC)
      • Manual/Stabilized Mode (MC)
      • Acro Mode (MC)
      • Orbit Mode (MC)
      • Position Mode (FW)
      • Altitude Mode (FW)
      • Stabilized Mode (FW)
      • Acro Mode (FW)
      • Manual Mode (FW)
      • Takeoff Mode
      • Land Mode
      • Return Mode
      • Hold Mode
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      • Follow Me Mode
      • Offboard Mode
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    • Complete Vehicles
      • ModalAI Starling
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    • Flight Controllers (Autopilots)
      • Pixhawk Series
        • Silicon Errata
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        • CUAV Pixhawk V6X (FMUv6X)
        • Holybro Pixhawk 6X (FMUv6X)
        • Holybro Pixhawk 6C (FMUv6C)
        • Holybro Pixhawk 6C Mini(FMUv6C)
        • Holybro Pix32 v6 (FMUv6C)
        • Holybro Pixhawk 5X (FMUv5X)
        • Holybro Pixhawk 4 (FMUv5) - Discontinued
        • Holybro Pixhawk 4 Mini (FMUv5) - Discontinued
        • Drotek Pixhawk 3 Pro (FMUv4pro)
        • mRo Pixracer (FMUv4)
        • Hex Cube Black (FMUv3)
        • mRo Pixhawk (FMUv3)
        • Holybro Pixhawk Mini (FMUv3) - Discontinued
      • Manufacturer-Supported Autopilots
        • AirMind MindPX
        • AirMind MindRacer
        • ARK Electronics ARKV6X
        • CUAV X7
        • CUAV Nora
        • CUAV V5+ (FMUv5)
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        • CubePilot Cube Yellow (CubePilot)
        • Holybro Kakute H7v2
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        • Holybro Kakute H7
        • Holybro Durandal
        • Holybro Pix32 v5
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        • NXP RDDRONE-FMUK66 FMU
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        • ThePeach FCC-K1
        • ThePeach FCC-R1
      • Experimental Autopilots
        • BeagleBone Blue
        • Raspberry Pi 2/3 Navio2
        • Raspberry Pi 2/3/4 PilotPi
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          • PilotPi with Ubuntu Server
      • Discontinued Autopilots/Vehicles
        • Drotek Dropix (FMUv2)
        • Omnibus F4 SD
        • BetaFPV Beta75X 2S Brushless Whoop
        • Bitcraze Crazyflie 2.0
        • Aerotenna OcPoC-Zynq Mini
        • CUAV v5
        • Holybro Kakute F7 (Discontinued)
        • Holybro Pixfalcon
        • Holybro pix32 (FMUv2)
        • mRo AUAV-X2
        • 3DR Pixhawk 1
        • Snapdragon Flight
        • Intel® Aero RTF Drone (Discontinued)
      • Pixhawk Autopilot Bus (PAB) & Carriers
        • ARK Electronics Pixhawk Autopilot Bus Carrier
    • Flight Controller Peripherals
      • ADSB/FLARM (Traffic Avoidance)
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      • Camera
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      • ESCs & Motors
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        • VESC
      • TBS Crossfire (CRSF) Telemetry
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      • Grippers
        • Servo Gripper
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      • Precision Landing
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      • Satellite Coms (Iridium/RockBlock)
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          • 3DR Telemetry Wifi (Discontinued)
        • Microhard Serial Telemetry Radio
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        • CUAV P8 Telemetry Radio
        • HolyBro XBP9X - Discontinued
      • RTK GPS
        • ARK RTK GPS
        • RTK GPS Heading with Dual u-blox F9P
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        • CubePilot Here+ (Discontined)
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On this page
  • Introduction
  • Preconditions
  • Tuning Procedure
  1. Vehicle Types & Setup
  2. Multicopters
  3. Multicopter Config/Tuning

MC PID Tuning (Manual/Basic)

PreviousMC Filter/Control Latency TuningNextMC PID Tuning Guide (Manual/Advanced)

Last updated 1 year ago

This tutorial explains how to manually tune the PID loops on PX4 for all (Quads, Hexa, Octo etc).

:::tip is recommended for most users, as it is far faster, easier and provides good tuning for most frames. Manual tuning is recommended for frames where autotuning does not work, or where fine-tuning is essential. :::

Generally if you're using an appropriate , the default tuning should allow you to fly the vehicle safely. Tuning is recommended for all new vehicle setups to get the very best performance, because relatively small hardware and assembly changes can affect the gains required tuning gains for optimal flight. For example, different ESCs or motors change the optimal tuning gains.

Introduction

PX4 uses Proportional, Integral, Derivative (PID) controllers (these are the most widespread control technique).

The QGroundControl PID Tuning setup provides real-time plots of the vehicle setpoint and response curves. The goal of tuning is to set the P/I/D values such that the Response curve matches the Setpoint curve as closely as possible (i.e. a fast response without overshoots).

The controllers are layered, which means a higher-level controller passes its results to a lower-level controller. The lowest-level controller is the rate controller, followed by the attitude controller, and finally the velocity & position controller. The PID tuning needs to be done in this same order, starting with the rate controller, as it will affect all other controllers.

The testing procedure for each controller (rate, attitude, velocity/posibition) and axis (yaw, roll, pitch) is always the same: create a fast setpoint change by moving the sticks very rapidly and observe the response. Then adjust the sliders (as discussed below) to improve the tracking of the response to the setpoint.

:::tip

  • Rate controller tuning is the most important, and if tuned well, the other controllers often need no or only minor adjustments

  • Usually the same tuning gains can be used for roll and pitch.

  • use Acro/Stabilized/Altitude mode to tune the rate controller

Preconditions

    • Remove propellers

    • Arm the vehicle and lower the throttle to the minimum

    • Tilt the vehicle to all directions, about 60 degrees

    • Check that no motors turn off

  • Use a high-rate telemetry link such as WiFi if at all possible (a typical low-range telemetry radio is not fast enough for real-time feedback and plots). This is particularly important for the rate controller.

Tuning Procedure

The tuning procedure is:

  1. Select the Rate Controller tab.

  2. Confirm that the airmode selector is set to Disabled

  3. Set the Thrust curve value to: 0.3 (PWM, power-based controllers) or 1 (RPM-based ESCs)

    :::note For PWM, power-based and (some) UAVCAN speed controllers, the control signal to thrust relationship may not be linear. As a result, the optimal tuning at hover thrust may not be ideal when the vehicle is operating at higher thrust.

    The thrust curve value can be used to compensate for this non-linearity:

    • For RPM-based controllers, use 1 (no further tuning is required as these have a quadratic thrust curve).

  4. Set the Select Tuning radio button to: Roll.

  5. For rate controller tuning switch to Acro mode, Stabilized mode or Altitude mode (unless automatic switching is enabled).

  6. Select the Start button in order to start tracking the setpoint and response curves.

  7. Rapidly move the roll stick full range and observe the step response on the plots. :::tip Stop tracking to enable easier inspection of the plots. This happens automatically when you zoom/pan. Use the Start button to restart the plots, and Clear to reset them. :::

  8. Modify the three PID values using the sliders (for roll rate-tuning these affect MC_ROLLRATE_K, MC_ROLLRATE_I, MC_ROLLRATE_D) and observe the step response again. The values are saved to the vehicle as soon as the sliders are moved. :::note The goal is for the Response curve to match the Setpoint curve as closely as possible (i.e. a fast response without overshoots). ::: The PID values can be adjusted as follows:

    • P (proportional) or K gain:

      • increase this for more responsiveness

      • reduce if the response is overshooting and/or oscillating (up to a certain point increasing the D gain also helps).

    • D (derivative) gain:

      • this can be increased to dampen overshoots and oscillations

      • increase this only as much as needed, as it amplifies noise (and can lead to hot motors)

    • I (integral) gain:

      • used to reduce steady-state error

      • if too low, the response might never reach the setpoint (e.g. in wind)

      • if too high, slow oscillations can occur

  9. Repeat the tuning process above for the pitch and yaw:

    • Use Select Tuning radio button to select the axis to tune

    • Move the appropriate sticks (i.e. pitch stick for pitch, yaw stick for yaw).

    • For pitch tuning, start with the same values as for roll. :::tip Use the Save to Clipboard and Reset from Clipboard buttons to copy the roll settings for initial pitch settings. :::

  10. Repeat the tuning process for the attitude controller on all the axes.

  11. Repeat the tuning process for the velocity and positions controllers (on all the axes).

    • Use Position mode when tuning these controllers

    • Select the Simple position control option in the Position control mode ... selector (this allows direct control for the generation of step inputs)

All done! Remember to re-enable airmode before leaving the setup.

Use to tune the Velocity Controller and the Position Controller. Make sure to switch to the Simple position control mode so you can generate step inputs. :::

You have selected the closest matching for your vehicle. This should give you a vehicle that already flies.

You should have done an .

If using PWM outputs their minimum values should be set correctly in the . These need to be set low, but such that the motors never stop when the vehicle is armed.

This can be tested in or in :

Disable before tuning a vehicle (there is an options for this in the PID tuning screen).

:::warning Poorly tuned vehicles are likely to be unstable, and easy to crash. Make sure to have assigned a . :::

Arm the vehicle, takeoff, and hover (typically in ).

Open QGroundControl Vehicle Setup > PID Tuning

For PWM controllers, 0.3 is a good default (which may benefit from ).

For more information see the . :::

(Optionally) Select the Automatic Flight Mode Switching checkbox. This will automatically switch from to when you press the Start button

default frame configuration
ESC calibration
Acro mode
Manual/Stabilized mode
Position mode
Position mode
Stabilised mode
Autotune
Position mode
Actuator Configuration
Kill switch
QGC Rate Controller Tuning UI
QGC PID tuning: Simple control selector
QGC PID tuning: Simple control selector
QGC Rate Controller Tuning UI
further tuning
detailed PID tuning guide
multicopter setups
supported frame configuration
MC_AIRMODE