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
      • Mission Mode
      • Follow Me Mode
      • Offboard Mode
    • Terrain Following/Holding
  • Flight Log Analysis
    • Log Analysis using Flight Review
    • Log Analysis using PlotJuggler
  • Advanced Configuration
    • Finding/Updating Parameters
    • Full Parameter Reference
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    • Flight Termination Configuration
    • Bootloader Flashing onto Betaflight Systems
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    • Complete Vehicles
      • ModalAI Starling
      • PX4 Vision Kit
      • MindRacer BNF & RTF
        • MindRacer 210
        • NanoMind 110
      • Holybro Kopis 2
      • Bitcraze Crazyflie 2.1
    • Flight Controllers (Autopilots)
      • Pixhawk Series
        • Silicon Errata
      • Pixhawk Standard Autopilots
        • 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)
        • CUAV V5 nano (FMUv5)
        • CUAV Pixhack v3 (FMUv3)
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        • CubePilot Cube Orange (CubePilot)
        • CubePilot Cube Yellow (CubePilot)
        • Holybro Kakute H7v2
        • Holybro Kakute H7mini
        • Holybro Kakute H7
        • Holybro Durandal
        • Holybro Pix32 v5
        • ModalAI Flight Core v1
        • ModalAI VOXL Flight
        • ModalAI VOXL 2
        • mRobotics-X2.1 (FMUv2)
        • mRo Control Zero F7)
        • NXP RDDRONE-FMUK66 FMU
        • Sky-Drones AIRLink
        • SPRacing SPRacingH7EXTREME
        • 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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      • 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
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        • VESC
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        • CUAV P8 Telemetry Radio
        • HolyBro XBP9X - Discontinued
      • RTK GPS
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        • RTK GPS Heading with Dual u-blox F9P
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On this page
  • Preconditions
  • Establishing the Airframe Baseline
  • Tune Roll
  • Tuning the Feedforward Gain
  • Tuning the Rate Gain
  • Tuning the Trim Offsets with the Integrator Gain
  • Tune Pitch
  • Tuning the Feedforward Gain
  • Tuning the Rate Gain
  • Tuning the Trim Offsets with the Integrator Gain
  • Adjusting the Time Constant of the Outer Loop
  • Other Tuning Parameters
  1. Vehicle Types & Setup
  2. Planes
  3. Fixed Wing Config/Tuning

Fixedwing PID Tuning Guide

PreviousFixed Wing Config/TuningNextFixedwing Advanced Tuning Guide

Last updated 1 year ago

This guide explains how to manually tune the fixed wing PID loop. It is intended for advanced users / experts, as incorrect PID tuning may crash your aircraft.

:::note 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. :::

Preconditions

  • Trims must be configured first (before PID turning). The explains how.

  • Incorrectly set gains during tuning can make attitude control unstable. A pilot tuning gains should therefore be able to fly and land the plane in (override) control.

  • Excessive gains (and rapid servo motion) can violate the maximum forces of your airframe - increase gains carefully.

  • Roll and pitch tuning follow the same sequence. The only difference is that pitch is more sensitive to trim offsets, so has to be done carefully and integrator gains need more attention to compensate this.

Establishing the Airframe Baseline

If a pilot capable of manual flight is available, its best to establish a few core system properties on a manual trial. To do this, fly these maneuvers. Even if you can't note all the quantities immediately on paper, the log file will be very useful for later tuning.

:::note All these quantities will be automatically logged. You only need to take notes if you want to directly move on to tuning without looking at the log files.

  • Fly level with a convenient airspeed. Note throttle stick position and airspeed (example: 70% → 0.7 throttle, 15 m/s airspeed).

  • Climb with maximum throttle and sufficient airspeed for 10-30 seconds (example: 12 m/s airspeed, climbed 100 m in 30 seconds).

  • Descend with zero throttle and reasonable airspeed for 10-30 seconds (example: 18 m/s airspeed, descended 80 m in 30 seconds).

  • Bank hard right with full roll stick until 60 degrees roll, then bank hard left with full roll stick until 60 degrees in the opposite side.

  • Pitch up hard 45 degrees, pitch down hard 45 degrees. :::

This guide will use these quantities to set some of the controller gains later on.

Tune Roll

Tune first the roll axis, then pitch. The roll axis is safer as an incorrect tuning leads only to motion, but not a loss of altitude.

Tuning the Feedforward Gain

To tune this gain, first set the other gains to their minimum values (nominally 0.005, but check the parameter documentation).

Gains to set to minimum values

Gains to tune

Tuning the Rate Gain

Tuning the Trim Offsets with the Integrator Gain

Tune Pitch

The pitch axis might need more integrator gain and a correctly set pitch offset.

Tuning the Feedforward Gain

To tune this gain, set the other gains to their minimum values.

Gains to set to minimum values

Gains to tune

Tuning the Rate Gain

Tuning the Trim Offsets with the Integrator Gain

Adjusting the Time Constant of the Outer Loop

The overall softness / hardness of the control loop can be adjusted by the time constant. The default of 0.5 seconds should be fine for normal fixed-wing setups and usually does not require adjustment.

Other Tuning Parameters

- start with a value of 0.4. Increase this value (doubling each time) until the plane rolls satisfactorily and reaches the setpoint. Back down the gain 20% at the end of the process.

- start with a value of 0.06. Increase this value (doubling each time) until the system starts to wobble / twitch. Then reduce gain by 50%.

- start with a value of 0.01. Increase this value (doubling each time) until there is no offset between commanded and actual roll value (this will most likely require looking at a log file).

- start with a value of 0.4. Increase this value (doubling each time) until the plane pitches satisfactory and reaches the setpoint. Back down the gain 20% at the end of the process.

- start with a value of 0.04. Increase this value (doubling each time) until the system starts to wobble / twitch. Then reduce value by 50%.

- start with a value of 0.01. Increase this value (doubling each time) until there is no offset between commanded and actual pitch value (this will most likely require looking at a log file).

- set to a default of 0.5 seconds, increase to make the Pitch response softer, decrease to make the response harder.

- set to a default of 0.5 seconds, increase to make the Roll response softer, decrease to make the response harder.

The most important parameters are covered in this guide. Additional tuning parameters are documented in the .

Autotune
Fixed-Wing Trimming Guide
manual
trimming
Parameter Reference
FW_RR_I
FW_RR_P
FW_RR_FF
FW_RR_P
FW_RR_I
FW_RR_I
FW_RR_P
FW_PR_FF
FW_PR_P
FW_PR_I
FW_P_TC
FW_R_TC