Precision Landing

In this month's meetup, we'll look at precision landing with PX4, covering both the flight stack's built-in precision landing feature and a custom vision-guided approach using Aruco markers, OpenCV, and ROS 2. Using a camera and a simple printed marker, the drone detects the target, estimates its pose, and guides itself down — searching in a spiral if the target isn't in view, then tracking it all the way to touchdown.

We'll look at:

• PX4's native precision landing works — required vs. opportunistic modes, the three landing phases, and IR-LOCK beacons vs. MAVLink LANDING_TARGET
• ArUco markers give fast, reliable target detection with no AI training required
• The pose pipeline converts camera detections into NED coordinates the flight controller can use
• A custom Precision Land mode built with the px4-ros2-interface-lib handles search, approach, and descent
• Gazebo simulation