Custom PX4 firmware for autonomous hybrid aerial-marine missions

RESUMO

Mapping and monitoring aquatic environments can benefit from hybrid aerial-amphibious drones able to combine flight and water-surface navigation within the same mission. This paper presents a PX4 firmware extension for such platforms, introducing manual and autonomous marine navigation modes integrated with the standard PX4 mission pipeline and QGroundControl interface. The proposed framework preserves existing flight functionalities and safety mechanisms while enabling unified planning and execution of hybrid aerial-marine missions with differentiated aerial and marine waypoints. Simulated case studies validate the implementation and demonstrate stable surface navigation under calm and wavy conditions.