v0.4.2

The first release as actuator-lint. Prebuilt engines contain the control
allocation code of PX4 v1.17.0 (engine_schema 1), as in 0.4.1. The checks,
the rules and the reports are those of 0.4.1, apart from the name of the tool
in the reports and the links to its rules.

Changed

• The project is now called actuator-lint; releases 0.1.0 to 0.4.1 were px4-ca-lint.
  The name no longer contains PX4, which is a trademark of Dronecode Project,
  Inc. What it does is unchanged. For you this means:
  • the command is actuator-lint and the Python package actuator-lint
    (module actuator_lint); uninstall px4-ca-lint and install the new
    package,
  • the engine is actuator_lint_engine, and installed engines are looked for
    in ~/.local/share/actuator-lint/engines/; move an engine from
    ~/.local/share/px4-ca-lint/engines/ there and rename it, or install the
    engine of this release,
  • the environment variables start with ACTUATOR_LINT_ instead of
    PX4_CA_, for example $ACTUATOR_LINT_ENGINE and $ACTUATOR_LINT_PX4,
  • the repository is Abtektas/actuator-lint, and the GitHub Action is
    uses: Abtektas/actuator-lint@...; GitHub does not redirect the old name
    for actions,
  • reports name the tool actuator-lint and link the rules in the new
    repository. The JSON fields are unchanged.
• The license output, the engine, the engine packages, the README and the
  release notes say that PX4 is a trademark of Dronecode Project, Inc., used
  here only to name the software the tool works with.
• Release notes link files of the repository with absolute links, which work
  on the release page.

Install

See the README.
SHA256SUMS lists the checksum of every file of this release.

Safety and liability

This software is a review aid, not an airworthiness approval. It is provided
"as is", without warranty of any kind, and its authors accept no liability and
no responsibility for any use of it or of its results. A report without
findings does not mean that a configuration is safe. Whether and how you use
it is entirely your own decision, at your own risk.

This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by the PX4 project or the
Dronecode Foundation. PX4 is a trademark of Dronecode Project, Inc. It is used
here only to name the software this tool works with.

v0.4.1

Prebuilt engines contain the control allocation code of PX4 v1.17.0
(engine_schema 1), as in 0.4.0. The checks, the rules and the reports are
the same as in 0.4.0; this release adds the license to the program, the GitHub
Action, the package metadata for the Python Package Index and documentation.
An engine of 0.4.0 works with it.

Added

• Documentation for new users: Getting started,
  Reading a report with a figure of the body axes
  and motor numbers, and the report of every file in examples/ in
  docs/example-reports. The example reports
  are written by tools/example_reports.py, and a test fails when one of them
  is out of date.
  Reading a report says how far mix values can
  differ between CPU types.
• A picture of the tool in a terminal at the top of the README. It is written
  by tools/terminal_image.py from what the tool prints, and a test fails
  when it is out of date.
• px4-ca-lint license prints the license and the notices, which are now
  part of the Python package. The engine prints its notice with its usage,
  and every source file names its license.
• A GitHub Action: uses: Abtektas/px4-ca-lint@...
  installs a release on the runner, checks the files you name and adds the
  reports to the job summary.
• Package metadata for the Python Package Index and a workflow that uploads
  a published release there. It does nothing until the repository variable
  PYPI_PUBLISH is set; see docs/versioning.md.

Changed

• px4-ca-lint --version prints the copyright, the license and the terms in
  short after the version line. The first line is unchanged.
• The copyright line of the license names "the px4-ca-lint contributors", as
  do the package metadata and the action. The license (BSD 3-Clause) and its
  terms are unchanged.

Install

See the README.
SHA256SUMS lists the checksum of every file of this release.

Safety and liability

This software is a review aid, not an airworthiness approval. It is provided
"as is", without warranty of any kind, and its authors accept no liability and
no responsibility for any use of it or of its results. A report without
findings does not mean that a configuration is safe. Whether and how you use
it is entirely your own decision, at your own risk.

v0.4.0

Prebuilt engines contain the control allocation code of PX4 v1.17.0
(engine_schema 1), as in 0.3.0. They are new builds: the flight phases and
the check of integer parameters need the engine of this release, so replace
the engine when you update the tool.

Added

• Engines for several PX4 versions can be installed side by side, in
  ~/.local/share/px4-ca-lint/engines/<PX4 version>/px4_ca_engine. The new
  option --px4 VERSION (or $PX4_CA_PX4) chooses one. When only one is
  installed it is used without the option; when several are installed and none
  is chosen, the tool stops with an error.
• When --px4 names a PX4 release, an engine built against anything else is
  refused, wherever it was found, also one given with --engine or
  $PX4_CA_ENGINE.
• px4-ca-lint engines lists the engines the tool finds, the PX4 version each
  was built against and the one a run without --engine and --px4 uses.
• For VTOLs the report lists the motors PX4 stops in a flight phase whatever
  the setpoint, and the mix of the motors that are left: for a standard VTOL
  the lift motors in forward flight, for a tiltrotor the motors that do not
  tilt. Motors that PX4 stops only while there is no thrust demand for them,
  such as a pusher in hover, are not listed. The JSON report has the new entry
  flight_phases. An engine built from this version is needed; with an older
  engine the report says that the flight phases are missing.
• The golden reports of the seven standard VTOL and three tiltrotor scripts of
  PX4 v1.17.0 that have such motors now store them.
• Rule CA005 (error): an axis the vehicle cannot be flown without is not
  controlled by any matrix, for example roll and pitch of a multirotor whose
  rotor positions are missing, or forward thrust of a standard VTOL. Such
  configurations gave no finding before. New example
  examples/quad_no_positions.params. Of PX4's own airframe scripts only
  1002_standard_vtol.hil is affected, whose forward rotor is not counted.
• Rule CA006 (error, or warning for an axis the vehicle type does not need):
  an axis cannot be controlled independently of the others, for example yaw
  of a quadrotor whose rotors all turn the same way. It is the test
  PX4 main applies when it drops an axis (CA002), applied by the tool for PX4
  versions that do not have it, which are v1.17.0 and release/1.18. Such
  configurations gave no finding there. The result was compared with PX4
  main for 4400 random configurations. New example
  examples/quad_same_spin.params; examples/hexa_rotor_count_4.params gets
  the finding for yaw as well. None of the airframe scripts of PX4 v1.17.0 is
  affected; of release/1.18 only 5021_xplane_qtailsitter, with two warnings.
• Rule CA012 (error): the thrust of a rotor points down or backwards, for
  example a lift rotor with CA_ROTORn_AZ 1, a forward rotor with
  CA_ROTORn_AX -1, or a negative CA_ROTORn_CT. Such configurations gave no
  finding before. Multirotors with rotors along other axes than the vertical,
  such as PX4's omnicopter airframes, are left alone. New examples
  examples/quad_rotor_down.params and
  examples/standard_vtol_pusher_backwards.params. None of PX4's own airframe
  scripts is affected.
• Rule CA030 (error): a line of the parameter file could not be used, for
  example a value with a decimal comma. Rule CA031 (warning): a CA_*
  parameter does not exist in the PX4 version of the engine, for example a
  misspelled name. Both were notes before, with exit code 0. New example
  examples/standard_vtol_typing_mistakes.params.

Changed

• Every report, the help text, the README and the release notes now say in so
  many words that there is no warranty, that the authors accept no liability
  and no responsibility, and that using the tool is the user's own decision.
• CA002 is a warning, no longer an error, for an axis the vehicle type does not
  need. PX4 main drops thrust_x and thrust_y of its own airframe
  5021_xplane_qtailsitter, which gave two errors and exit code 1 for a
  working airframe. For an axis the vehicle type needs, and for vehicle types
  the tool knows nothing about, it stays an error.
• The single engine location of earlier versions,
  ~/.local/share/px4-ca-lint/px4_ca_engine, keeps working and is tried before
  the new directories. The message for a missing engine names the new location.

Fixed

• A parameter file that starts with a byte order mark lost its first line, so
  that for example CA_AIRFRAME kept its default and the report was for a
  multirotor.
• A value written with digits that are not ASCII ended in a Python traceback.
• Values that Python reads as a number but the engine does not, such as 1_0,
  were passed on and read as another number. Only plain decimal numbers are
  accepted now.
• An integer parameter with a fractional value was rounded, for example
  CA_AIRFRAME 2.5 to a tiltrotor. The engine now leaves such a parameter at
  its default and CA030 reports it. This needs an engine built from this
  version.

Install

See the README.
SHA256SUMS lists the checksum of every file of this release.

Safety and liability

This software is a review aid, not an airworthiness approval. It is provided
"as is", without warranty of any kind, and its authors accept no liability and
no responsibility for any use of it or of its results. A report without
findings does not mean that a configuration is safe. Whether and how you use
it is entirely your own decision, at your own risk.

v0.3.0

Prebuilt engines contain the control allocation code of PX4 v1.17.0
(engine_schema 1), as in 0.2.0.

Added

• Tiltrotor VTOLs (CA_AIRFRAME 3), tailsitter VTOLs (CA_AIRFRAME 4) and
  multirotors with tilt (CA_AIRFRAME 8). The golden tests now cover 11 more
  airframe scripts of PX4 v1.17.0, 91 in total, and the SITL cross-check
  includes the three types. New examples examples/tailsitter.params,
  examples/tiltrotor.params and examples/tricopter_tilt.params. An engine
  built from this version is needed; the prebuilt engines of 0.2.0 report these
  airframes as not supported.
• For a tiltrotor the report shows the matrices PX4 computes after a parameter
  change, with the tilt servos in the hover position, and says so in a note.
  The matrices PX4 uses during the transition and in forward flight are not
  covered.
• Rule CA022: a rotor is assigned to a tilt servo that does not exist
  (CA_ROTORn_TILT above CA_SV_TL_COUNT), so PX4 treats it as not tilting.
  New example examples/tiltrotor_tilt_servo_missing.params.

Changed

• The text report says in which order servos are numbered: control surfaces
  first, then tilt servos.
• The SITL cross-check also compares the name of the effectiveness class PX4
  reports with the one the engine used.

Install

See the README.
SHA256SUMS lists the checksum of every file of this release.

Safety and liability

This software is a review aid, not an airworthiness approval. It is provided
"as is", without warranty of any kind. A report without findings does not mean
that a configuration is safe. Use at your own risk.

v0.2.0

Prebuilt engines contain the control allocation code of PX4 v1.17.0
(engine_schema 1), as in 0.1.0.

Added

• Fixed-wing vehicles (CA_AIRFRAME 1). The golden tests now cover the 23
  plane airframe scripts of PX4 v1.17.0 and the SITL cross-check includes
  PX4's SIH plane. New examples examples/fixed_wing.params and
  examples/fixed_wing_thrust_offset.params. An engine built from this
  version is needed; the prebuilt engines of 0.1.0 report the airframe as not
  supported.
• Rule CA021: a rotor has geometry parameters but its index is
  CA_ROTOR_COUNT or higher, so PX4 ignores it. New example
  examples/hexa_rotor_count_4.params.
• install check workflow: follows the install steps, with uv and with a
  virtual environment, with the files of a published release on clean
  machines.

Changed

• The install instructions recommend uv tool install, with pipx and a
  virtual environment as alternatives.

Install

See the README.
SHA256SUMS lists the checksum of every file of this release.

Safety and liability

This software is a review aid, not an airworthiness approval. It is provided
"as is", without warranty of any kind. A report without findings does not mean
that a configuration is safe. Use at your own risk.

v0.1.0

First release. Prebuilt engines contain the control allocation code of PX4
v1.17.0 (engine_schema 1).

Added

• Engine built against PX4 v1.17.0 that writes the effectiveness and mix
  matrices as JSON (engine_schema 1). Supported CA_AIRFRAME values: 0
  (multirotor) and 2 (standard VTOL).
• Command line tool with text and JSON reports. Input formats: plain, PX4
  airframe script, QGroundControl export.
• Rules CA001, CA002, CA003, CA004, CA010, CA011 and CA020.
• Golden tests over the airframe scripts shipped with PX4 v1.17.0 and a
  cross-check against PX4 SITL.
• --format markdown for reports that are pasted into issues and pull
  requests.
• px4-ca-lint diff BEFORE AFTER compares two parameter files: parameters,
  matrix values and findings.
• Prebuilt engines for Linux x86_64, Linux arm64 and macOS arm64, with
  checksums and build provenance.
• A downloaded engine is found in ~/.local/share/px4-ca-lint/.
• Findings link to the document of their rule.

Install

See the README. Install the Python package with uv tool install, pipx or in a virtual environment; a plain pip install outside a virtual environment is refused on most Linux distributions.
SHA256SUMS lists the checksum of every file of this release.

Safety and liability

This software is a review aid, not an airworthiness approval. It is provided
"as is", without warranty of any kind. A report without findings does not mean
that a configuration is safe. Use at your own risk.