In this repository are the files nessary to build our ROS (Robot Operating System) package.
We use Ubuntu 18.04 and ROS Melodic
This package is loaded and runs on our Nvidia Jetson TX2 onboard the quadcopter.
It then feeds commands to the Pixhawk 2 using MAVROS.
Note that there is a Troubleshooting section at the bottom of this page.
Code blocks are meant to be typed in Terminal windows. "Control+Alt+T" opens a new Terminal window.
- Do Desktop Install
- Follow until Step 1.7 at the end of the page
First, install ROS Melodic using the following instructions: http://wiki.ros.org/melodic/Installation/Ubuntu
We use catkin build instead of catkin_make. Please install the following:
sudo apt-get install python-wstool python-rosinstall-generator python-catkin-tools Then, initialize the catkin workspace:
mkdir -p ~/catkin_ws/src cd ~/catkin_ws catkin init Install mavros and mavlink from source:
cd ~/catkin_ws wstool init ~/catkin_ws/src rosinstall_generator --upstream mavros | tee /tmp/mavros.rosinstall rosinstall_generator mavlink | tee -a /tmp/mavros.rosinstall wstool merge -t src /tmp/mavros.rosinstall wstool update -t src rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src --rosdistro `echo $ROS_DISTRO` -y catkin build Open your ~/.bashrc for editing:
gedit ~/.bashrc Add this line to end of ~/.bashrc:
source ~/catkin_ws/devel/setup.bash Save and exit. Then run:
source ~/.bashrc cd ~/catkin_ws/src git clone https://github.com/Texas-Aerial-Robotics/Controls-ROS.git Our repository should now be copied to ~/catkin_ws/src/Controls-ROS/ (don't run this line. This is just saying that if you browse in the file manager, you will see those folders).
Inside catkin_ws, run catkin build:
cd ~/catkin_ws catkin build In home directory:
cd ~ git clone https://github.com/Texas-Aerial-Robotics/ardupilot.git cd ardupilot git checkout Copter-3.5 git submodule update --init --recursive Install some packages:
sudo apt install python-matplotlib python-serial python-wxgtk3.0 python-wxtools python-lxml python-scipy python-opencv ccache gawk git python-pip python-pexpect sudo pip2 install future pymavlink MAVProxy Open ~/.bashrc for editing:
gedit ~/.bashrc Add these lines to end of ~/.bashrc (the file open in the text editor):
export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/ardupilot/Tools/autotest export PATH=/usr/lib/ccache:$PATH Save and close the text editor.
Reload ~/.bashrc:
. ~/.bashrc Run SITL (Software In The Loop) once to set params:
cd ~/ardupilot/ArduCopter sim_vehicle.py -w Once the new Terminal window pops up and you see the ArduPilot software say "READY TO FLY," you can kill the process by hitting "Control+C" in the Terminal it is running out of.
Setup your computer to accept software from http://packages.osrfoundation.org:
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://packages.osrfoundation.org/gazebo/ubuntu-stable `lsb_release -cs` main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/gazebo-stable.list' Setup keys:
wget http://packages.osrfoundation.org/gazebo.key -O - | sudo apt-key add - Reload software list:
sudo apt update Install Gazebo:
sudo apt install gazebo9 libgazebo9-dev Install ROS plugins:
sudo apt install ros-melodic-gazebo-ros ros-melodic-gazebo-plugins Get Gazebo plugin for APM (ArduPilot Master):
cd ~ git clone https://github.com/SwiftGust/ardupilot_gazebo cd ardupilot_gazebo git checkout gazebo9 mkdir build cd build cmake .. make -j4 sudo make install Set paths for models:
echo 'export GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH=~/ardupilot_gazebo/gazebo_models' >> ~/.bashrc . ~/.bashrc Add Gazebo Models:
hg clone https://bitbucket.org/osrf/gazebo_models ~/gazebo_ws/gazebo_models cd ~/gazebo_ws/gazebo_models echo 'export GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH=~/gazebo_ws/gazebo_models' >> ~/.bashrc source ~/.bashrc In one Terminal (Terminal 1), run SITL:
cd ~/ardupilot/ArduCopter/ sim_vehicle.py -j4 -f Gazebo --console In another Terminal (Terminal 2), run Gazebo:
gazebo --verbose ~/ardupilot_gazebo/gazebo_worlds/iris_irlock_demo.world Set parameters for sim in the same window after you run the sim_vehicle.py script. Do this by using command param load <filename> Example params can be found in the Controls-Other repo: https://github.com/Texas-Aerial-Robotics/Controls-Other
To load our parameters, clone our Controls-Other repository (Terminal 3):
cd ~ git clone https://github.com/Texas-Aerial-Robotics/Controls-Other In the Ardupilot simulator Terminal (Terminal 1) run:
param load ../../Controls-Other/Params/Sim_master.param Play around, then close by "Control+C" in the Terminal windows.
In order to use the Ardupilot simulator with the Roombas - as well as other plugins such as cameras - you need to add ROS packages to Gazebo. Install the following dependencies:
sudo apt install ros-melodic-gazebo-ros ros-melodic-gazebo-plugins Clone in Gazebo-Ros in your catkin_ws and the Computations repo in your home directory:
cd ~/catkin_ws/src git clone https://github.com/Texas-Aerial-Robotics/Gazebo-Ros.git cd ~ git clone https://github.com/Texas-Aerial-Robotics/Computations.git Add the following to your ~/.bashrc to use the Roomba plugins:
export GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH=${GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH}:~/Computations/roomba_host/models export GAZEBO_PLUGIN_PATH=${GAZEBO_PLUGIN_PATH}:~/Computations/roomba_host/build Build the ROS packages you just downloaded:
cd ~/catkin_ws/ catkin build Reload ~/.bashrc so the Terminal knows where the packages are located:
source ~/.bashrc In one Terminal (Terminal 1):
roslaunch gazebo_ros_sim droneOnly.launch In another Terminal (Terminal 2), run the following command to start and connect the Ardupilot simulator to Gazebo:
cd ~/ardupilot/ArduCopter/ && sim_vehicle.py -f gazebo-iris --console -I0 Play around, then close by "Control+C" in the Terminal windows.
Install image view:
sudo apt install ros-melodic-image-view To see camera view:
rosrun image_view image_view image:=/webcam/image_raw Launch the sim via roslaunch (Terminal 1):
roslaunch gazebo_ros_sim droneOnly.launch In another Terminal (Terminal 2) run the following command to start and connect the Ardupilot sim to Gazebo:
cd ~/ardupilot/ArduCopter/ && sim_vehicle.py -f gazebo-iris --console -I0 In another Terminal (Terminal 3) run:
cd ~/Controls-Other/Launch/ roslaunch apm.launch Be sure to wait for the drone to go throught the full initialization process. The drone will be ready to fly once the console reads Optical Flow now aiding and origin set to GPS. For the competition we will not use GPS to home the drone, but for introduction sake let the drone use GPS
In another Terminal (Terminal 4) run:
rosrun flight_pkg staple Then in MavProxy (Terminal 2) switch the mode into guided:
mode GUIDED you did it! 🎉
cd ~/catkin_ws/src/mavros/mavros/scripts sudo ./install_geographiclib_datasets.sh sudo apt install ros-melodic-geometry-msgs References: