Ardupilot Setup

SITL + ArduPilot + Gazebo + ROS Camera Plugin (Software In Loop Simulation Interfaces, Models)

Requirements :

  • Ubuntu (20.04 LTS) Full 3D graphics hight recommended.

  • Gazebo version 11

  • ROS Noetic (Required to work with Gazebo)

  • MAVROS

Dependencies for building packages

sudo apt install python3-rosinstall python3-rosinstall-generator python3-wstool build-essential

MAVROS installation :

MAVLink extendable communication node for ROS with proxy for Ground Control Station (See original instructions here).

Configure your Ubuntu repositories

sudo apt-get install ros-noetic-mavros ros-noetic-mavros-extras

cd ~/

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mavlink/mavros/master/mavros/scripts/install_geographiclib_datasets.sh

sudo chmod a+x install_geographiclib_datasets.sh

sudo ./install_geographiclib_datasets.sh

For ease of use on a desktop computer, please also install RQT

sudo apt-get install ros-noetic-rqt ros-noetic-rqt-common-plugins ros-noetic-rqt-robot-plugins

Install catkin tools

sudo apt-get install python3-catkin-tools

Now that we have everything correctly installed we can begin our system configuration

Environment setup and configuration :

  • STEP 1 - SITL Ardupilot

  • STEP 2 - Ardupilot gazebo plugin (Original khancyr version)

  • STEP 3 - Gazebo ROS plugin (roscam)

  • STEP 4 - Connect ArduPilot to ROS

SETP 1 - SITL Ardupilot installation :

Instructions taken from ardupilot.org (See original instructions here).

Clone ArduPilot repository

cd ~/
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot.git

Install some required packages

If you are on a debian based system (such as Ubuntu or Mint), we provide a script that will do it for you. From ardupilot directory :

Tools/environment_install/install-prereqs-ubuntu.sh -y

Reload the path (log-out and log-in to make permanent):

. ~/.profile

Finalize and test the installation

To start the simulator first change directory to the vehicle directory. For example, for the multicopter code change to ardupilot/ArduCopter:

cd ~/ardupilot/ArduCopter

Then start the simulator using sim_vehicle.py. The first time you run it you should use the -w option to wipe the virtual EEPROM and load the right default parameters for your vehicle.

sim_vehicle.py --console --map

Updating MAVProxy and pymavlink

New versions of MAVProxy and pymavlink are released quite regularly. If you are a regular SITL user you should update every now and again using this command

sudo pip install --upgrade pymavlink MAVProxy

This concludes the first step SITL Ardupilot installation.

SETP 2 - Ardupilot gazebo plugin installation :

(See original instructions here).

Clone ArduPilot repository

cd ~/

git clone https://github.com/AerialRobotics-IITK/ardupilot_gazebo

cd ardupilot_gazebo

mkdir build

cd build

cmake ..

# use make without any parameter if running in a VM
make -j4

sudo make install

Set environment variables

echo 'source /usr/share/gazebo/setup.sh' >> ~/.bashrc

Set Path of Gazebo Models (Adapt the path to where to clone the repo)

echo 'export GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH=~/ardupilot_gazebo/models' >> ~/.bashrc

Set Path of Gazebo Worlds (Adapt the path to where to clone the repo)

echo 'export GAZEBO_RESOURCE_PATH=~/ardupilot_gazebo/worlds:${GAZEBO_RESOURCE_PATH}' >> ~/.bashrc

Set Path of Ardupilot

export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/ardupilot/Tools/autotest
export PATH=/usr/lib/ccache:$PATH

Reload the path (log-out and log-in to make permanent):

source ~/.bashrc

Test installation

Open one Terminal and launch SITL Ardupilot

sim_vehicle.py -v ArduCopter -f gazebo-iris --map --console

Open a second Terminal and launch Gazebo running ardupilot_gazebo plugin

gazebo --verbose worlds/iris_arducopter_runway.world

You should see a gazebo world with a small quadcopter right at the center

SETP 3 - Gazebo ROS plugin (roscam) :

This contains the ROS integrated custom models and .world files for Gazebo

Clone Gazebo roscam integrated mdodel repository

# Source ROS

source /opt/ros/noetic/setup.bash

# Clone custom Gazebo ROS package

cd ~/

git clone https://github.com/r0ch1n/ardupilot_gazebo_roscam

cd ardupilot_gazebo_roscam

catkin init

cd src

catkin_create_pkg ardupilot_gazebo

cd ..

catkin build

# Add Custom models and plugin to Gazebo
export GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH=~/ardupilot_gazebo/models:$GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH
export GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH=~/ardupilot_gazebo_roscam/src/ardupilot_gazebo/models:$GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH
export GAZEBO_PLUGIN_PATH=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gazebo-11/plugins:$GAZEBO_PLUGIN_PATH 
export GAZEBO_PLUGIN_PATH=/opt/ros/noetic/lib:$GAZEBO_PLUGIN_PATH

# Test installation

source ~/ardupilot_gazebo_roscam/devel/setup.bash

roslaunch ardupilot_gazebo iris_with_roscam.launch

SETP 4 - Connect ArduPilot to ROS using MAVROS :

Connect to Ardupilot from ROS (Ardupilot <–> MAVLink <–> ROS ) Original information taken from here Note - Gazebo is not included in MAVROS so you cannot connect or access any of the Gazebo's Environments.

Setup MAVROS

New versions of MAVProxy and pymavlink are released quite regularly. If you are a regular SITL user you should update every now and again using this command

cd ~/

mkdir -p ardupilot_ws/src

cd ardupilot_ws

catkin init

cd src

mkdir launch

cd launch

roscp mavros apm.launch apm.launch

sudo gedit apm.launch

To connect to SITL we just need to modify the first line to <arg name="fcu_url" default="udp://127.0.0.1:14551@" />. save you file and launch it with

Test

cd ~/ardupilot_ws/src/launch

roslaunch apm.launch

Run it all

Launch Gazebo

Open one Terminal and launch ROS integrated Gazebo

#Make sure you have all the right environment, if you are not sure run the following first

source /opt/ros/noetic/setup.bash

export GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH=~/ardupilot_gazebo/models:$GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH
export GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH=~/ardupilot_gazebo_roscam/src/ardupilot_gazebo/models:$GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH
export GAZEBO_PLUGIN_PATH=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gazebo-9/plugins:$GAZEBO_PLUGIN_PATH 
export GAZEBO_PLUGIN_PATH=/opt/ros/noetic/lib:$GAZEBO_PLUGIN_PATH

#Launch ROS integrated Gazebo

source ~/ardupilot_gazebo_roscam/devel/setup.bash

roslaunch ardupilot_gazebo iris_with_roscam.launch

Launch SITL Ardupilot

Open a second Terminal and launch SITL Ardupilot

cd ~/ardupilot/ArduCopter

sim_vehicle.py -f gazebo-iris --console --map

Subscribe to the virtual roscam feed

Open a third Terminal and RTL

rqt

Select Plugins -> Visualization -> Image View

Then choose /roscam/cam/image_raw

You should see the live feed from inside gazebo

Final notes and comments

You can use any GCS Adrupilot software to control the UAV.

Troubleshooting

1. udp0: sendto: Invalid argument mavros

Please check this blog

2. link 1 down, even after launching ardupilot_gazebo

Check X-Terminal's Output (if two X-Terminals open). The only remedy I could find was to reinstall ardupilot SITL and ardupilot_gazebo

3. Could not find a package configuration file provided by "mavros" with any of the following names: mavrosConfig.cmake mavros-config.cmake

Follow the installation mentioned in this link

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