Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
132 lines (109 loc) · 3.76 KB

ArduPilot_SITL_with_RPI4.md

File metadata and controls

132 lines (109 loc) · 3.76 KB
Raw

ArduPilot SITL Simulator (Software in the Loop)

(See more detail: https://ardupilot.org/dev/docs/sitl-simulator-software-in-the-loop.html)

Alt text

Desktop runs ArduPilot Executable + Physics Simulator (e.g., FlighGear)

RPI4 ius a companion computer (communicaing with the ArduPilot executable using mavlink protocol)

In addition to the manual parsing/composing MAVLink messages, there are several libraries that help facilitate communication with a (simulated) drone from RPI4. Examples (both are installed in the RPI4@301):

RPI4 IP address: 172.28.228.145 (vspells/flint1234)

Desktop IP address: 172.28.228.229 (vspells/flint1234)

How to run SITL

Also see this tutorial: https://ardupilot.org/dev/docs/copter-sitl-mavproxy-tutorial.html

Desktop

  1. (If you are using remote desktop) VNC into the desktop
  2. Open a terminal and run
~/ardupilot/Tools/autotest/fg_quad_view.sh
  1. (Optional) Open a new terminal and run QGroundControl (or a GCS program of your choice):
cd ~/
./QGroundControl.AppImage
  1. Open a new terminal and run :
cd ~/ardupilot/ArduCopter
../Tools/autotest/sim_vehicle.py --map --console -A -—serial1=uart:/dev/ttyUSB0:115200

You do not need -A -—serial1=uart:/dev/ttyUSB0:115200 option if not using RPI4 as a companion computer.

  1. Create a textfile with name fence.txt and the following data:
-35.363796	149.166306
-35.358871	149.170227
-35.358871	149.170166
-35.364075	149.172638
-35.367920	149.170853
-35.368717	149.163315
-35.363327	149.159988
-35.359200	149.162003
-35.358963	149.170166
-35.358963	149.170166
-35.358871	149.170227
  1. In the SITL console that is launched in Step 4), load the geofence file, fence.txt.
fence load fence.txt

RPI4 (NEW -- using DroneKit)

  1. Install DroneKit on your PI: See https://dronekit-python.readthedocs.io/en/latest/examples/index.html
  2. Run our DroneKit code (from https://github.com/chrihop/Secure_MAVLink_Gateway/tree/main/test/dronekit_code)
  • Important! Make sure to change the connection string in the dronekit codes.

RPI4 (OLD)

  1. Open a terminal and run
mavproxy.py --master=/dev/ttyAMA0

Then you will see outputs like this:

Connect /dev/ttyAMA0 source_system=255
Log Directory: 
Telemetry log: mav.tlog
Waiting for heartbeat from /dev/ttyAMA0
 MAV> Detected vehicle 1:1 on link 0
online system 1
STABILIZE> Mode STABILIZE
AP: ArduCopter V4.3.0-dev (05bda895)
AP: d0fc95ac4f1948f688d1dc19a008ee72
AP: Frame: QUAD/PLUS
Received 1287 parameters (ftp)
Saved 1287 parameters to mav.parm
fence present
Flight battery 100 percent
  1. Try these commands:
mode guided
arm throttle
takeoff 40

See the behavior of the drone from flightgear running on the desktop.

  1. Also try:
mode circle
param set circle_radius 20000

The drone should be circling around (radius: 20000 cm = 200 m).

  1. Try:
RTL

or

LAND

DroneKit example code

You can contol a drone (from RPI4 over mavlink) programmatically using DroneKit. See the examples: https://dronekit-python.readthedocs.io/en/latest/examples/index.html

mavros

(for test only) In the desktop,

roslaunch mavros apm.launch

and in a new terminal, execute

rostopic echo /mavros/imu/data

Note: Make sure that fcu_url is set to udp://@127.0.0.1:14551 in /opt/ros/melodic/share/mavros/launch/apm.launch. When using the companion computer (i.e., RPI4 over UART), set it to the right serial port name.