DroneArm control algorithms

A part of VR-based teleoperation interface project.

Environment was created and tested on Debian Buster for Raspberry Pi 4 (Raspbian64) ROS Noetic

Installation

0.Package dependencies

• mavros
• rosbridge-server
• vicon_bridge
• usb_cam

NOTE: vicon_bridge is available on GitHub. Please, build it from source. See step 3 below.

sudo apt install ros-noetic-rosbridge-server ros-noetic-mavros ros-noetic-mavros-extras ros-noetic-usb-cam

1.Load PX4 configuration parameters

Using QGroundControl load drone_arms.params if PixhawkAP version < 1.12 or drone_arms_new_fw.params otherwise located in params folder. This parameters includes PID calibration and necessary mappings for MoCap and mavros, such as enabled TELEM2 port with 92100 baud rate and parameters described in PX4 MoCap article.

2.Verify your Network parameters, Vicon IP & host IP in drone_arm.launch

Additionally check the serial interface for arm controller in scripts/arm_translator.py

3.Build ROS package in your workspace

# It is recommended to assemble project in an isolated ROS environment
mkdir ~/airinterface_ws && cd ~/airinterface_ws
# Clone the package into ROS workspace of the drone computer
# NOTE: execute these commands in the workspace's root directory
git clone -b release https://github.com/CityAplons/AirInterface-ROS.git src/airinterface_drone
git clone https://github.com/ethz-asl/vicon_bridge src/vicon_bridge
# Build the workspace
sudo rosdep init 
rosdep update
catkin build
# Pass installation to your bash environment
echo "source $PWD/devel/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc

If catkin build unavailable, catkin_make should works.

Script Execution

For the actual testing environment

roslaunch airinterface drone_arm.launch # Drone + Vicon + Camera + ROS Bridge + Controls 

For simulation

Firstly, you should run the simulation environment (jmavsim or gazebo, see PX4 Docs). Then to launch controls, you may pass this command:

roslaunch airinterface drone_sim.launch # Drone + ROS Bridge + Controls 

After, you could run Unity with ROS# stack

or check Unity controls with a simple keyboard teleoperation script:

rosrun airinterface keyboard_pose