Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
183 lines (127 loc) · 6.54 KB

build.md

File metadata and controls

183 lines (127 loc) · 6.54 KB

Building and running

To build the firmware or the simulator, you need to clone the repository using git:

git clone https://github.com/okalachev/flix.git
cd flix

Simulation

Ubuntu 20.04

The latest version of Ubuntu supported by Gazebo 11 simulator is 20.04. If you have a newer version, consider using a virtual machine.

  1. Install Arduino CLI:

    curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arduino/arduino-cli/master/install.sh | BINDIR=~/.local/bin sh

  2. Install Gazebo 11:

    curl -sSL http://get.gazebosim.org | sh

    Set up your Gazebo environment variables:

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

  3. Install SDL2 and other dependencies:

    sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install build-essential libsdl2-dev

  4. Add your user to the input group to enable joystick support (you need to re-login after this command):

    sudo usermod -a -G input $USER

  5. Run the simulation:

    make simulator

macOS

  1. Install Homebrew package manager, if you don't have it installed:

    /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

  2. Install Arduino CLI, Gazebo 11 and SDL2:

    brew tap osrf/simulation
brew install arduino-cli
brew install gazebo11
brew install sdl2

    Set up your Gazebo environment variables:

    echo "source /opt/homebrew/share/gazebo/setup.sh" >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

  3. Run the simulation:

    make simulator

Setup and flight

Control with smartphone

  1. Install QGroundControl mobile app on your smartphone. For iOS, use QGroundControl build from TAJISOFT.
  2. Connect your smartphone to the same Wi-Fi network as the machine running the simulator.
  3. If you're using a virtual machine, make sure that its network is set to the bridged mode with Wi-Fi adapter selected.
  4. Run the simulation.
  5. Open QGroundControl app. It should connect and begin showing the virtual drone's telemetry automatically.
  6. Go to the settings and enable Virtual Joystick. Auto-Center Throttle setting should be disabled.
  7. Use the virtual joystick to fly the drone!

Control with USB remote control

  1. Connect your USB remote control to the machine running the simulator.
  2. Run the simulation.
  3. Calibrate the RC using cr command in the command line interface.
  4. Run the simulation again.
  5. Use the USB remote control to fly the drone!

Firmware

Arduino IDE (Windows, Linux, macOS)

  1. Install Arduino IDE (version 2 is recommended).
  2. Windows users might need to install USB to UART bridge driver from Silicon Labs.
  3. Install ESP32 core, version 3.1.0 (version 2.x is not supported). See the official Espressif's instructions on installing ESP32 Core in Arduino IDE.
  4. Install the following libraries using Library Manager:
    • FlixPeriph, the latest version.
    • MAVLink, version 2.0.12.
  5. Clone the project using git or download the source code as a ZIP archive.
  6. Open the downloaded Arduino sketch flix/flix.ino in Arduino IDE.
  7. Connect your ESP32 board to the computer and choose correct board type in Arduino IDE (WEMOS D1 MINI ESP32 for ESP32 Mini) and the port.
  8. Build and upload the firmware using Arduino IDE.

Command line (Windows, Linux, macOS)

  1. Install Arduino CLI.

  2. Windows users might need to install USB to UART bridge driver from Silicon Labs.

  3. Compile the firmware using make. Arduino dependencies will be installed automatically:

    make

    You can flash the firmware to the board using command:

    make upload

    You can also compile the firmware, upload it and start serial port monitoring using command:

    make upload monitor

See other available Make commands in the Makefile.

Setup and flight

Before flight you need to calibrate the accelerometer:

  1. Open Serial Monitor in Arduino IDE (use use make monitor command in the command line).
  2. Type ca command there and follow the instructions.

Control with smartphone

  1. Install QGroundControl mobile app on your smartphone.
  2. Power the drone using the battery.
  3. Connect your smartphone to the appeared flix Wi-Fi network.
  4. Open QGroundControl app. It should connect and begin showing the drone's telemetry automatically.
  5. Go to the settings and enable Virtual Joystick. Auto-Center Throttle setting should be disabled.
  6. Use the virtual joystick to fly the drone!

Control with remote control

Before flight using remote control, you need to calibrate it:

  1. Open Serial Monitor in Arduino IDE (use use make monitor command in the command line).
  2. Type cr command there and follow the instructions.
  3. Use the remote control to fly the drone!

Control with USB remote control

If your drone doesn't have RC receiver installed, you can use USB remote control and QGroundControl app to fly it.

  1. Install QGroundControl app on your computer.
  2. Connect your USB remote control to the computer.
  3. Power up the drone.
  4. Connect your computer to the appeared flix Wi-Fi network.
  5. Launch QGroundControl app. It should connect and begin showing the drone's telemetry automatically.
  6. Go the the QGroundControl menu ⇒ Vehicle Setup ⇒ Joystick. Calibrate you USB remote control there.
  7. Use the USB remote control to fly the drone!

Note

If something goes wrong, go to the Troubleshooting article.

Firmware code structure

See firmware overview for more details.