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https://github.com/jacopopan/px4-fw-aerobatics

VTOL's PX4 off-board control in ROS2 for autonomous agile flight
https://github.com/jacopopan/px4-fw-aerobatics

aerobatics dds-xrce drone fixed-wing gazebo mavlink offboard px4 ros2 sitl uav uorb vtol

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VTOL's PX4 off-board control in ROS2 for autonomous agile flight

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# PX4 Fixed-Wing Aerobatics



Autonomous aileron rolls and dives using VTOL's PX4 off-board control in ROS2



Roll and Dive



## Installation



Tested on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS with Nvidia 535 driver



### ROS2 Humble (1 of 7)



```sh

sudo apt update && sudo apt install locales

sudo locale-gen en_US en_US.UTF-8

sudo update-locale LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8 LANG=en_US.UTF-8

export LANG=en_US.UTF-8

sudo apt install software-properties-common

sudo add-apt-repository universe

sudo apt update && sudo apt install curl -y

sudo curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/ros.key -o /usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg

echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg] http://packages.ros.org/ros2/ubuntu $(. /etc/os-release && echo $UBUNTU_CODENAME) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros2.list > /dev/null

sudo apt update

sudo apt upgrade

sudo apt install ros-humble-desktop

sudo apt install ros-dev-tools

sudo apt-get install ros-humble-bondcpp ros-humble-ament-cmake-clang-format # Missing dependencies

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash

```



Optionally, add ros2's `setup.bash` to `~/.bashrc`



```sh

echo "source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc

source ~/.bashrc

```



### Gazebo Harmonic (2 of 7)



```sh

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install lsb-release gnupg

sudo curl https://packages.osrfoundation.org/gazebo.gpg --output /usr/share/keyrings/pkgs-osrf-archive-keyring.gpg

echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/pkgs-osrf-archive-keyring.gpg] http://packages.osrfoundation.org/gazebo/ubuntu-stable $(lsb_release -cs) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/gazebo-stable.list > /dev/null

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install gz-harmonic

sudo apt install ros-humble-ros-gzharmonic # To publish the Gazebo /clock topic used by ROS2 when use_sim_time is true

```



### PX4 SITL (3 of 7)



```sh

mkdir -p ~/git/

cd ~/git/ # Place in a folder for git repos

git clone [email protected]:JacopoPan/PX4-Autopilot.git # Fork of 1.14.3 with custom vtol takeoff heading and Gazebo Harmonic fix

cd PX4-Autopilot/

git submodule update --init --recursive

bash ./Tools/setup/ubuntu.sh --no-sim-tools # Reboot

pip install --user -U empy==3.3.4 pyros-genmsg setuptools

make px4_sitl

```



### QGroundControl (4 of 7)



```sh

cd ~/ # Place in the home folder

sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER

sudo apt-get remove modemmanager -y

sudo apt install gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad gstreamer1.0-libav gstreamer1.0-gl -y

sudo apt install libfuse2 -y

sudo apt install libxcb-xinerama0 libxkbcommon-x11-0 libxcb-cursor-dev -y

wget https://d176tv9ibo4jno.cloudfront.net/latest/QGroundControl.AppImage # From https://docs.qgroundcontrol.com/master/en/qgc-user-guide/getting_started/download_and_install.html

chmod +x ./QGroundControl.AppImage # Logout and login

```



### uXRCE DDS Agent (5 of 7)



```sh

cd ~/git/ # Place in a folder for git repos

git clone https://github.com/eProsima/Micro-XRCE-DDS-Agent.git

cd Micro-XRCE-DDS-Agent/

mkdir build

cd build/

cmake ..

make

sudo make install

sudo ldconfig /usr/local/lib/

```



### ROS2 Workspace (6 of 7)



```sh

mkdir -p ~/git/ws/src/

cd ~/git/ws/src/ # Place in the source folder of a workspace inside the git folder

git clone -b release/1.14 https://github.com/PX4/px4_msgs.git # PX4 messages definitions

git clone [email protected]:JacopoPan/px4-fw-aerobatics.git

cd ..

sudo rosdep init

rosdep update

rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src --rosdistro humble -y

colcon build

```



Optionally, add the workspace's `setup.bash` to `~/.bashrc`



```sh

echo "source ~/git/ws/install/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc

source ~/.bashrc

```



### Customize PX4 SITL (7 of 7)



#### Customize PX4's DDS Topics for px4-fw-aerobatics



```sh

cp ~/git/ws/src/px4-fw-aerobatics/resources/dds_topics.yaml ~/git/PX4-Autopilot/src/modules/uxrce_dds_client/dds_topics.yaml 

```



#### Embed Custom ROMS Files in the SITL Firmware Binaries



These include custom PX4 `params` for initial GPS position and do not quadchute during aggressive maneuvers

```sh

cp -r ~/git/ws/src/px4-fw-aerobatics/resources/airframes ~/git/PX4-Autopilot/ROMFS/px4fmu_common/init.d-posix/

```

Update the airframes' `CMakeLists.txt`

```sh

cd ~/git/PX4-Autopilot/ROMFS/px4fmu_common/init.d-posix/airframes/

rm CMakeLists.txt

echo "px4_add_romfs_files(" >> CMakeLists.txt && ls | sed 's/^/  /' >> CMakeLists.txt && echo ")" >> CMakeLists.txt

```



Rebuild PX4 SITL



```sh

cd ~/git/PX4-Autopilot

rm -rf build/

make px4_sitl # There will be warnings for the custom_vtol .sdf not being within PX4-Autopilot 

```



Or use `./resources/set_dds_roms_and_rebuild_px4.sh` to apply these changes of PX4 params or DDS topics



---



## Example Startup



In one terminal, start the DDS `MicroXRCEAgent`



```sh

MicroXRCEAgent udp4 -p 8888

```



In a second terminal, start the Gazebo simulation



```sh

GZ_SIM_RESOURCE_PATH=$GZ_SIM_RESOURCE_PATH:~/git/ws/src/px4-fw-aerobatics/resources/models gz sim -r ~/git/ws/src/px4-fw-aerobatics/resources/worlds/default.sdf

# Set the path where to find the drones' and objects .sdf and autostart (with `-r`) the default simulation world

```



In a third terminal, bridge the Gazebo clock to ROS2



```sh

source ~/git/ws/install/setup.bash && source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash

ros2 run ros_gz_bridge parameter_bridge /clock@rosgraph_msgs/msg/Clock[gz.msgs.Clock

```



In a fourth terminal, start PX4 SITL



```sh

# Export LAT_DEG, LON_DEG, ELEV_M from the world .sdf

# Set the PX4_GZ_MODEL_POSE 'x,y,z,r,p,y' within the world,

# Select the vehicle configuration PX4_SYS_AUTOSTART (4008 for custom_vtol)

# Set the DDS client namespace and port, PX4_UXRCE_DDS_NS, PX4_UXRCE_DDS_PORT

LAT_DEG=$(awk -F '[><]' '//,/<\/spherical_coordinates>/' ~/git/ws/src/px4-fw-aerobatics/resources/worlds/default.sdf | awk -F '[><]' '/latitude_deg/ {print $3}') LON_DEG=$(awk -F '[><]' '//,/<\/spherical_coordinates>/' ~/git/ws/src/px4-fw-aerobatics/resources/worlds/default.sdf | awk -F '[><]' '/longitude_deg/ {print $3}') ELEV_M=$(awk -F '[><]' '//,/<\/spherical_coordinates>/' ~/git/ws/src/px4-fw-aerobatics/resources/worlds/default.sdf | awk -F '[><]' '/elevation/ {print $3}') PX4_GZ_MODEL_POSE='0,0,0,0,0,0' PX4_SYS_AUTOSTART=4008 PX4_UXRCE_DDS_NS="Drone1" PX4_UXRCE_DDS_PORT=8888 ~/git/PX4-Autopilot/build/px4_sitl_default/bin/px4 # add `-i 1` (2,3,..) for additional instances of PX4

```



Start QGroundControl in a fifth terminal for vehicle monitoring



```sh

cd ~/

./QGroundControl.AppImage

```



Alternatively, run all of the above 5 steps in one `screen` session



```sh

screen -c ~/git/ws/src/px4-fw-aerobatics/resources/screenrc-example

killall screen && pkill -f gz # To quit screen and gazebo

```



## Do VTOL Aerobatics



Start the simulation environment for `custom_vtol` as in the example above



```sh

screen -c ~/git/ws/src/px4-fw-aerobatics/resources/screenrc-example

```



Run `PX4Whisperer` (a simple node implementing a service for autonomous takeoff, landing, and offboard maneuvers)



```sh

cd ~/git/ws/src/px4-fw-aerobatics/vtol_example/

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash && source ~/git/ws/install/setup.bash 

python3 px4whisperer.py

```



Run the example script with a complete mission including an aileron roll and a dive



```sh

cd ~/git/ws/src/px4-fw-aerobatics/vtol_example

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash && source ~/git/ws/install/setup.bash 

./example.sh

```