sky_sim

Quadcopter simulation with ArduPilot + Gazebo 11 + ROS Noetic

First, be sure that your ArduPilot SITL environment is set correctly. The installation step-by-step is here: https://ardupilot.org/dev/docs/building-setup-linux.html#building-setup-linux

1. Install ROS Noetic

Follow the instructions here: http://wiki.ros.org/noetic/Installation/Ubuntu

Remember to add the source command to your bashrc file:

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

If you already have other ROS distros, be sure to remove their source commands from the bashrc file.

2. Install Gazebo 11

First, uninstall other versions of Gazebo:

sudo apt remove <other-gazebo-versions>

Follow the alternative installation: https://classic.gazebosim.org/tutorials?tut=install_ubuntu&cat=install

Add a line to end of ~/.bashrc by running the following command:

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

3. Install the Ardupilot-Gazebo plugin

Create a gz_ws in your home folder:

mkdir -p gz_ws/src

Then, clone and build the plugin for Gazebo legacy versions:

cd gz_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/khancyr/ardupilot_gazebo
cd ardupilot_gazebo
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make -j4
sudo make install

If you want to see the complete guide: https://ardupilot.org/dev/docs/sitl-with-gazebo-legacy.html#sitl-with-gazebo-legacy

4. Set Up Catkin Workspace

Install the following catkin tools:

sudo apt-get install python3-wstool python3-rosinstall-generator python3-catkin-lint python3-pip python3-catkin-tools
pip3 install osrf-pycommon

Then, initialize the catkin workspace:

mkdir ~/sky_ws
cd ~/sky_ws
mkdir src build log devel
catkin init

5. Dependencies installation:

Install mavros and mavlink from source:

cd ~/sky_ws
wstool init ~/sky_ws/src

rosinstall_generator --upstream mavros | tee /tmp/mavros.rosinstall
rosinstall_generator mavlink | tee -a /tmp/mavros.rosinstall
wstool merge -t src /tmp/mavros.rosinstall
wstool update -t src
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src --rosdistro `echo $ROS_DISTRO` -y

catkin build

Add a line to end of ~/.bashrc by running the following command:

echo "source ~/sky_ws/devel/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc

update global variables:

source ~/.bashrc

install geographiclib dependancy:

sudo ~/sky_ws/src/mavros/mavros/scripts/install_geographiclib_datasets.sh

6. Clone Skyrats Simulation ROS package

cd ~/sky_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/SkyRats/sky_sim.git

Run the following command to tell Gazebo where to look for models:

echo "GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH=${GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH}:$HOME/sky_ws/src/sky_sim/models" >> ~/.bashrc

7. Build instructions

Inside sky_ws, run catkin build:

cd ~/sky_ws
catkin build

Update global variables:

source ~/.bashrc

8. Usage

To test the simulation, you need at least two terminal windows:

• Run SITL:

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

If the command is not found and the path can't be corrected, you might need to run the following command before running SITL:

cd ~/sky_ws/src/sky_base/ardupilot/Tools/autotest
python3 sim_vehicle.py -v ArduCopter -f gazebo-iris --console

• Launch Gazebo and ROS:

roslaunch sky_sim runway.launch

In addition, you can open QGround to test your flight simulation and RViz to visualize the camera image stream.