README.md

Task 0: Installation and Setup

General Dependencies:

To use all provided utilities, there are some packages you need to install first. Copy and paste the following commands into your terminal:

sudo apt install -y \
	ninja-build \
	exiftool \
	python3-empy \
	python3-toml \
	python3-numpy \
	python3-yaml \
	python3-dev \
	python3-pip \
	ninja-build \
	protobuf-compiler \
	libeigen3-dev \
	genromfs \
    libignition-rendering3 \
    libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-dev \
    gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad \
    gstreamer1.0-plugins-base \
    gstreamer1.0-plugins-good \
    gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly

pip3 install \
	pandas \
	jinja2 \
	pyserial \
	cerberus \
	pyulog \
	numpy \
	toml \
	pyquaternion \
    kconfiglib \
    --user packaging \
    --user jsonschema

ROS-Neotic Installation:

Step 1. Configure your Ubuntu repositories:

Configure your Ubuntu repositories to allow “restricted,” “universe,” and “multiverse.” You can Follow the Ubuntu guide for instructions on doing this.

Step 2. Setup your sources.list:

Setup your computer to accept software from packages.ros.org .

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://packages.ros.org/ros/ubuntu $(lsb_release -sc) main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros-latest.list'

Step 3. Set up your keys:

sudo apt install curl # if you haven't already installed curl
curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/ros.asc | sudo apt-key add -

Step 4. Installation:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ros-noetic-desktop-full

Step 5. Environment Setup:

source /opt/ros/noetic/setup.bash

It can be convenient to automatically source this script every time a new shell is launched. These commands will do that for you.

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

Step 6. Dependencies for building packages:

sudo apt install python3-rosdep python3-rosinstall python3-rosinstall-generator python3-wstool build-essential
sudo apt install python3-rosdep
sudo rosdep init
rosdep update

MAVROS Installation:

MAVROS is a communication node based on MAVLink for ROS that is specially designed for communication between the drone and the companion computer. To install it, follow the following instructions:

sudo apt install python3-catkin-tools python3-rosinstall-generator python3-osrf-pycommon -y 

Step 1. Create the workspace:

mkdir -p ~/catkin_ws/src
cd ~/catkin_ws
catkin init
wstool init src

Step 2. Install MAVLink: we use the Kinetic reference for all ROS distros as it’s not distro-specific and up to date

rosinstall_generator --rosdistro kinetic mavlink | tee /tmp/mavros.rosinstall

Step 3. Install MAVROS: get source (upstream - released)

rosinstall_generator --upstream mavros | tee -a /tmp/mavros.rosinstall

Alternatively, you can get the latest development version:

rosinstall_generator --upstream-development mavros | tee -a /tmp/mavros.rosinstall

Step 4. Create workspace & deps

wstool merge -t src /tmp/mavros.rosinstall
wstool update -t src -j4
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -y

Step 5. Install GeographicLib datasets:

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

Step 6. Build source

catkin build

Step 7. Make sure that you use setup.bash

source devel/setup.bash

PX4 Firmware Installation:

Clone the PX4 Repository:

cd ~/catkin_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot.git --recursive
cd PX4-Autopilot/
make px4_sitl_default gazebo

Current versions of PX4 require an additional command to function properly. After cloning the PX4 repo and before building the workspace, cd into it

cd ~/catkin_ws/src/PX4-Autopilot

and then run

DONT_RUN=1 make px4_sitl_default gazebo

This command enables PX4 to configure itself for working with Gazebo.

Now you should see a window pop out and a drone in the middle of the environment. After verifying, press Control-C in the command line to quit Gazebo and close the window.

PX4 Enviroment:

Build you workspace:

cd ~/catkin_ws
catkin build

Some extra tools to install:

pip3 install px4tools pymavlink

Modifying your ‘bashrc’ so that your environment remains the same every time you open a new terminal:

source ~/catkin_ws/devel/setup.bash
source ~/catkin_ws/src/PX4-Autopilot/Tools/setup_gazebo.bash ~/catkin_ws/src/PX4-Autopilot/ ~/catkin_ws/src/PX4-Autopilot/build/px4_sitl_default
export ROS_PACKAGE_PATH=$ROS_PACKAGE_PATH:~/catkin_ws/src/PX4-Autopilot
export ROS_PACKAGE_PATH=$ROS_PACKAGE_PATH:~/catkin_ws/src/PX4-Autopilot/Tools/sitl_gazebo

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