ArduPilot ROS 2 packages

This directory contains ROS 2 packages and configuration files for running ROS 2 processes and nodes that communicate with the ArduPilot DDS client library using the microROS agent. It contains the following packages:

ardupilot_sitl

This is a colcon package for building and running ArduPilot SITL using the ROS 2 CLI. For example ardurover SITL may be launched with:

ros2 launch ardupilot_sitl sitl.launch.py command:=ardurover model:=rover

Other launch files are included with many arguments. Some common arguments are exposed and forwarded to the underlying process.

For example, MAVProxy can be launched, and you can enable the console and map.

ros2 launch ardupilot_sitl sitl_mavproxy.launch.py map:=True console:=True 

ArduPilot SITL does not yet expose all arguments from the underlying binary. See #27714 for context.

To see all current options, use the -s argument:

ros2 launch ardupilot_sitl sitl.launch.py -s

ardupilot_dds_tests

A colcon package for testing communication between micro_ros_agent and the ArduPilot AP_DDS client library.

Prerequisites

The packages depend on:

• ROS 2 Humble

Install Ubuntu

1. Create a workspace folder

mkdir -p ~/ros2_ws/src && cd ~/ros2_ws/src

The ROS 2 tutorials contain more details regarding ROS 2 workspaces.

2. Get the ros2.repos file

cd ~/ros2_ws/src
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot/master/Tools/ros2/ros2.repos
vcs import --recursive < ros2.repos

3. Update dependencies

cd ~/ros2_ws
source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
sudo apt update
rosdep update
rosdep install --rosdistro ${ROS_DISTRO} --from-paths src

4. Build

Check that the ROS environment is configured correctly:

ROS_VERSION=2
ROS_PYTHON_VERSION=3
ROS_DISTRO=humble

cd ~/ros2_ws
colcon build --cmake-args -DBUILD_TESTING=ON

5. Test

source ./install/setup.bash
colcon test --packages-select ardupilot_dds_tests
colcon test-result --all --verbose

To debug a specific test, you can do the following:

colcon --log-level DEBUG test --packages-select ardupilot_dds_tests --event-handlers=console_direct+ --pytest-args -k test_dds_udp_geopose_msg_recv -s

Install macOS

The install procedure on macOS is similar, except that all dependencies must be built from source and additional compiler flags are needed.

1. Create a workspace folder

mkdir -p ~/ros2_ws/src && cd ~/ros2_ws/src

2. Get the ros2_macos.repos file

The ros2_macos.repos includes additional dependencies to build:

cd ~/ros2_ws/src
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot/master/Tools/ros2/ros2_macos.repos
vcs import --recursive < ros2_macos.repos

3. Update dependencies

cd ~/ros2_ws
source /{path_to_your_ros_distro_workspace}/install/setup.zsh

4.1. Build microxrcedds_gen:

cd ~/ros2_ws/src/microxrcedds_gen
./gradlew assemble
export PATH=$PATH:$(pwd)/scripts

4.2. Build colcon projects

colcon build --symlink-install --cmake-args \
-DBUILD_TESTING=ON \
-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo \
-DCMAKE_MACOSX_RPATH=FALSE \
-DUAGENT_SOCKETCAN_PROFILE=OFF \
-DUAGENT_LOGGER_PROFILE=OFF \
-DUAGENT_USE_SYSTEM_LOGGER=OFF \
-DUAGENT_USE_SYSTEM_FASTDDS=ON \
-DUAGENT_USE_SYSTEM_FASTCDR=ON \
--event-handlers=desktop_notification-

5. Test

colcon test \
--pytest-args -s -v \
--event-handlers console_cohesion+ desktop_notification- \
--packages-select ardupilot_dds_tests

Install Docker

0. Build the image and run the container

Clone the ArduPilot docker project:

git clone https://github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot_dev_docker.git

Build the container:

cd ~/ardupilot_dev_docker/docker
docker build -t ardupilot/ardupilot-dev-ros -f Dockerfile_dev-ros .

Start the container in interactive mode:

docker run -it --name ardupilot-dds ardupilot/ardupilot-dev-ros

Connect another bash process to the running container:

docker container exec -it ardupilot-dds /bin/bash

The remaining steps 1 - 5 are the same as for Ubuntu. You may need to install MAVProxy if it is not available on the container.

pip install -U MAVProxy

Test details

The launch file replicates the following commands:

socat -d -d pty,raw,echo=0,link=./dev/ttyROS0 pty,raw,echo=0,link=./dev/ttyROS1

ros2 run micro_ros_agent micro_ros_agent serial --baudrate 115200 --dev ./dev/ttyROS0

arducopter --synthetic-clock --wipe --model quad --speedup 1 --slave 0 --instance 0 --serial1 uart:./dev/ttyROS1 --defaults $(ros2 pkg prefix ardupilot_sitl)/share/ardupilot_sitl/config/default_params/copter.parm,$(ros2 pkg prefix ardupilot_sitl)/share/ardupilot_sitl/config/default_params/dds_serial.parm --sim-address 127.0.0.1

mavproxy.py --out 127.0.0.1:14550 --out 127.0.0.1:14551 --master tcp:127.0.0.1:5760 --sitl 127.0.0.1:5501

Using individual launch files

ros2 launch ardupilot_sitl virtual_ports.launch.py tty0:=./dev/ttyROS0 tty1:=./dev/ttyROS1

ros2 launch ardupilot_sitl micro_ros_agent.launch.py transport:=serial baudrate:=115200 device:=./dev/ttyROS0

ros2 launch ardupilot_sitl sitl.launch.py synthetic_clock:=True wipe:=True model:=quad speedup:=1 slave:=0 instance:=0 serial1:=uart:./dev/ttyROS1 defaults:=$(ros2 pkg prefix ardupilot_sitl)/share/ardupilot_sitl/config/default_params/copter.parm,$(ros2 pkg prefix ardupilot_sitl)/share/ardupilot_sitl/config/default_params/dds_serial.parm sim_address:=127.0.0.1

ros2 launch ardupilot_sitl mavproxy.launch.py master:=tcp:127.0.0.1:5760 sitl:=127.0.0.1:5501

Using combined launch file

ros2 launch ardupilot_sitl sitl_dds_serial.launch.py \
\
tty0:=./dev/ttyROS0 \
tty1:=./dev/ttyROS1 \
\
transport:=serial \
baudrate:=115200 \
device:=./dev/ttyROS0 \
\
synthetic_clock:=True \
wipe:=True \
model:=quad \
speedup:=1 \
slave:=0 \
instance:=0 \
serial1:=uart:./dev/ttyROS1 \
defaults:=$(ros2 pkg prefix ardupilot_sitl)/share/ardupilot_sitl/config/default_params/copter.parm,$(ros2 pkg prefix ardupilot_sitl)/share/ardupilot_sitl/config/default_params/dds_serial.parm \
sim_address:=127.0.0.1 \
\
master:=tcp:127.0.0.1:5760 \
sitl:=127.0.0.1:5501

UDP version

ros2 launch ardupilot_sitl sitl_dds_udp.launch.py transport:=udp4 synthetic_clock:=True wipe:=False model:=quad speedup:=1 slave:=0 instance:=0 defaults:=$(ros2 pkg prefix ardupilot_sitl)/share/ardupilot_sitl/config/default_params/copter.parm,$(ros2 pkg prefix ardupilot_sitl)/share/ardupilot_sitl/config/default_params/dds_udp.parm sim_address:=127.0.0.1 master:=tcp:127.0.0.1:5760 sitl:=127.0.0.1:5501