Sample repository showcasing model predictive control with PX4's offboard mode and ROS 2.

Usage

1. Start the DDS agent.

   MicroXRCEAgent udp4 -p 8888
   

2. In a new terminal window, cd into PX4-Autopilot and start the SITL.

   sudo make px4_sitl gazebo-classic
   

3. In a new terminal window, run your roslaunch or script.

Install instructions

ROS 2 Foxy for Ubuntu 20.04 Focal

1. Uninstall ROS Noetic.

   sudo apt-get remove ros-*
   sudo apt-get autoremove
   

   Remove the installations of Noetic in /opt/ros and /mnt/c/opt/ros.

   cd /opt/ros
   sudo rm -r noetic
   cd /mnt/c/opt/ros
   sudo rm -r noetic
   

   Edit your ~/.bashrc and remove all ROS related commands.

2. Make sure locale has UTF-8.

   locale  # check for UTF-8
   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
   locale  # verify settings
   

3. Set up sources.

   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
   

4. Install ROS 2 packages.

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt upgrade
   sudo apt install ros-foxy-desktop python3-argcomplete # full install with extra visualizer tools and tutorials (RECOMMENDED)
   sudo apt install ros-foxy-ros-base python3-argcomplete # only has communication libraries and command line tools
   sudo apt install ros-dev-tools
   

5. Source environment and test if it's working.

   source /opt/ros/foxy/setup.bash
   echo 'source /opt/ros/foxy/setup.bash' >> ~/.bashrc
   ros2 run demo_nodes_cpp talker
   

   In another window run:

   ros2 run demo_nodes_py listener
   

6. Not sure what this is but PX4 says to install it.

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

PX4 SITL for Ubuntu 20.04 Focal

1. Install PX4 development environment in your directory of choice.

   git clone https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot.git --recursive
   bash ./PX4-Autopilot/Tools/setup/ubuntu.sh
   cd PX4-Autopilot/
   make px4_sitl
   

Micro XRCE-DDS Agent and Client (ROS 2 Middleware)

1. Clone the DDS agent library to your directory of choice.

   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/
   

   If you get an error relating to "ASIO_INCLUDE_DIR" when running "make", install this package:

   sudo apt-get install libasio-dev
   

2. Start the DDS agent.

   MicroXRCEAgent udp4 -p 8888
   

3. The PX4 SITL contains the DDS client. Run the SITL in a new window.

   sudo make px4_sitl gazebo-classic
   

   If you get a build error, check if you have any existing installations of ROS Noetic and delete them. After it successfully builds, you should see the simulation environment in one window and the DDS agent outputting "INFO" messages in its terminal window.

Set up PX4 ROS 2 workspace

1. Create a ROS 2 workspace and name it whatever you want. This is where all you develop in.

   mkdir -p ros2_ws/src
   

2. Clone PX4's packages and our custom messages into your ROS 2 workspace and compile it.

   cd ros2_ws/src
   git clone https://github.com/PX4/px4_msgs.git
   git clone [email protected]:uci-uav-forge/uavf_ros2_msgs.git
   cd ..
   source /opt/ros/foxy/setup.bash
   

   Everytime you make a change to your workspace, rebuild with this command:

   colcon build --merge-install
   

   If you compile with only "colcon build", you will get import errors with your ROS message types.

3. Run this command after everytime you've built the workspace:

   source install/setup.bash
   

4. Test it out with an example

   ros2 launch px4_offboard_mpc telemetry_interface_node.py
   

Acados Installation (for MPC usage)

1. Follow these instructions to install Acados.

2. Install the Python interface afterwards.

Install required and local Python libraries (again, for MPC usage)

1. cd into this repo's root directory.

2. Run:

   pip install -e .