Follow model in gz GUI

[Jaeyoung-Lim]

Solved Problem

When running the simulation in gz, the model is not being followed by default.

• Fixes [Bug] px4_sitl gz_standard_vtol spawns with camera under the world #22659

@frede791 FYI

Solution

Start gz with a follow mode engaged to the model

Changelog Entry

For release notes:

Feature/Bugfix Gazebo gui follows model by default

Alternatives

We could also create a custom plugin to follow the model

Test coverage

make px4_sitl gz_x500

Context

• Thanks for the pointers! @srmainwaring
• We probably need Add service to change camera follow pgain. gazebosim/gz-gui#515 to make the follow camera smoother

[Jaeyoung-Lim]

@frede791 I kind of liked the dramatic rotation, but as you wish :)

The vehicle is a bit too small to see what is going on with 6 m (fo example control surfaces actuating), but we can keep it like that until gazebosim/gz-gui#515 is in

[frede791]

@Jaeyoung-Lim It doesn't latch onto the model for me. I still have to click "follow" for the model to actually be tracked from the requested camera perspective.

[frede791]

The stringmsg doesn't seem to refer to the specific model that it is supposed to attach to in the way the old version had it.

[Jaeyoung-Lim]

The stringmsg doesn't seem to refer to the specific model that it is supposed to attach to in the way the old version had it.

Could you elaborate?

[frede791]

In your previous version you used PX4_SIM_MODEL:

gz service -s /gui/follow --reqtype gz.msgs.StringMsg --reptype gz.msgs.Boolean --timeout 2000 --req "data: \"${PX4_SIM_MODEL#*gz_}_0\""

Since the call is now in GzBridge it is now set in the follow_msg, but it doesn't seem to be working correctly on my machine.

[Jaeyoung-Lim]

@frede791 Have you tried changing the sleep just to see if it is working?

The problem is that the follow service seems to always return true, even if the model does not exist in gz sim

[Jaeyoung-Lim]

@frede791 @dagar I have removed the timeouts and detect whether the scene is created by checking if it is possible to query a scene message.

[DronecodeBot]

This pull request has been mentioned on Discussion Forum for PX4, Pixhawk, QGroundControl, MAVSDK, MAVLink. There might be relevant details there:

https://discuss.px4.io/t/px4-sync-q-a-aug-21-2024/40268/2

[DronecodeBot]

This pull request has been mentioned on Discussion Forum for PX4, Pixhawk, QGroundControl, MAVSDK, MAVLink. There might be relevant details there:

https://discuss.px4.io/t/px4-sync-q-a-aug-21-2024/40268/1

[dakejahl]

unused variable

and sim throws an error

[Claudio-Chies]

unused variable and sim throws an error

jup, I have the same issue

[dirksavage88]

Shows errors but still works despite the error printout
#23705