README.md

DR-1

This is the repo used to maintain the codebase for the DR-1 project at the Florida Tech Dynamic Systems, Controls, and Mechatronics Lab. The project utilizes the PX4 flight stack, MAVROS, and OpenCV in order to generate a relative state vector from a target position and generate the necessary commands for the flight computer in order to land on the target. System integration and testing occurs on a Gazebo flight simulator developed by the PX4 group using a Hardware-in-the-Loop approach, and on a Pixhawk equipped hexacopter. Algorithms and code validated on a LattePanda Alpha, however will likely work on a wide variety of companion computers.

Install

1. Install Ubuntu 16.04

   1. Make a bootable USB disk with the Ubuntu image as per the instructions here: https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/create-a-usb-stick-on-ubuntu#1-overview
   2. Boot the LattePanda from the USB drive. In order to do this, rapidly press the F7 button as the device is starting in order to reach the Boot Manager. Select the UEFI OS USB drive that you just created.
   3. Install Ubuntu to the device. It is suggested that a clean install with Ubuntu as the primary operating system is selected.

2. Install ROS Kinetic using these instruction: http://wiki.ros.org/kinetic/Installation/Ubuntu

   1. Configure repositories to allow "Restricted", "Universe", and "Multiverse" packages.

   2. Setup Ubuntu sources to accept packages from the ROS package server:

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

   3. Setup security keys to accept signed software from the ROS package server:

      sudo apt-key adv --keyserver 'hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80' --recv-key C1CF6E31E6BADE8868B172B4F42ED6FBAB17C654

   4. Update apt index:

      sudo apt-get update

   5. Install ROS Desktop:

      sudo apt-get install ros-kinetic-desktop

   6. It is suggested to source the ROS environment variables and commands via the bashrc such that the relevant ROS commands are exposed for each terminal:

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

   7. Install the necessary dependencies for building ROS packages from source:

      sudo apt-get install python-rosdep python-rosinstall python-rosinstall-generator python-wstool build-essential

   8. Initialize rosdep (the native ROS dependency manager):

      sudo apt-get install python-rosdep
      sudo rosdep init
      rosdep update

3. Install catkin_tools using these instructions: https://catkin-tools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installing.html

   1. Update apt list and install catkin_tools:

      sudo apt-get update
      sudo apt-get install python-catkin-tools

4. Initialize catkin workspace:

   cd ~
   mkdir catkin_workspace
   cd catkin_workspace
   mkdir src
   cd src
   git clone https://github.com/msyed123/dr1.git . --recurse-submodules
   cd ~/catkin_workspace
   catkin init
   echo "source ~/catkin_workspace/devel/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc

5. Install librealsense from source: Librealsense Linux Ubuntu Installation

   1. Download librealsense sources from Git:

      cd ~
      git clone https://github.com/IntelRealSense/librealsense.git

   2. Disconnect any connected RealSense camera

   3. Navigate to the librealsense directory

      cd librealsense

   4. Install core packages for building the binary via apt:

      sudo apt-get install git libssl-dev libusb-1.0-0-dev pkg-config libgtk-3-dev
      sudo apt-get install libglfw3-dev

   5. Adjust UDev rules using the provided bash script.

      ./scripts/setup_udev_rules.sh
      ./scripts/patch-realsense-ubuntu-lts.sh

   6. Build SDK

      cd ~/librealsense
      mkdir build
      cd build
      cmake ../ -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
      sudo make uninstall && make clean && make -j4 && sudo make install

6. Install ROS wrapper for librealsense (realsense2-camera)

   sudo apt-get install ros-kinetic-realsense2-camera

7. Install pcl_ros, a dependency for realsense2-camera

   sudo apt-get install ros-kinetic-pcl-ros

8. Install mavros and mavros_extras

   sudo apt-get install ros-kinetic-mavros ros-kinetic-mavros-extras
   wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mavlink/mavros/master/mavros/scripts/install_geographiclib_datasets.sh
   sudo bash ./install_geographiclib_datasets.sh

9. Configure catkin workspace to extend ROS source space

   cd ~/catkin_workspace
   catkin clean
   catkin config --extend /opt/ros/kinetic

10. Install necessary Python packages:

    sudo apt-get install python-pip
    pip install numpy==1.15.0
    pip install scipy==1.2.3 --no-deps
    pip install pyquaternion --no-deps
    pip install filterpy --no-deps

11. Build catkin workspace

    cd ~/catkin_workspace
    catkin build

12. Mark all necessary scripts as executable

    chmod +x ~/catkin_workspace/src/dr1/scripts/*.py

Packages

This is a ROS project, with several different packages that contain discrete functionality for this project.

dr1

This folder contains the codes related to launching, controlling, calibrating and positioning the drone. PX4 open source flight control software was used to perform the required tasks of the drone

VIO

This is a submodule that interfaces an Intel T265 with a Pixhawk 4 Flight Computer. The assumption is that the FCU endpoint is correctly defined in the MAVROS launch file. This is required in order for the correct serialization of the velocity vectors coming from the VIO to the Mavlink endpoint on the FCU.