User Manual
Brief description about how to launch the main simulation nodes
Once all required dependencies and packages were installed the user is ready to test the dummy fly with the iris quad-rotor, which model is already loaded in the gazebo models. The demo flight is executed with the following lines in order:
Launch the gazebo simulation node
cd catkin_ws
source devel/setup.bash
roslaunch iq_sim runway.launchThe demo environment looks like:
Launch the arducopter communication protocol
cd ~/ardupilot/ArduCopter/
sim_vehicle.py -v ArduCopter -f gazebo-iris --consoleIf the quad-rotor us successfully linked, you will see green messages as follows:
Execute the QGroundControl App
cd ~/path/to/QGroundControl
./QGroundControl.AppImageThe command will open the QGroundControl interface to prepare and plan the navigation.
Testing the quad-rotor
Is it possible to test all quad-rotor components like motors, sensors, etc. To this end, in QGroundControl clic on the top-left Q icon and select Vehicle Setup.
Afterwards you will all testing options, for instance, we can test each motor by clicing the "Motors" option. The app allows testing each individual motor, and as in real life, the propellers will move in the gazebo simulation as well.
Create a flight plan
By clicking in the Plan option in the top-left side we can edit the navigation route.
The first point we must set is the take off, were we set the attitude for all the trajectory. Afterwards we will be able to set the waypoints to trace the quad-rotor trajectory.
The final waypoint can be configured as a landing or return to the initial position by clicking the downside arrow next to the Waypoint indicator in the right side.
Furthermore, we should return to the main window and arm the quad-rotor by clicking the Ready to flight option and pressing arm.
The arm confirmation should be done in the slide that appear in the bottom section. Now the quad-rotor is ready to flight, so we can select the take off option and confirming the slider.
The quad-rotor will follow that planned path and we can see it in QGroundControl in 2D and in Gazebo in 3D
Fast execution via bash file
The above mentioned packages could be executed at once by using a bash file. The script could be downloaded below, and adjusted to your needs.
In this file we first should set the workspace_path , arducopter_path and QGcontrol_path according to our configuration.
Bash file execution:
cd /path/to/launch_simulation/
chmod +x launch_simulation.sh
./launch_simulation.shVisualize Flight Logs
Ardupilot as an open source tool provides a log viewer to visualize all logging data captured by QGroundControl. The log viewer can be found in the next link.
The log data can be downloaded from QGroundControl by clicking in the top left Q icon and selecting Analyze Tools.
Once we have the flight log we are able to load and visualize all parameters in ardupilot.org, like the 3D trajectory
Plot the GPS position, latitude and longitude
IMU measurements
Attitude among other parameters
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