Ardupilot Gazebo Plugin & Models
Requirements :
Native Ubuntu Xenial(16.04 LTS) able to run full 3D graphics.
Note : Virtual Machine such as VMWare Player does not support full 3D graphics.
but, possible solution is here
Type follow in the terminal,
echo "export SVGA_VGPU10=0" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
solution retreived from here http://answers.gazebosim.org/question/13214/virtual-machine-not-launching-gazebo/
Note : This just enables running gazebo in virtual machine, does not guarantee the performance and Gazebo require much of CPU & GPU processing power depending on what you are running the simulation.
ArduPilot setup for SITL launch Gazebo version 7 or later
Disclamer :
This is a playground until I get some time to push the correct patch to gazebo master (I got hard time to work with mercurial..)!
So you can expect things to not be up-to-date.
This assume that your are using Ubuntu 16.04
Repository Structure :
models_gazebo : Gazebo Original models retrieved from OSRF bitbucket repository (you can find more in https://bitbucket.org/osrf/gazebo_models/src)
models : Ardupilot SITL compatible models.
worlds : Ardupilot SITL example worlds.
src : source files for Gazebo - ArduPilot Plugin
include : header files for Gazebo - ArduPilot Plugin
Getting Started :
How to Install :
I assume you already have Gazebo 7+ installed with ROS (or without).
If you don't have it yet, install ROS with sudo apt install ros-kinetic-desktop-full
(follow instruction here http://wiki.ros.org/kinetic/Installation/Ubuntu).
Or install directly gazebo8 from http://gazebosim.org/tutorials?tut=install_ubuntu
libgazebo7-dev or libgazebo8-dev must be installed.
For Gazebo 7
sudo apt-get install libgazebo7-dev
OR
For Gazebo 8
sudo apt-get install libgazebo8-dev
OR
For Gazebo 9
sudo apt-get install libgazebo9-dev
Common :
git clone https://github.com/SwiftGust/ardupilot_gazebo
cd ardupilot_gazebo
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make -j4
sudo make install
Set Path of Gazebo Models / Worlds... Open up .bashrc
sudo gedit ~/.bashrc
Copy & Paste Followings at the end of .bashrc file
source /usr/share/gazebo/setup.sh
export GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH=~/ardupilot_gazebo/models:${GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH}
export GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH=~/ardupilot_gazebo/models_gazebo:${GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH}
export GAZEBO_RESOURCE_PATH=~/ardupilot_gazebo/worlds:${GAZEBO_RESOURCE_PATH}
export GAZEBO_PLUGIN_PATH=~/ardupilot_gazebo/build:${GAZEBO_PLUGIN_PATH}
Install is complete
Now launch a world file with a copter/rover/plane and ardupilot plugin, and it should work! (I will try to add some world file and model later)
HELP
How to Launch :
Launch Ardupilot Software In the Loop Simulation for each vehicle. On new terminal, Launch Gazebo with basic demo world.
ROVER
On 1st Terminal(Launch ArduRover SITL)
sim_vehicle.py -v APMrover2 -f gazebo-rover -m --mav10 --map --console -I1
On 2nd Termianal(Launch Gazebo with differential drive Rover model, Retrieved from Husky Model)
gazebo --verbose rover_ardupilot.world
COPTER (3DR IRIS) On 1st Terminal(Launch ArduCopter SITL)
sim_vehicle.py -v ArduCopter -f gazebo-iris -m --mav10 --map --console -I0
On 2nd Terminal(Launch Gazebo with demo 3DR Iris model)
gazebo --verbose iris_ardupilot.world
PLANE On 1st Terminal(Launch ArduPlane SITL)
sim_vehicle.py -v ArduPlane -f gazebo-zephyr -m --mav10 --map --console -I0
On 2nd Terminal(Launch Gazebo with demo Zephyr flying wing model)
gazebo --verbose zephyr_ardupilot_demo.world
In addition, you can use any GCS that can connect to the Ardupilot locally or remotely(will require connection setup). If MAVProxy Developer GCS is uncomfortable. Omit --map --console arguments out of SITL launch.
And use APMPlanner2 or QGroundControl instead. (Possibly MissionPlanner but require Windows PC)
Local connection with APMPlanner2/QGroundControl is automatic, and easier to use.
For APMPlanner2
Download it from here http://firmware.eu.ardupilot.org/Tools/APMPlanner/ and launch it in terminal or run executable
apmplanner2
For QGroundControl
Download it from here and follow the installation guide.
https://donlakeflyer.gitbooks.io/qgroundcontrol-user-guide/en/download_and_install.html
Multi-Vehicle simulation
This section explains how to connect any combination of multi-vehicles of ArduPilot
For the multi-vehicle connection, port number is increased by 10 per instance(#) In SITL launch argument -I # of sim_vehicle.py
-I 0 has FDM in/out ports of 9002/9003 / GCS connection UDP:14550
-I 1 has FDM in/out ports of 9012/9013 / GCS connection UDP:14560
-I 2 has FDM in/out ports of 9022/9023 / GCS connection UDP:14570
and so on...
You will need to edit your world for any combination of Rover, Plane, Copter, etc...
Additional Note for GCS Connection You will also need to edit ArduPilot Parameter SYSID_THISMAV to be unique from one another for the GCS connection
Example
Look simulation of 3 IRIS quadcopter at once from Jonathan Lopes Florêncio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c7EhVMaqKY&feature=youtu.be
Troubleshooting
Missing libArduPilotPlugin
In case you see this message when you launch gazebo with demo worlds, check you have no error after sudo make install.
If no error use "ls" on the install path given to see if the plugin is really here.
If this is correct, check with "cat /usr/share/gazebo/setup.sh" the variable GAZEBO_PLUGIN_PATH. It should be the same as the install path. If not use "cp" to copy the lib to right path.
For Example
sudo cp -a /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gazebo-7.0/plugins/ /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gazebo-7/
Path mismatch is confirmed as Gazebo's glitch. It only happens with Gazebo version 7.