ROS2 & PX4 Teleop Example

We previously had a popular ros2_px4_offboard_example based on Python and the offboard control mode. However, maintaining it became challenging. In this repository, we've migrated the code to C++ and implemented it using a Custom PX4 Flight Mode(PX4 ROS 2 Interface Library) for improved maintainability and performance.

The original implementation was done with PX4 1.16

Video Walkthrough

🎥 Watch on YouTube

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu 22.04
• ROS2 Humble
• PX4 Autopilot
• Micro XRCE-DDS Agent
• QGroundControl
• ROS_GZ bridge

Setup Steps

You can find the required instructions collected below

https://docs.px4.io/main/en/ros2/user_guide.html

You need the lates PX4-Autopilot To get ros_gz bridge

sudo apt install ros-humble-ros-gzgarden

https://github.com/gazebosim/ros_gz

Usage

Setup the Workspace

Make sure you source ROS2 Humble in the terminal you are using.

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash

OR Just add the line above to your bashrc, in that case it is going to be sourced every time you open a terminal.

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

Navigate to the directory you would like to place the worskpace and then run the following

git clone git@github.com:ARK-Electronics/ros2_px4_teleop_example.git

Then navigate into the workspace and initialize the submodules:

cd ros2_px4_teleop_example/
git submodule update --init --recursive

Build the submodules

colcon build --packages-select px4_msgs px4_ros2_cpp

Source the workspace

source install/setup.bash 

Build the workspace

colcon build

After this runs, we do not need to build the whole workspace again, you can just build the individual packages you have modified

colcon build --packages-select teleop

Source the workspace

source install/setup.bash 

Run the example

Run the simulation environment

Launch PX4 sim

make px4_sitl gz_x500

Start the Micro XRCE-DDS Agent:

MicroXRCEAgent udp4 -p 8888

Launch the Custom Mode Executor:

cd ros2_px4_teleop_example/
source install/setup.bash
ros2 run teleop teleop

Alternatively, you can use the launch file, in that case you can change the teleop timeout in the config file:

source install/setup.bash
ros2 launch teleop teleop.launch.py

In a separate terminal, start the teleoperation keyboard:

source install/setup.bash
ros2 run teleop_twist_rpyt_keyboard teleop_twist_rpyt_keyboard 

ARM the vehicle in QGroundControl, then select the Teleoperation mode.

You should now be able to control the drone using the Teleop_Twist terminal. If there is no input for 60 seconds, the drone will automatically land. You can change this timeout by editing the value in the configuration file.