Setup HIL with PX4 and V-REP

Prerequisites

• Machine with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS installed
• ROS indigo installed
• CATKIN workspace
• V-REP installed
• V-REP HIL scene: can be found in the catkin_ws/src/v_repExtRosInterface/vrep_hil folder after you run the setup .sh script

• Pixhawk loaded with PX4 HIL firmware (use v1.4.4)

• customized .params file for appropriate Pixhawk parameters configurations: can be found in the catkin_ws/src/v_repExtRosInterface/vrep_hil folder after you run the setup .sh script

• setup script vrep_px4_hil_setup.sh (see the code below)

• Internet connection

Setup

Prepare the setup file as described in the below section.

Open a new terminal, navigate to the setup file, and define the setup variables: VREP_ROOT is the VREP main folder's path, ROS_WORKSPACE is the path to your catkin workspace. Finally, run the setup script (see the code below). Make sure you have internet connection and root access via sudo.

# export VREP_ROOT=path/to/vrep/folder
# export ROS_WORKSPACE=path/to/catkin/workspace
./vrep_px4_hil_setup.sh

Once the installation is successful, connect Pixhawk via USB. Run mavros to connect to Pixhawk,

roslaunch mavros px4.launch fcu_url:=/dev/ttyACM0:115200 gcs_url:=udp://@192.168.1.135

You may need to adjust fcu_url address /dev/ttyACM0:115200 and gcs_url address udp://@192.168.1.135 according to your setup.

In another terminal, run V-REP: Navigate to VREP main folder, then execute

# cd /vrep/folder
./vrep.sh

Load the px4_hil.ttt scene, and run it. You should see the main LED on Pixhawk go green. It means it's able to get xyz data (fake GPS).

Setup Shell Script

You can create the setup file by copying the following shell code to a file, and then, run it. Make sure it has .sh extension, and make it executable : chmod +x <filename.sh>.

#!/bin/bash

# Check if required environment variables are set properly
if [ ! -v ROS_WORKSPACE ]; then
    echo "!!!! ERROR: ROS_WORKSPACE is unset"
    echo "set it using: export ROS_WORKSPACE=path/to/workspace/folder"
    echo "press 'ENTER' to exit....."
    read x
    exit 1
fi

if [ ! -v VREP_ROOT ]; then
    echo "!!!! ERROR: VREP_ROOT is unset"
    echo "set it using: export VREP_ROOT=path/to/VREP/folder"
    echo "press 'ENTER' to exit....."
    read x
    exit 1
fi

ROS_WORKSPACE1=$(echo $ROS_WORKSPACE | tr -d '\r')
VREP_ROOT1=$(echo $VREP_ROOT | tr -d '\r')

# Clean ros_ws: build/devel/logs directories
cd $ROS_WORKSPACE1
rm -r -f devel/
rm -r -f build/
rm -r -f logs/

# Initialize catkin workspace
cd "$ROS_WORKSPACE1"
catkin init
cd src
rm .rosinstall
cd ..
wstool init src

# Remove old vrep ros interface package`
cd "$ROS_WORKSPACE1/src"
if [ -d "v_repExtRosInterface" ]; then
    rm -r -f "$ROS_WORKSPACE1/src/v_repExtRosInterface"
fi

# Remove old mavros package
# remove mavros if installed by apt-get
sudo apt-get remove ros-indigo-mavros
sudo apt-get remove ros-indigo-mavros-extras
sudo apt-get remove ros-indigo-mavros-msgs
if [ -d "mavros" ]; then
    rm -r -f mavros
fi

# Remove mavlink package
# remove mavlink if installed by apt-get
sudo apt-get remove ros-indigo-mavlink
if [ -d "mavlink" ]; then
    rm -r -f mavlink
fi

# Create Python-packages folder,
cd ~
# check if directory exists
if [ ! -d "python-packages" ]; then
    mkdir -p "python-packages/src"
fi


# Get some required python packages
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python-tempita python-catkin-tools python-rosinstall-generator python-pip -y
sudo pip install future


# Clone fresh vrep ros interface package
cd "${ROS_WORKSPACE1}/src"
git clone https://github.com/mzahana/v_repExtRosInterface.git
# Copy some V-REP packages from V-REP folder
cp -R "${VREP_ROOT1}/programming/ros_packages/vrep_common/" "${ROS_WORKSPACE1}/src/"
cp -R "${VREP_ROOT1}/programming/ros_packages/vrep_joy/" "${ROS_WORKSPACE1}/src/"
cp -R "${VREP_ROOT1}/programming/ros_packages/vrep_plugin/" "${ROS_WORKSPACE1}/src/"
cp -R "${VREP_ROOT1}/programming/ros_packages/vrep_plugin_skeleton/" "${ROS_WORKSPACE1}/src/"
cp -R "${VREP_ROOT1}/programming/ros_packages/vrep_skeleton_msg_and_srv/" "${ROS_WORKSPACE1}/src/"


# Get fresh mavros package
git clone https://github.com/mzahana/mavros.git
# checkout the px4_hil_plugins branch
cd mavros
git checkout  px4_hil_plugins
cd "${ROS_WORKSPACE1}"

# Get fresh mavlink package
rosinstall_generator --rosdistro kinetic mavlink | tee /tmp/mavros.rosinstall
wstool merge -t src /tmp/mavros.rosinstall
wstool update -t src -j4
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -y



# Get supporting package for vrep ros interface
cd ~/python-packages
# Remove old package if exists
if [ -d "v_repStubsGen" ]; then
    rm -r -f v_repStubsGen
fi

# Get a fresh copy of the supporting python package
git clone https://github.com/fferri/v_repStubsGen.git
export PYTHONPATH=$PYTHONPATH:~/python-packages


# Build ros/catkin workspace
#VERBOSE=1 catkin build -v -p1 -j1 --no-status
#catkin build -p1 -j1
cd "${ROS_WORKSPACE1}"
catkin build


# clone built libs to V-REP folder
cp -r "${ROS_WORKSPACE1}/devel/lib/libv_repExtRosInterface.so" ${VREP_ROOT1}
cp -r "${ROS_WORKSPACE1}/devel/lib/libv_repExtRos.so" ${VREP_ROOT1}
cp -r "${ROS_WORKSPACE1}/devel/lib/libv_repExtRosSkeleton.so" ${VREP_ROOT1}
#cp -r $ROS_WORKSPACE/src/ros_bubble_rob/bin/rosBubbleRob ~/V-REP_PRO_EDU_V3_3_2_64_Linux/
#cp -r $ROS_WORKSPACE/src/ros_bubble_rob2/bin/rosBubbleRob2 ~/V-REP_PRO_EDU_V3_3_2_64_Linux/

source "${ROS_WORKSPACE1}/devel/setup.bash"

### DONE ###