MAVLink Tutorial for Absolute Dummies (Part –I)

Posted by Shyam Balasubramanian on November 15, 2013 at 1:36pm

Hi All,

I was recently fiddling around the code for a while and decided to create a tutorial out of it so that others may find it useful. If I would have known this knowledge long back, I am sure I would have saved a lot of time since then! I find lot of beginners getting swayed and lack of knowhow on MavLink with respect to APM/PX4. Information on internet is scattered and not much of use!! 

This will be "Step by Step" entertaining, PART - I of the series I plan to write.on:

3691077228?profile=original

What it Covers:

  1. MavLink, starting from scratch. What the hell is it and understand how it works with APM/ PX4
  2. Learn how developers think -> Arducopter communication with Mission Planner and vice-versa.
  3. Get a feel of 'How Stuffs works'.

Too much hype:) Well, this information has been collated from my experience and from internet. I know there is information on the new Wiki, it tells you what, I plan to tell you 'how'! :)

Please let me know if you found it interesting. If there is enough response, I will make another tutorial where I would add more 'Step by step' knowhow!!

Options:

- More on MavLink

- Learning Arducopter source code, Step by Step

- Making swarm (multiple) copters work with your 3DR Telemetry radio! I am working on it.

See attachment for [MAVLink Tutorial for Absolute Dummies (Part –I)]

Edit: Request you to post your queries over the forum directly, as it is not possible for me to address all queries I get by email!

--

Best regards,

Shyam

MAVLINK_FOR_DUMMIESPart1_v.1.1.pdf

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Replies

  • Alejandro Hincapié October 21, 2014 at 6:20pm

    Hello Shyam! 
    thanks for your attention! I really need your help!

    I need to build my own custom tool (like Mission Planner(MP) or QGroundControl(QGC) Ground station control (GCS)) to communicate with my quadcopter.

    the quadcopter that i have is:

    https://store.3drobotics.com/products/diy-quad-kit

    https://store.3drobotics.com/products/3dr-radio

    I'd be happy if I can build something like the Mission Planner (MP). 
    Can you guide me on how I can create the graphical interface (GUI)? 
    Also how can I send data and establish communication with the quadcopter? 
    much appreciate your help and guidance.

  • Guang-Xun Du October 17, 2014 at 5:43am

    I have finished Part1, and am looking forward to Part2. Good job!

  • waqas syed October 14, 2014 at 1:37pm

    myself a newbie in uav fields, i have been learning about apm and mavlink since last few weeks,everything is going is great,but i m getting stuck while compiling apm.n also i would like to know where exactly the data from apm get dump in gcs..??
    plzz help me out..

    • Shyam Balasubramanian > waqas syed October 14, 2014 at 2:41pm

      @Waqas,

      Welcome on board UAV field. I see that your question is too generic and there can be multiple reasons on what may be going wrong. This is a forum for Mavlink discussion, I would suggest you to post your question on the Arducopter User group thread. There is a section for newbies I believe. Also, please be specific when you post, you can expect a better response to your query then.

      Cheers,

      Shyam

  • mohsein October 10, 2014 at 3:17pm

    dear dear

    is there any part II for this toturial

    can you give it to us?

    thank you

    • Shyam Balasubramanian > mohsein October 10, 2014 at 3:28pm

      @Mohsein,

      To be honest, I have not created the part II for this which I initially intended to. If I get enough inputs from people on what they want, I could probably consider making one in my free time.

      - Shyam

    • Radian > Shyam Balasubramanian October 16, 2014 at 9:56am

      Your time is greatly appreciated and really we all ought to be able to find this out easily ourselves.

      I used part one to get me as far as decoding messages to the point that I can retrieve packets. But I have spent days trying find more specific info on bit fields, for example, within the heartbeat - which seems to offer just the sort of info I want for my project. However, frequently the trail goes cold when I try to find documentation giving me a more comprehensive description. The following breakdown of the heartbeat is an example of what I mean that appears in many online docs:

      System mode bitfield, see MAV_MODE_FLAG ENUM in mavlink/include/mavlink_types.h

      custom_mode A bitfield for use for autopilot-specific flags.

      System status flag, see MAV_STATE ENUM

      Despite diligently gogling all the above keywords I have yet to see a bit-for-bit breakdown. I'm sure that Just finding something really simple like a description of the System status flag bits would lead me to the right kind of place to find the information I need... and prevent me from relying on the kindness of strangers!

  • yiannis October 10, 2014 at 8:18am

    Thanks for this guide Shyam, very helpful.

    I was wondering if you (or any other member) have had any experience and/or documentation using MAVlink.dll for direct communication between a .Net app and APM/ PX4 (i.e. think of a custom, basic and lightweight GCS built in VS and C#, without all the overhead of MP).

    Thanks.

  • Cala October 3, 2014 at 6:15pm

    Thank's, very interesting :)

  • Veerapat October 3, 2014 at 9:11am

    Thanks for yr tutorial , 

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