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ROS-ArduPilotMega Integration

Posted by Ralph Castain on May 25, 2011 at 7:30am
3689408423?profile=originalPer a suggestion from Chris, I'm working on integrating APM with ROS so that APM looks like an ROS node. I'm a newbie with APM and Arduino, but experienced with robotics in general.

I've done the basics, getting the various IDE's running and proving the concept of outputting APM sensor readings as ROS topics.

What I'm seeking now is input from the community as to what we want this integration to provide. Any suggestions and/or requests would be most welcome!
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  • mquintilian May 25, 2011 at 1:24pm
    @HappyKillmore
    Sorry for lowering the awesomeness of the joke, I got it too...
    One of the coolest things about ROS is the Microsoft kinect support so it can be used for SLAM (Simultaneous localization and mapping) for indoor use. Does anybody know what UC Berkley uses for there quads to interface with there motion capture system? I think it may be ROS as I'm pretty sure the use pelican quads.
  • Paul Mather May 25, 2011 at 1:04pm

    Make it run native on Windows.....

     

    ...just had to throw that in there....an inside joke....I might be the only one who gets it.....which makes it that much more awesome....

  • Ritchie May 25, 2011 at 12:51pm
    Well what I thought was with the heading, speed and location collision avoidance could be done for a swarm. Intelligent mapping and stuff like that would only be a few steps away.
  • Ralph Castain May 25, 2011 at 11:47am

    This is indeed the WillowGarage ROS. I'll take a look at these use-cases and get back to you on degree of difficulty. Sending heading, speed, and other sensor-related data from APM to ROS is pretty easy. I haven't studied going the reverse direction yet.

     

    I'll also take a look at Player and Pelican - those terms are new to me :-)

     

  • Cliff-E May 25, 2011 at 11:10am
    You may want to look at Player (which integrates nicely into ROS). once you establish a node interface with the ROS server, then it's just another data stream.

    One thing everyone is using ROS is for hooking in collision avoidance routines... and computer vision stuff (hmmm, there's got to be something to do with FPV and ROS)...
  • mquintilian May 25, 2011 at 10:17am

    I was thinking of doing this but never got around to it...It would be neat to replicate AscTec Pelican drone node so you could use it as a drop in replacement for the quad. It then would be compatible with the code that MIT & Stanford use for there aerial quad kinect SLAM. It would also be much cheaper than a <$10,000 AscTec system

  • Ritchie May 25, 2011 at 9:55am

    I presume this is the WillowGarage ROS?

    I'd hope the end evolution would be swarm control so GPS, heading and speed should be of paramount importance. I can think of more but I think that is the most important as it will help single craft in tracking as well as the people having fun with many.

  • AndrewF May 25, 2011 at 9:50am

    Ralph,

    I think one interesting goal would be to have ROS upload/edit waypoints on the APM.  This could allow APM to interact with some of the path planners available for ROS.  If a map is provided with a desired target point (to photograph or something) as well as various obstacles to avoid, ROS could plan and upload a safe set of waypoints to get to the target.  Also if you wanted to photograph a large area, a ROS planner could be used to determine a set of waypoints that allow the aircraft path to cover the entire area, for example.

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