Willow Garage announces ROS + MAVLink + ArduPilot Mega hookup

The Willow Garage team who are running the Robot Operating System (ROS) project posted today on the MAVLink integration with ROS that you've been reading about here for a while. What it means is that MAVLink-compatible autopilots (including ArduPilotMega now and the UAVDevBoard soon) can serve as ROS nodes, which will allow for easier multi-UAV mission control and coordination with other robot system.

From the post:

Users of Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) will be happy to hear that the MAVLink developers have released software for ROS compatibility. MAVLink is a lightweight message transport used by more than five MAV autopilots and also offers support for two Ground Control Stations. This broad autopilot support allows ROS users to develop for multiple autopilot systems interchangeably. MAVLink also enables MAVs to be controlled from a distance: if you are out of wifi range, MAVLink can be used with radio modems to retain control up to 8 miles.

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Comments

Rhett Walker March 8, 2011 at 6:46am

that's cool they're already integrating this with ROS. I wonder why MAVLink is limited to 8 miles? I know theres an Xbee module with a 40 mile range, but maybe it has to do with something else, like time lag, or maybe the signal gets garbled from the surrounding terrain after 8 miles. interesting.

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