sim_px4_drone

@author: Peixuan Shu (shupeixuan@qq.com), Beihang University, China.

Install dependencies first:

./install_dep.sh

Then build this project with catkin_make or catkin build:

cd sim_px4_drone/
catkin_make

# source devel/setup.bash everytime you open a new terminal
source devel/setup.bash

trimmed PX4 controller+sim mavros+dynamics ODE

px4_rotor_sim, sss_sim_env

Ultra-lightweight PX4 drone and mavros simulation (with PX4 pos,vel,att controller from v1.13.3). Currently we only support OFFBOARD mode, other PX4 modes do not function.

The dynamic model receives thrust and ideal angular velocity as input, and thus the PX4 attitude rate controller is not simulated. The core PX4 parameters can be modified in px4_rotor_sim_param.yaml

No need for PX4 source code and Gazebo!

github: https://github.com/shupx/swarm_sync_sim.git (original version)

Author: Peixuan Shu (Beihang University)

# single px4 drone + sim mavros + visualize (wallclock time)
roslaunch px4_rotor_sim px4_rotor_sim_single_no_prefix.launch
# specify the positioning type (local/gps) and initial position in the launch file.

# UI control (send command to mavros/setpoint_raw/local and set OFFBOARD mode, initial pz cmd is 1.0m for takeoff)
rosrun px4_rotor_sim keyboard_control_ros1.py

# single drone with /uav1 namespace
roslaunch px4_rotor_sim px4_rotor_sim_single.launch use_sim_time:=false namespace:=uav1

# UI control (send command to /uav1/mavros/setpoint_raw/local and set OFFBOARD mode, initial pz cmd is 1.0m for takeoff)
rosrun px4_rotor_sim keyboard_control_ros1.py __ns:=/uav1

We also offer a lock-stepped multi-drone simulation so that you can accelerate the simulation:

### 1. Launch sim clock UI
roslaunch sss_sim_env sim_clock.launch max_speed_ratio:=1 auto_start:=true

### 2. Launch multiple mavros-px4-rotor sim nodes (Specify initial positions in the launch file)
roslaunch px4_rotor_sim multi_px4_rotor_sim.launch use_sim_time:=true num_drones:=5

The sim_clock is not mandatory, and you can set use_sim_time:=false for wallclock time.

For visualization of a drone in real experiments:

# single drone without topic prefix
roslaunch px4_rotor_sim drone_visualizer_single_no_prefix.launch
# multi drones with seperate namespaces
roslaunch px4_rotor_sim drone_visualizer_multi.launch

Perfect MAVROS Drone (Ideal Simulation)

A perfect ideal drone simulator that instantly follows setpoint commands with zero delay and error.

Features:

• Subscribes to mavros/setpoint_raw/local
• Directly publishes to mavros/local_position/pose, mavros/local_position/velocity_local, mavros/local_position/odom
• Always armed and in OFFBOARD mode
• No dynamics, no delay - perfect for testing high-level control algorithms

Quick Start:

# Single drone (no namespace)
roslaunch px4_rotor_sim perfect_mavros_drone_no_prefix.launch

# Single drone with namespace
roslaunch px4_rotor_sim perfect_mavros_drone.launch namespace:=uav1

# Multiple drones (3 by default)
roslaunch px4_rotor_sim perfect_mavros_drone_multi.launch num_drones:=3

# Custom initial position (m) and yaw (degrees)
roslaunch px4_rotor_sim perfect_mavros_drone.launch init_x:=1.0 init_y:=2.0 init_z:=1.5 init_yaw:=90.0

UI control:

# UI control (send command to mavros/setpoint_raw/local and set OFFBOARD mode, initial pz cmd is 1.0m for takeoff)
rosrun px4_rotor_sim keyboard_control_ros1.py
rosrun px4_rotor_sim keyboard_control_ros1.py __ns:=/uav1 # /uav1 topic prefix

local point cloud render

marsim_render

It is a OpenGL render library (ROS independent) from MARSlab of HKU. It generates local point cloud and simulates a perfect drone.

The marsim_render folder is part of the super planner from https://github.com/hku-mars/SUPER/tree/master/mars_uav_sim (with ROS1 and ROS2) but with improvements by Peixuan Shu.

The orignial complete old version of marsim is at https://github.com/hku-mars/MARSIM

local_sensing_sim

1. ROS wrapper of marsim_render

# local point cloud publisher (receiving odom or pose topic and pub local point clouds and global clouds from a pcd file, set lidar params in config/local_pointcloud_sim) + px4 drone sim (/uav1 prefix)
## perfect drone + lidar sensing
roslaunch local_sensing_sim sim_px4_drone_lidar.launch 
## px4_rotor_sim + lidar sensing
# roslaunch local_sensing_sim sim_px4_drone_lidar.launch use_perfect_drone:=false 

## UI control
rosrun px4_rotor_sim keyboard_control_ros1.py __ns:=/uav1

## no uav1/ topic prefix
roslaunch local_sensing_sim sim_px4_drone_lidar_no_prefix.launch 
# roslaunch local_sensing_sim sim_px4_drone_lidar_no_prefix.launch use_perfect_drone:=false

## UI control
rosrun px4_rotor_sim keyboard_control_ros1.py

## manually choose Nvidia GPU for opengl render (recommended if you have a Nvidia GPU)
__NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1 __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia roslaunch local_sensing_sim sim_px4_drone_lidar_no_prefix.launch 

2. Other sensors (TODO).