Fixed Wing UAV ROS2 Simulation

Demo

https://youtu.be/OdzIkL9VDmY?si=tY7iI35HB6NyqarO

This project is a simulation that uses Unity aircraft model physics and can be controlled via a ROS2 interface. A bridge has been configured between Unity and ROS2, allowing for the following control commands to be sent to the aircraft:

• roll
• pitch
• yaw
• target_speed: Desired speed of the aircraft. (The PID algorithm within the simulation attempts to match the aircraft's current speed to this value, adhering to the physical limits of the aircraft.)
• flap: Used to move the aircraft's flaps, 0 or 1.
• brakes_torque: The braking status of the aircraft's wheels, 0 or 1.

The uav_control_msgs package has been created for sending these control commands. The message type is defined as follows:

float32 roll
float32 pitch
float32 yaw
float32 target_speed
int32 flap
int32 brakes_torque

Data Received from the Aircraft

The data received from the aircraft includes:

• Aircraft x, y position and altitude (height)
• Aircraft orientation in Euler angles (x, y, z)
• Instantaneous speed of the aircraft

This information is defined in the uav_info_msgs package as follows:

float32 x_pose
float32 y_pose
float32 altitude
float32 euler_x
float32 euler_y
float32 euler_z
float32 speed

Usage

When the uav_controller package is run, the bridge between ROS2 and Unity is initiated, and the /uav_control and /uav_info topics start operating. Commands can be issued to the UAV by sending a UavControlMessage type message to the /uav_control topic. Information about the UAV can be received from the /uav_info topic.

The uav_keyboard_control package is designed for controlling the aircraft using keyboard inputs. This package publishes keyboard controls to the /uav_control topic, allowing the aircraft to be driven via keyboard commands.

Setup Instructions

Ensure you have ROS2 Humble installed on your Ubuntu system and open the ros2_ws directory to clone this repository. Then, follow these steps:

1 - Download the simulation environment and start the aircraft.x86_64 application. This will open the simulation environment.

2 - Run the following command to establish the bridge between ROS2 and Unity, and activate the control and information topics:

ros2 launch uav_controller robot_state_publisher.launch.py

This command will also open an RVIZ2 screen, visualizing the path taken by the aircraft in 3D.

3 - To control the UAV using the keyboard, run the keyboard control package:

ros2 run uav_keyboard_control uav_keyboard_control

More

To reset the simulation environment, you can use the ctrl + c key combination while on the simulation screen.