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24-25-TAR-Team-2-Software

Editors: Joshua Caratao

Drone Software and setup for 2024-25 TAR Team 2

Software Workstation Setup

Setting Up WSL with Ubuntu 20.04 on Windows

Recommended software setup is through Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) feature. WSL is a compatibility layer that allows linux distributions like Ubuntu to run directly on Windows without needing a virtual machine or separate hardware. It's built into Windows and provides seamless integration between the Windows and Linux environments.

Prerequisites

  1. Windows 10 Version 1903 or higher.
  2. Administrator access to install software and enable WSL.

Steps

1. Enable WSL

  1. Open PowerShell as Administrator.

  2. Run the following command to enable WSL and install the required features:

     wsl --install

2. Set WSL Version to WSL2

By default, WSL 2 will be set up, but if you need to manually configure it:

  1. Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

     wsl --set-default-version 2

This sets WSL 2 as the default version for any new Linux distributions.

3. Install Ubuntu 20.04

Now that WSL is enabled, you can install Ubuntu 20.04 using the following command:

*NOTE: DO NOT FORGET YOUR USER NAME AND PASSWORD. WRITE IT DOWN

  wsl --install -d Ubuntu-20.04

This command will: Download and install Ubuntu 20.04 on your WSL instance and set it up as your default WSL distribution.

4. Launch WSL Ubuntu 20.04

After the installation is complete, you can launch Ubuntu 20.04 using the following command:

wsl -d Ubuntu-20.04

*Note: If this is your default or only distribution, you may launch Ubuntu using the following command:

wsl

5. Update and Upgrade Ubuntu 20.04

Once you're inside the Ubuntu 20.04 environment, it’s a good idea to update the package manager and upgrade the installed packages:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

6. Verify Installation

You can verify that Ubuntu 20.04 is running by checking the Ubuntu version inside the WSL terminal:

lsb_release -a

7. Finished!

After step 6, if no problems occured, your WSL and Ubuntu setup should be complete. You can now continue forward with PX4 and ROS Installation!

PX4 and ROS Installation

This year, we will be developing drone software using PX4 and ROS2.

What is PX4?

PX4 is an open-source autopilot framework designed for autonomous drones and other unmanned vehicles. It provides a flight control system that can be used to develop software for multirotors, fixed-wing aircraft, and other autonomous vehicles. PX4 handles critical tasks such as:

  • Flight control
  • Sensor fusion
  • GPS-based navigation
  • Handling motor outputs
  • Drone configuration and safety features
  • PX4 is widely used in research, commercial drones, and hobbyist projects.

What is ROS2?

ROS2 (Robot Operating System 2) is the second generation of the Robot Operating System, designed to provide a flexible and scalable middleware framework for building robotic applications. It is widely used in autonomous systems because of its modular architecture and features such as:

  • Real-time communications
  • Distributed systems
  • Support for various hardware and sensors
  • Easily integrating different robotic components

PX4 and ROS2 are often used together to develop autonomous drone systems. While PX4 handles low-level control and sensor fusion, ROS2 acts as the middleware for higher-level functions such as path planning, object detection, and mission control.

Installations

Please refer to the following link for further instructions on PX4 and ROS installations. This source comes straight from the PX4 Documenation and will guide you through installing:

  • PX4
  • ROS2
  • Micro XRCE-DDS Agent and Client (Used for communication between PX4 and ROS2)

It will also guide you through Building and Running your ROS 2 Workspace

https://docs.px4.io/main/en/ros2/user_guide#install-px4

Solution for Cmake version Error during Micro-XRCE-DDS-Agent Build

A common issue I encountered while building the Micro-XRCE-DDS-Agent was a conflict in the Cmake version I was running (3.13.3) and the one required by "fastdds" (>= 3.20) to solve this issue, complete the following steps:

1. Download the latest CMake Version:

    wget https://github.com/Kitware/CMake/releases/download/v3.27.6/cmake-3.27.6-linux-x86_64.sh

2. Make the Script Executable after downloading

    chmod +x cmake-3.27.6-linux-x86_64.sh

3. Create a directory for the installation

    mkdir -p $HOME/cmake-3.27.6

4. Install CMake into the New Directory

This Runs the installer script and specifies the directory you created as the installation prefix

    ./cmake-3.27.6-linux-x86_64.sh --skip-license --prefix=$HOME/cmake-3.27.6

This installs CMake into the $HOME/cmake-3.27.6 directory.

5. Update the PATH Enironment Variable:

You will now add this directory to you PATH so that your system recognizes the new CMake version. Note, this only adds it temporarily.

    export PATH=$HOME/cmake-3.27.6/bin:$PATH

To make this change permanent, append the line to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.profile file:

    echo 'export PATH=$HOME/cmake-3.27.6/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc

6. Verify the CMake Version

Verify that the new CMake version is installed and in use by running:

    cmake --version

7. Clear cache of old CMake version

    cd ~/Micro-XRCE-DDS-Agent/build
    rm -rf *

8. Reconfigure and Build

After cleaning the directory, try rebuilding the project again using the newly installed CMake:

    cmake ..
    make

9. The end!

If all went well, then the Micro-XRCE-DDS-Agent should have completed the build process (this will likely take awhile)