/quadctrl

Quadcopter Onboard Controller and Related Algorithms (with Android/ROS support)

Primary LanguageC++

Quadcopter Controller

Deprecated: I'm keeping this up as it contains many good notes and code snippets for Android. Should you want a more complete and maintained platform, see https://github.com/dennisss/tansa

TODO:

  • Move networking/xbee code out of 'creator'
  • Abstract remote quadcopters as a ros node with a common command interface
  • So, say have a Quadcopter class: a RosQuadcopter would be an implementation of that

Overview

  • An implementation of many common quadcopter control and modeling things

  • An onboard controller with XBee support

  • A GUI for controlling quadcopters from an XBee connected computer

  • Support for motion capture systems

    • Drivers included for OptiTrack Motive

  • Position and attitude control based on

    • Minimum Snap Trajectory Generation and Control for Quadrotors by Daniel Mellinger and Vijay Kumar

Useful Commands

  • For creating an access point on a linux machine (requires create_ap)

    • sudo create_ap -n wlp3s0 MyAP helloworld

  • Starting up the controller

    • ROS_IP=192.168.12.1 ROS_HOSTNAME=192.168.12.1 ./scripts/keyboard_ctrl.py

  • Checkout "Sharing internet connection over Ethernet" under https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NetworkManager

    Scenario: your device has internet connection over wi-fi and you want to share the internet connection to other devices over ethernet. Requirements: Install the dnsmasq package to be able to actually share the connection. You internet connected device and the other devices are connected over a suitable ethernet cable (this usually means a cross over cable or a switch in between). Steps: Run nm-connection-editor from terminal. Add a new ethernet connection. Give it some sensible name. For example "Shared Internet" Go to "IPv4 Settings". For "Method:" select "Shared to other computers". Save Now you should have a new option "Shared Internet" under the Wired connections in NetworkManager.

  • See ext/cores/teensy3 for Teensy3 makefile example

  • Programming AfroESCs: make program_tgy_afro_nfet.0 via usb pwm programmer

  • A good read for multicast implementation

Builds

Below are descriptions of each of the builds:

Libraries Used

Drivers

  • OptiTrack
    • Included is a driver for interfacing with OptiTrack Motive 1.9.0 via the NatNet SDK 2.9.0
    • Unix implementation of the NatNetClient with same interface as the SDK

Android

Included is a fully functional Android implementation of the controller which can turn any smartphone into a quadcopter controller (with some additional USB hardware).

  • Disclaimer: this is active research code; safety and functionality are not guranteed. Please observe caution while testing.

  • Android Phone powered Quadcopter (with ROS for remote control)

  • Compatible with Android 6.0 stock. No root required.

  • Connects to motors via a USB cable connected to an Arduino (see arduino/arduino.ino)

  • Requires rosjava with android_core to be installed on the computer (you need to change app/build.gradle to point to these packages)

  • Uses custom versions of libftdi and libusb (included)

  • For compiling, you need to separately compile roscpp_android_ndk and place it in the ext folfer

  • TODO: Add video streaming