ROS and PX4

Introduction

ROS

ROS (Robot Operating System) is a powerful tool for robotics software development. To get started with understanding the basics of ROS, refer to this introductory video: Intro to ROS - The Basics.

ROS has various distributions, each tailored for specific development needs and compatibility. A comprehensive explanation of ROS distributions can be found here: ROS Distributions.

For this installation, we will be using ROS (1) Noetic, which is compatible only with Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa). You can download Ubuntu 20.04 from this link: Download Ubuntu 20.04.

If you prefer to run it on a virtual machine (VM), you can use VMware. Download VMware Player from the following link: VMware Player 17.6.1.

PX4

PX4 is an open-source flight control software for drones and other unmanned vehicles. It is widely used for UAV development and simulation.

If you want to learn more, you can visit the official PX4 website.

Installation

To install ROS Noetic and PX4, you will need to run two commands. They will both reboot your machine. After running the first script, you will need to run the second installation command.
Run this command in your ubuntu terminal. Make sure you have curl installed sudo apt install curl -y:

sudo curl -S https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CerfMetal/ROS-Install/refs/heads/main/install_1.sh | sudo bash

Then run the second command:

sudo curl -S https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CerfMetal/ROS-Install/refs/heads/main/install_2.sh | sudo bash

If everything installed properly, you should be able to run this command without any problems and get a simulation running:

roslaunch pkg_name start_pkg.launch

You can then open a new terminal window (keep the one above running) and run:

chmod +x ./QGroundControl.AppImage

Sample Codes

Sample code sections will be provided in the future once installation is complete.

Ensure your ROS and PX4 environments are correctly set up before running any scripts to avoid compatibility issues.