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Version: 1.5.0

Workspace build of the ROS2 MRS UAV System

This guide is meant mainly for developers of the ROS2 MRS UAV System. Users of the system that do not need to modify the core of the system can stick to the deb installation (Step 1-2). If you encounter any issues during the installation, see the end of this page for Troubleshooting of common issues.

Installation steps​

1. Install the Robot Operating System (Jazzy)​

Follow the Installation guide.

2. Install necessary dependencies​

Add the Personal Package Archive (PPA) for unstable ROS2 MRS deb packages:

curl https://ctu-mrs.github.io/ppa2-unstable/add_ppa.sh | bash
sudo apt update

Install the MRS UAV System deb packages and dependencies:

sudo apt install ros-jazzy-mrs-uav-core

Add to ~/.bashrc (~/.zshrc):

export RMW_IMPLEMENTATION="rmw_zenoh_cpp"

3. Get aliases that make common ROS2 commands usable​

By default, calling colcon build anywhere creates a workspace there (even in a subdirectory of an workspace). To prevent that, the aliased colcon build crawls back in the directory tree to check if we are in a workspace and if not, will NOT create a workspace automatically. With the aliases, a workspace can be created only by colcon init similarly to catkin_tools in ROS1.

cd ~/git
git clone git@github.com:ctu-mrs/mrs_uav_development.git
cd mrs_uav_development
git checkout ros2

Add to ~/.bashrc (~/.zshrc):

source $GIT_PATH/mrs_uav_development/shell_additions/shell_additions.sh

4. Clone the MRS UAV Core repository​

cd ~/git
git clone git@github.com:ctu-mrs/mrs_uav_core.git
cd mrs_uav_core
git checkout ros2
gitman install

5. Prepare the workspace​

mkdir -p ~/ws_mrs_uav_core/src
ln -s $GIT_PATH/mrs_uav_core $HOME/ws_mrs_uav_core/src/

Set the compilation flags to rel-with-deb-info using mixin according to: https://ctu-mrs.github.io/docs/prerequisities/ros2/ros1-ros2-patterns/workspace_profiles

First, install mixin:

sudo apt install python3-colcon-mixin
colcon mixin add default https://raw.githubusercontent.com/colcon/colcon-mixin-repository/master/index.yaml
colcon mixin update default

Add the following config to ~/ws_mrs_uav_core/colcon_defaults.yaml:

build:
  parallel-workers: 8
  mixin:
    - rel-with-deb-info

Add to ~/.bashrc (~/.zshrc):

source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash

Source ~/.bashrc (~/.zshrc):

source ~/.bashrc

6. Build the workspace​

cd ~/ws_mrs_uav_core/
colcon init
colcon build

Add to ~/.bashrc (~/.zshrc):

source $HOME/ws_mrs_uav_core/install/setup.bash

7. Run the multirotor simulation session to verify the installation​

cd ~/ws_mrs_uav_core/src/mrs_uav_core/ros_packages/mrs_multirotor_simulator/tmux/mrs_one_drone/
./start.sh

Troubleshooting

Optimization flags​

  • Issue: Estimation manager is outputting errors with time since last msg too long
  • Reason: Workspace is built without optimization flags.
  • Solution: See step 5. and make sure the workspace is built with rel_with_deb_info

Tmux config​

  • Issue: After running the tmux session, the terminal looks weird and tmux bindings don't work
  • Reason: tmux config is missing in /etc/ctu-mrs/tmux.conf
  • Solution: sudo apt install mrs-uav-shell-additions

MRS UAV testing not building​

  • Issue: The package mrs_uav_testing is not building
  • Reason: It hasn't been converted to ROS2 yet.
  • Solution: touch ~/ws_mrs_uav_core/src/mrs_uav_core/ros_packages/mrs_uav_testing/COLCON_IGNORE

Colcon build not working as expected​

  • Issue: Calling colcon build does not create a workspace and start building it.
  • Reason: We have an alias for colcon, to make its usage less awkward. See step 3 for details.
  • Solution: First call colcon init in the root of the workspace, then colcon build.