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Installation / Setup

Prerequisites​

Before you begin, ensure you meet the following requirements:

  1. Operating System: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

  2. Sudo Permissions: You must have administrative privileges.

  3. Required Packages: Install the following packages using apt:

    sudo apt update && sudo apt install git wget curl make build-essential python3 python3-pip
warning

NOTE: Some commands may require user verification. Please accept or continue when prompted during execution.​

Step 1: Install PX4 and ROS 2​

  1. Set Up PX4 Environment:
    1. Go to the Install PX4 section.
    2. Scroll to "Set up a PX4 development environment on Ubuntu."
      1. Copy and paste the provided command block.
  2. Download and Install ROS 2:
    • Go to the Install ROS 2 section.
    • Follow steps one and two to install ROS 2 Humble. Note: This process may take several minutes.

Stop at the "Setup Micro XRCE-DDS Agent & Client" section.

Step 2: Install MAVROS​

To install MAVROS, follow the official instructions.

In my case, I used the following commands:

cd ~
sudo apt install ros-humble-mavros ros-humble-mavros-extras
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mavlink/mavros/ros2/mavros/scripts/install_geographiclib_datasets.sh
sudo sh install_geographiclib_datasets.sh

Step 3: Clone UROC ROS Node​

To clone the UROC ROS node, copy and paste the following command block below into your terminal.

mkdir -p ~/ros2_ws/src
cd ~/ros2_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/UMD-UROC/ROS2-Data-Visualizer-Package
mv ROS2-Data-Visualizer-Package umd_uroc_data_visualizer
cd umd_uroc_data_visualizer
git config core.hooksPath .githooks
cd ..
cd ..
sudo rosdep init
rosdep update
rosdep install -i --from-path src --rosdistro humble -y

Step 4: Download QGroundControl​

Go to the Ubuntu Linux section and follow the steps up to the Android section.

Here are the commands I used:

sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER
sudo apt-get remove modemmanager -y
sudo apt install gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad gstreamer1.0-libav gstreamer1.0-gl -y
sudo apt install libfuse2 -y
sudo apt install libxcb-xinerama0 libxkbcommon-x11-0 libxcb-cursor-dev -y
cd ~
curl -O https://d176tv9ibo4jno.cloudfront.net/builds/master/QGroundControl-x86_64.AppImage
chmod +x QGroundControl*.AppImage

Reboot your system to apply the user permission changes.

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It is advised to download the AppImage into your home directory to match the steps these directions follow

Step 5: Enable Port Forwarding in QGroundControl​

To enable port forwarding in QGroundControl:

  1. Launch QGroundControl:

    cd ~
    ./QGroundControl-x86_64.AppImage

  2. Follow the steps in the screenshots below to enable port forwarding:

Step1 Step2 Step3 Step4 Step5

caution

Due to a recent QGroundControl UI update, the MAVLINK forwarding configuration is now located in the telemetry tab.

You may now close QGroundControl.

Step 6 (Option 1): Install PlotJuggler​

Install PlotJuggler by following the official instructions for Ubuntu 22.04 with ROS2 support.

I used the following command:

sudo snap install plotjuggler

Step 6 (Option 2): Set Up Foxglove​

Part 1: Install Foxglove Desktop​

To install Foxglove, use the instructions below:

tip

Download the latest tools from Foxglove.

I used these commands:

cd ~/Downloads
sudo apt install ./foxglove-studio-*.deb
sudo apt update && sudo apt install foxglove-studio

Part 2: Install Foxglove Bridge​

Follow the instructions here to install Foxglove Bridge.

I ran this command:

sudo apt install ros-humble-foxglove-bridge

Step 7: Test the Setup​

Open four terminal windows and run the following commands in each:

Terminal 1: Start PX4 with Gazebo​

cd PX4-Autopilot/
make px4_sitl gz_x500_gimbal

Terminal 2: Launch QGroundControl​

cd ~
./QGroundControl-x86_64.AppImage

Terminal 3: Start MAVROS​

ros2 run mavros mavros_node --ros-args -p fcu_url:=udp://:14540@127.0.0.1:14557 -p target_component_id:=1 -r __ns:=/mavros

Launch Foxglove or PlotJuggler​

Depending on your needs, you may use either Foxglove or PlotJuggler.

To run Foxglove, use the following command in a fourth terminal:

cd ~/ros2_ws && colcon build --packages-select umd_uroc_data_visualizer && source install/local_setup.bash && ros2 launch umd_uroc_data_visualizer visualize.py

And in a fifth terminal:

ros2 launch foxglove_bridge foxglove_bridge_launch.xml

And lastly in a sixth terminal run this command

foxglove-studio "foxglove://open?ds=foxglove-websocket&ds.url=ws://localhost:8765/"

To run PlotJuggler, use this command in a fourth terminal:

plotjuggler

Step 8: (PlotJuggler Only):​

To visualize live data in PlotJuggler:

  1. Click the Start button under the "Streaming" section on the left side of the screen.
  2. Ensure "ROS Topic Subscriber" is selected.
  3. Click the start button and select the desired topics to subscribe to.

PlotJuggler Topic Selection

Step 9 (Optional): Use Helper Script​

If you haven't noticed by now, you have to open a lot of terminals up. This can result in a mess appearing on your screen. To fix this a "helper script" was written. This script automates all of this into a single command.

Below is an example of how you would use this script:

# To start Foxglove data visualization tooling
python3 mavinsight.py --foxglove

# To start PlotJuggler data visualization tooling
python3 mavinsight.py --plotjuggler

Installation:​

There isn't really an "installation" for this script. You are just downloading it to a location of your choice. In the steps below, we will be downloading it to our home directory ($HOME).

cd ~
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/UMD-UROC/MAVInsight/refs/heads/main/mavinsight.py

Then we can run the script as long as we are in our home directory and call it like demonstrated above.