BlueOS ROS2 Extension

This extension enables controlling an ArduPilot-based vehicle (BlueBoat, BlueROV) via ROS2

The extension includes the following packages:

• MAVROS: Includes a launch file to communicate with the flight controller (vehicle)

• mavros_control: Includes a python script to control the vehicle using GPS-based waypoints (BlueBoat) and RC-control (BlueROV2) via mavros

• Foxglove : Web-based RViz for visualizing ROS2 data

The extension also mounts the following folder on the computer running BlueOS to the home directory folder in the extension's Docker container, which can be used to store files that need to persist across reboots, such as a ROS2 workspace with custom code:

/usr/blueos/extensions/ros2/ -> /home/persistent_ws/

Setup

This extension works only on 64-bit version of BlueOS. You can get the 64-bit image of BlueOS for Raspberry Pi from here.

The ROS2 extension extension can then be installed from the BlueOS app store.

Getting Started

The mavros_control package includes a demo launch file that starts the controller node. The node arms the vehicle, moves it, and then disarms it. Run the following command in the extension's terminal to start it:

ros2 launch mavros_control demo.launch.py

Parameters

You can control the following extension parameters by running the following command in the terminal provided by the ros2 extension:

export <parameter_name>=<parameter_value>

The parameters reset to their default values after rebooting. They can be made permanent by configuring the parameters using the app environment variables on the BlueOS extensions page in pirate mode.

Available Parameters:

• NAVIGATION_TYPE (default: 0):

  • If 0: Uses global position based navigation (assumes access to GPS)
  • If 1: Uses raw rc controls for navigation

• FOXGLOVE (default: True):

  • Starts Foxglove bridge when set to True
  • You can access it from a web browser at https://app.foxglove.dev/. Use the open connection feature and change the address from localhost to the IP address of the vehicle

Building the Docker Container Locally

First, setup buildx to build the containers for both arm64 and amd64 platforms:

docker buildx create --name multi-arch \
  --platform "linux/arm64,linux/amd64" \
  --driver "docker-container"
docker buildx use multi-arch

Next, clone the repo and build the container, replace <tag> with your own tag:

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/itskalvik/blueos-ros2
cd blueos-ros2
docker build --platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64 -t <tag> . --push

FAQ

To control the vehicle using RC-control, please ensure that the SYSID_MYGCS parameter is set to 1 through the BlueOS Autopilot Parameters Tab. You can also update SYSID_MYGCS from the ROS2 extension's terminal by runnning the following command:

ros2 param set /mavros/param SYSID_MYGCS 1

Note that once the SYSID_MYGCS is changed, you won't be able to control the vehicle using Cockpit anymore until you reset the parameter to its default value: 255