Controlling BlueROV2 from topside computer via ROS

Blue Robotics Software
1

I know this has already been asked multiple times but a lot of the information I am seeing looks old/somewhat outdated.

I am attempting to see if I can control the BlueROV2 from the topside computer. I have managed to get motor movement with using mavPROXY on my topside computer but I can’t figure out how to get mavROS running. When I run mavROS, I get:

... logging to /home/bluerov/.ros/log/99150424-e8c1-11eb-a6c9-5f9ad241a2cf/roslaunch-bluerov2-5684.log
Checking log directory for disk usage. This may take a while.
Press Ctrl-C to interrupt
Done checking log file disk usage. Usage is <1GB.

started roslaunch server http://bluerov2:34749/

SUMMARY
========

CLEAR PARAMETERS
 * /mavros/

PARAMETERS
 * /mavros/cmd/use_comp_id_system_control: False
 * /mavros/conn/heartbeat_rate: 1.0
 * /mavros/conn/system_time_rate: 1.0
 * /mavros/conn/timeout: 10.0
 * /mavros/conn/timesync_rate: 10.0
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/hrlv_ez4_pub/field_of_view: 0.0
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/hrlv_ez4_pub/frame_id: hrlv_ez4_sonar
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/hrlv_ez4_pub/id: 0
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/hrlv_ez4_pub/orientation: PITCH_270
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/hrlv_ez4_pub/send_tf: True
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/hrlv_ez4_pub/sensor_position/x: 0.0
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/hrlv_ez4_pub/sensor_position/y: 0.0
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/hrlv_ez4_pub/sensor_position/z: -0.1
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/laser_1_sub/id: 3
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/laser_1_sub/orientation: PITCH_270
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/laser_1_sub/subscriber: True
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/lidarlite_pub/field_of_view: 0.0
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/lidarlite_pub/frame_id: lidarlite_laser
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/lidarlite_pub/id: 1
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/lidarlite_pub/orientation: PITCH_270
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/lidarlite_pub/send_tf: True
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/lidarlite_pub/sensor_position/x: 0.0
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/lidarlite_pub/sensor_position/y: 0.0
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/lidarlite_pub/sensor_position/z: -0.1
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/sonar_1_sub/horizontal_fov_ratio: 1.0
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/sonar_1_sub/id: 2
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/sonar_1_sub/orientation: PITCH_270
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/sonar_1_sub/subscriber: True
 * /mavros/distance_sensor/sonar_1_sub/vertical_fov_ratio: 1.0
 * /mavros/fake_gps/eph: 2.0
 * /mavros/fake_gps/epv: 2.0
 * /mavros/fake_gps/fix_type: 3
 * /mavros/fake_gps/geo_origin/alt: 408.0
 * /mavros/fake_gps/geo_origin/lat: 47.3667
 * /mavros/fake_gps/geo_origin/lon: 8.55
 * /mavros/fake_gps/gps_rate: 5.0
 * /mavros/fake_gps/mocap_transform: True
 * /mavros/fake_gps/satellites_visible: 5
 * /mavros/fake_gps/tf/child_frame_id: fix
 * /mavros/fake_gps/tf/frame_id: map
 * /mavros/fake_gps/tf/listen: False
 * /mavros/fake_gps/tf/rate_limit: 10.0
 * /mavros/fake_gps/tf/send: False
 * /mavros/fake_gps/use_mocap: True
 * /mavros/fake_gps/use_vision: False
 * /mavros/fcu_protocol: v2.0
 * /mavros/fcu_url: /dev/ttyACM0:57600
 * /mavros/gcs_url: 
 * /mavros/global_position/child_frame_id: base_link
 * /mavros/global_position/frame_id: map
 * /mavros/global_position/gps_uere: 1.0
 * /mavros/global_position/rot_covariance: 99999.0
 * /mavros/global_position/tf/child_frame_id: base_link
 * /mavros/global_position/tf/frame_id: map
 * /mavros/global_position/tf/global_frame_id: earth
 * /mavros/global_position/tf/send: False
 * /mavros/global_position/use_relative_alt: True
 * /mavros/image/frame_id: px4flow
 * /mavros/imu/angular_velocity_stdev: 0.0003490659 // 0...
 * /mavros/imu/frame_id: base_link
 * /mavros/imu/linear_acceleration_stdev: 0.0003
 * /mavros/imu/magnetic_stdev: 0.0
 * /mavros/imu/orientation_stdev: 1.0
 * /mavros/landing_target/camera/fov_x: 2.0071286398
 * /mavros/landing_target/camera/fov_y: 2.0071286398
 * /mavros/landing_target/image/height: 480
 * /mavros/landing_target/image/width: 640
 * /mavros/landing_target/land_target_type: VISION_FIDUCIAL
 * /mavros/landing_target/listen_lt: False
 * /mavros/landing_target/mav_frame: LOCAL_NED
 * /mavros/landing_target/target_size/x: 0.3
 * /mavros/landing_target/target_size/y: 0.3
 * /mavros/landing_target/tf/child_frame_id: camera_center
 * /mavros/landing_target/tf/frame_id: landing_target
 * /mavros/landing_target/tf/listen: False
 * /mavros/landing_target/tf/rate_limit: 10.0
 * /mavros/landing_target/tf/send: True
 * /mavros/local_position/frame_id: map
 * /mavros/local_position/tf/child_frame_id: base_link
 * /mavros/local_position/tf/frame_id: map
 * /mavros/local_position/tf/send: False
 * /mavros/local_position/tf/send_fcu: False
 * /mavros/mission/pull_after_gcs: True
 * /mavros/mission/use_mission_item_int: True
 * /mavros/mocap/use_pose: True
 * /mavros/mocap/use_tf: False
 * /mavros/odometry/fcu/odom_child_id_des: base_link
 * /mavros/odometry/fcu/odom_parent_id_des: map
 * /mavros/plugin_blacklist: ['safety_area', ...]
 * /mavros/plugin_whitelist: []
 * /mavros/px4flow/frame_id: px4flow
 * /mavros/px4flow/ranger_fov: 0.118682
 * /mavros/px4flow/ranger_max_range: 5.0
 * /mavros/px4flow/ranger_min_range: 0.3
 * /mavros/safety_area/p1/x: 1.0
 * /mavros/safety_area/p1/y: 1.0
 * /mavros/safety_area/p1/z: 1.0
 * /mavros/safety_area/p2/x: -1.0
 * /mavros/safety_area/p2/y: -1.0
 * /mavros/safety_area/p2/z: -1.0
 * /mavros/setpoint_accel/send_force: False
 * /mavros/setpoint_attitude/reverse_thrust: False
 * /mavros/setpoint_attitude/tf/child_frame_id: target_attitude
 * /mavros/setpoint_attitude/tf/frame_id: map
 * /mavros/setpoint_attitude/tf/listen: False
 * /mavros/setpoint_attitude/tf/rate_limit: 50.0
 * /mavros/setpoint_attitude/use_quaternion: False
 * /mavros/setpoint_position/mav_frame: LOCAL_NED
 * /mavros/setpoint_position/tf/child_frame_id: target_position
 * /mavros/setpoint_position/tf/frame_id: map
 * /mavros/setpoint_position/tf/listen: False
 * /mavros/setpoint_position/tf/rate_limit: 50.0
 * /mavros/setpoint_raw/thrust_scaling: 1.0
 * /mavros/setpoint_velocity/mav_frame: LOCAL_NED
 * /mavros/startup_px4_usb_quirk: True
 * /mavros/sys/disable_diag: False
 * /mavros/sys/min_voltage: 10.0
 * /mavros/target_component_id: 1
 * /mavros/target_system_id: 1
 * /mavros/tdr_radio/low_rssi: 40
 * /mavros/time/time_ref_source: fcu
 * /mavros/time/timesync_avg_alpha: 0.6
 * /mavros/time/timesync_mode: MAVLINK
 * /mavros/vibration/frame_id: base_link
 * /mavros/vision_pose/tf/child_frame_id: vision_estimate
 * /mavros/vision_pose/tf/frame_id: odom
 * /mavros/vision_pose/tf/listen: False
 * /mavros/vision_pose/tf/rate_limit: 10.0
 * /mavros/vision_speed/listen_twist: True
 * /mavros/vision_speed/twist_cov: True
 * /mavros/wheel_odometry/child_frame_id: base_link
 * /mavros/wheel_odometry/count: 2
 * /mavros/wheel_odometry/frame_id: odom
 * /mavros/wheel_odometry/send_raw: True
 * /mavros/wheel_odometry/send_twist: False
 * /mavros/wheel_odometry/tf/child_frame_id: base_link
 * /mavros/wheel_odometry/tf/frame_id: odom
 * /mavros/wheel_odometry/tf/send: False
 * /mavros/wheel_odometry/use_rpm: False
 * /mavros/wheel_odometry/vel_error: 0.1
 * /mavros/wheel_odometry/wheel0/radius: 0.05
 * /mavros/wheel_odometry/wheel0/x: 0.0
 * /mavros/wheel_odometry/wheel0/y: -0.15
 * /mavros/wheel_odometry/wheel1/radius: 0.05
 * /mavros/wheel_odometry/wheel1/x: 0.0
 * /mavros/wheel_odometry/wheel1/y: 0.15
 * /rosdistro: noetic
 * /rosversion: 1.15.11

NODES
  /
    mavros (mavros/mavros_node)

auto-starting new master
process[master]: started with pid [5693]
ROS_MASTER_URI=http://localhost:11311

setting /run_id to 99150424-e8c1-11eb-a6c9-5f9ad241a2cf
process[rosout-1]: started with pid [5703]
started core service [/rosout]
process[mavros-2]: started with pid [5711]
[ INFO] [1626720377.075287475]: FCU URL: /dev/ttyACM0:57600
[ INFO] [1626720377.078070466]: serial0: device: /dev/ttyACM0 @ 57600 bps
[FATAL] [1626720377.078284739]: FCU: DeviceError:serial:open: No such file or directory
================================================================================REQUIRED process [mavros-2] has died!
process has finished cleanly
log file: /home/bluerov/.ros/log/99150424-e8c1-11eb-a6c9-5f9ad241a2cf/mavros-2*.log
Initiating shutdown!
================================================================================
[mavros-2] killing on exit
[rosout-1] killing on exit
[master] killing on exit
shutting down processing monitor...
... shutting down processing monitor complete
done

The solution I found was to use the bluerov_ros_playground repo instead of using mavROS but the bluerov_ros package looks to be around 4 years old and I am wondering if there is a more up-to-date solution for controlling the ROVs using ROS that I have just not seen. I would also greatly appreciate any resources you guys know of that may help me.

I would also love it if I could use the standard mavROS node (so if anyone knows how to set the FCU so that it connects to the ROV please let me know)

2

So quick update: I got mavROS running and connected to my ROV by running the command roslaunch mavros px4.launch fcu_url:=udp://:14555@192.168.2.1:14555 but now I’m running into an issue where any command I issue (say I run rosservice call /mavros/cmd/arming "value: true") returns a timeout error (for that example command the error would be

success: False
result: 4

and the mavROS node spits out [ WARN] [<time>]: CMD: Command 400 -- wait ack timeout)

Also, when I run rosrun mavros checkid, I get

ERROR. I got 1 addresses, but not your target 1:1

---
Received 330 messages, from 1 addresses
sys:comp   list of messages
Exception in thread Thread-4:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/threading.py", line 932, in _bootstrap_inner
    self.run()
  File "/opt/ros/noetic/lib/python3/dist-packages/rospy/timer.py", line 234, in run
    self._callback(TimerEvent(last_expected, last_real, current_expected, current_real, last_duration))
  File "/opt/ros/noetic/lib/mavros/checkid", line 82, in timer_cb
    for address, messages in self.message_sources.iteritems():
AttributeError: 'dict' object has no attribute 'iteritems'

Anyone have any ideas?

3

Alright update for the update (i am slowly rubber-ducking myself out of this lol). The command I should have been running was roslaunch mavros px4.launch fcu_url:=udp://:14550@192.168.2.1:14550. I can now issue commands and the ROV responds as I would expect. Now I just gotta figure out how to drive the thing around. Sorry if I wasted anyone’s time looking into this.

2 Likes
4

Hi @Firestarss,

I haven’t worked with this, but as far as I’m aware there isn’t a more recent control solution than @patrickelectric’s bluerov_ros package. From what I understand the controls shouldn’t have changed significantly in that time though, so I’d expect it should still work fine.

Best things I can point you to are other relevant forum posts. From the looks of things,

  • this post covers a decent amount of detail about mavros and the bluerov_ros package, and
  • this one is the most viewed post in a forum search for mavros, and seems to cover many issues people had along the way while trying to get things set up and running as expected

Classic :stuck_out_tongue:
But hey, rubber-ducking and sharing what you learn as you go means that others who are interested can follow your steps afterwards - I’d count that as a win :slight_smile:

5

Hi @Firestarss,

I hope that you are having a nice day.

If it is your first time working with ROS, I highly recommend to do the ROS tutorial before starting your development with the BlueROV, ROS is pretty complex and is necessary to understand and learn some concepts to use it properly, learning while doing what needs to be done is usually not a great way to accomplish what you want with ROS. But be free to do in a way that you feel that is best for you.

Keep in mind that MAVROS is just an abstract over MAVLink for ROS, so in the end you’ll still be limited with what can and cannot be done via MAVLink.

1 Like