Inquiry about MAVLink/ROS topics for Sonoptix Echo and uGPS

Third Party Products Sonar and Acoustics
1

Hi team,

I am currently using the Sonoptix Echo sonar and uGPS in my project. I have already set up MAVROS, so I am able to convert MAVLink messages into ROS topics.

Could you let me know if there are any MAVLink messages available in BlueOS for these devices, or if there are any ROS extensions that support their integration?

Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.

2

Hi @Zimeng-Wang -
There are not!

The Sonoptix Echo outputs an RTSP video stream of the returns - no other messages.

The uGPS should be providing MAVLink messages to the autopilot, giving ArduSub position. I guess these messages could be used, but this information should alredy be in the default telemetry stream coming from the system.
There are indeed two ROS extensions in the Extensions Manager - the newer one for ROS2 requires ARM64, and was developed by a community member (not Blue Robotics)

3

Thanks Tony,
Maybe I can try using gstreamer to handle the video stream. Also could you point me to the GitHub repo for the ROS2 extension?

4

Hi @Zimeng-Wang -
Sure thing - however fundamentally Cockpit (and QGroundControl) only support H264 streams…

Besides from within BlueOS (where it may not show if you’re not running a supported arch.), you can find all BlueOS extensions listed here. The github repo of the one you’re after is here.