DroneKit SITL Bench Testing With Raspberry Pi, Pixhawk, and Tower

[@pisekanha]

Great video!!

[@souravdey1]

Hi Dennis, great video. I know I'm a little late but maybe you can help clarify some questions I have on the tail end of your video. I didn't quite understand the logic behind why using - -connect over serial instead of the IP address of the pi would not work. It is because since we're running SITL that the only way the pixhawk can communicate with the software implementation of the drone is via the IP address? Thanks!

[@HIMasmr-xf8sc]

So awesome! This is exactly what I needed to get my project working!!!

[@dennisbaldwin]

Glad to hear it. Thanks.

[@lumeah4]

Another great vid - very helpful background for my son with his all-term science project.

[@dennisbaldwin]

Wow that sounds like an awesome science project. Good luck and let me know how it goes!

[@jaysonlevinpiquero3356]

Hello! Thank you for your videos. Theyre very helpful! I subscribed by the way. Anyway, when I get to this part of the script: python .py --connect "udp:IP ADDRESS" i get an error: No module found for dronekit_sitl I am using Ubuntu in a virtual machine on Windows... I connected my Mission Planner to the mavproxy using UDP (similar to your Tower) and followed all your instructions on this video.... I also ran these lines on the terminal of my Ubuntu terminal window: sudo apt-get install python-pip python-dev pip install dronekit pip install dronekit-sitl (I was not able to run any of those lines above^ onto my RPi terminal window (I'm still guessing where to install them) because I could not get it to connect to the internet (using a different monitor and the RPi terminal window) and they return an error when I run them in the SSH at my Ubuntu (after logging in to RPi from my Ubuntu)) I think i did something wrong with the installation, especially because my error shows that i need to import the dronekit... At 1:24, you said install dronekit on raspberry pi, but i couldnt do it because of the errors i stated earlier... so did you install them on the raspberry pi terminal or through the SSH window? or did I do something wrong with my installation or missed something? I'm sorry I'm pretty new at raspberry pi... Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[@ihebchiha9205]

hello, after writing a dronekit code and sending it to the drone, I run the code, everything is ok, but while the drone is going to the next waypoint, the altitude is not stable. I am using the simple_go function, and I mentioned the altitude. what could be the problem causing this variation of altitude.

[@ynsaxe]

What kind of telemetry should I use for image and data transfer between grand station and uav? On the fighter uav, which follows other uav's.

[@DeFiNerds]

Hey Dennis, another great video!! I'm messing around with dronekit after seeing your previous video. It's gonna take a while to get where you are, but I'll get there with some help, of course.

[@dennisbaldwin]

Glad to hear that. Just keep tinkering and it will all come together. Thanks for following along.

[@eddwinpaz]

Hi Mr @Dennis Baldwin I'm trying to make a drone and using my laptop send the instructions that dronekit executes to flight a mission point A to point B. so instead of having a PI as a computer controller on the drone I want to have it on land. But My doubts are. - is it possible to send flight commands from laptop to the drone using the flysky controller from PC (linux) - how can I setup a mission without using all this third party software that are always seen on screens. ardupilot etc. I want to create a web interface and setup my own missions with google maps and save this on a database that later on my dronekit will take and read and at a certain time during the day it will execute the script and pass the mission to the drone. Is this a bad approach? Thanks in advance.

[@michaelwoodman2155]

Is the black dongle plugged into the USB port of the Raspberry Pi a wifi extender?

[@aviocavioc1280]

I have the some problem.when i run DRONEKIT-SITL COPTER 3.3 it gives ERROR. I am using raspian strech os in raspberry. And laptop with windows 8. Plzz suggest me some way to solve it

[@ramteja7278]

Why don't you make some presion landing using open cv sir ??

[@parthsharda3978]

At 1:13 , did you mean to say 'while RPi is sending commands to it?'

[@dennisbaldwin]

Yes. Thanks for calling that to my attention.

[@muhammadalfarizi6069]

Awesome, thanks you so much sir.

[@kevinflores105]

It would be great if you had a python course with pixhawk and raspberry pi, I would buy your course without thinking twice

[@SHASHANKDAMMALAPATI]

How can we code for each motor separately? Can I switch off one motor during flight, or something like that ? How can we do that? Dronekit?

[@DulceCaoRomero]

Thanks for the video, is very helpful.

[@dennisbaldwin]

You're welcome. Thanks for watching.

[@b5nj1m9n]

Can you connect to raspberry pi over pixhawk telemetry?

[@salahuddinashraf3329]

Dennis, thanks a lot for this wonderful video. It really helped me. I just have one confusion, you may help me clarify it. Which tool is really controlling the simulated copter here? mavproxy, dronekit-python or GCS? What is the main roll of mavproxy? controlling and connecting or only connecting? Thanks

[@dennisbaldwin]

Mavproxy servers as an interface between a device and the aircraft. So Mavproxy can ultimately allow multiple devices (mobile/tablet/desktop) to send commands to the aircraft. DroneKit python and GCS can send commands to the aircraft over mavproxy. Hope that helps.

[@salahuddinashraf3329]

Yes of course, it's clear now. Thanks for helping 😊. Can I contact you on Gitter or anything else?

[@kittu8410]

i am running mavproxy on windows, simulator on vmware - ubuntu. I use my internet over wlan cable. I connect to my raspberry through ssh(raspberry connected to my Hotspot on windows. what ip address should i give to connect sitl on ubuntu to mission planner on windows? Can i use the ip address of raspberry on udp in mavproxy.py command. Please help me.

[@javadrouhollah3059]

helo can i use pixhawk autopilot setup for a building which autonomously fly. for example: i want to survey five stairs building it intially starts from ground floor after one complete rotation around the floor again it meat at initial point and move to the next floor and go on the same operation consequently done to be all floors of the entire building . is it possible? please give me suggestion,thank you

[@dennisbaldwin]

This is possible with a DJI drone. I need to see what's available for Pixhawk. I've never done it before with PIxhawk but will look into it.

[@diegoamaya6353]

Hi, I am trying to connect a telemetry radio via USB to my RPi and execute the vehicle_state example in dronekit but it doesn't give me any heartbeat. I am guessing the trouble comes from the connect function in dronekit that says that the default baudrate is 115200 and I want to use 57600. Do you know something that would help me connecting to dronekit? Or how to change the default baudrate for USB? Thanks a lot

[@dennisbaldwin]

I'm not sure what is going on. In most cases, if the baud rate is incorrect you should still be able to connect but your output will be jumbled. I would make sure you are connecting with the right port. Good luck and keep us posted.

[@davidringler7131]

Dennis, Hi I need an answer from you as fast as possible? I am building a TAROT TL250H racing quad the Robocats I think there called using emax 2204 2300kv motors calling for 12 or 18 amp esc's I am mounting them under the motors to get max airflow but I am using 30amp esc's so way over what is needed, my question is too you to save weight I want to remove the metal heatsink on each esc and I know they sell naked esc's without heatsinks I THINK THAT IT WOULD BE NO ISSUE TO REMOVE THE HEATSINKS BECAUSE I AM USING SUCH BIG ESC"S THAT IT SHOULD BE FINE? Would you Agree on this? Thank You in advance for any or all help

[@dennisbaldwin]

I think I agree with what you're saying but the best test I can think of is to do some flying with the heat sinks on first and see how hot they get. If they don't get too hot then try removing one of them and comparing with the others. It's hard to say specifically what the results will be without doing some testing so I'd go through a process of elimination. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[@davidringler7131]

Dennis, Thank you that is what I did on a 97 degree day I ran it as hard as possible and esc's & motors didn't even get warm! so I removed the heatsinks same results. I guess that them being made to handle so much more that what I am doing is nothing for them! Thank you for responding!

[@gunwookpark9633]

is it possible to run this code inside the building? (without gps) Thank you for your video!!

[@dennisbaldwin]

You can on the simulator of course, but I don't recommend it with the actual hardware.

[@puerco911]

very nice but if the main goal is to have your Pixhawk accessible via WiFi then all you neeed really is an ESP8266 module with the transparent serial bridge firmware and good to go...your pix is now a client on the Wifi network

[@dennisbaldwin]

Good tip. Thanks for sharing.

[@sudarshanwadwale4223]

Can you share me android tower code? I have android app code but can't run it because gradle configuration issue is there.

[@dennisbaldwin]

You can find all the code here: github.com/DroidPlanner/Tower

[@brymoTube]

Can I use dronekit with a pxfmini?

[@dennisbaldwin]

I would think so. This page shows that it supports MAVProxy: ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-erle-brain-linux-autopilot.html so Im thinking DroneKit should work. Let us know if you do figure this out.

[@arya8431]

When I run "dronekit-sitl plane-3.3.0 --home=-35.363261,149.165230,584,353" I get error message like this: os: linux, apm: copter, release: 3.3.0 SITL already Downloaded and Extracted. Ready to boot. Execute: /home/arya/.dronekit/sitl/copter-3.3.0/apm --home=-35.363261,149.165230,584,353 --model=quad Traceback (most recent call last): File "/usr/local/bin/dronekit-sitl", line 11, in load_entry_point('dronekit-sitl==3.2.0', 'console_scripts', 'dronekit-sitl')() File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/dronekit_sitl/__init__.py", line 480, in main sitl.launch(args, verbose=True) File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/dronekit_sitl/__init__.py", line 271, in launch p = Popen([self.path] + args, cwd=wd, shell=sys.platform == 'win32', stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE) File "/usr/lib/python2.7/subprocess.py", line 711, in __init__ errread, errwrite) File "/usr/lib/python2.7/subprocess.py", line 1343, in _execute_child raise child_exception OSError: [Errno 8] Exec format error I already install dronekit and dronekit-SITL, is there a step I missed?

[@dennisbaldwin]

I haven't seen that error before more so you may want to check out this thread: stackoverflow.com/questions/27606653/oserror-errno-8-exec-format-error Let us know if you get it figured out.

[@arya8431]

Thank you for your response, the problem was fixed in github.com/dronekit/dronekit-sitl/issues/93

[@arya8431]

Thank you for your response, the problem was fixed in github.com/dronekit/dronekit-sitl/issues/93

[@sameenashaikh_29]

How did you manage to do it. May i know. I followed the thread but wasnt successful

[@aviocavioc1280]

Sameena Shaikh heloo

[@Savendsavend]

why dronekit are in python and not in C or C++ ?

[@dennisbaldwin]

I think the main reason is that Python is generally easier to develop in than C or C++. Most beginners can pick up Python pretty quickly where C syntax is more difficult to understand.

[@arvindbalajeea1460]

will this work with a f4 flight controller??