2. Software Package Installation¶
The installation process of the Simulation Software Package is highly automated and readers can run a one-click installation script to achieve rapid and automatic deployment.
2.1. Installation Steps¶
The installation steps are summarized below.
(1) Download the installation image file “RFLYExpPspSoftwarePack.iso” of the Simulation Software Package from Download and Support, and then unzip it or mount it to a virtual drive folder.
(2) Open MATLAB and click the “Browse for Folder” button (see Fig. 2.3). On the folder selection window, select the folder “RFLYExpPspSoftwarePack” obtained in the previous step.
(3) As shown in Fig. 2.3, tap the command “PX4InstallScript” in the “Command Window” of MATLAB and press the “Enter” key on the keyboard to run the one-key installation script. Note that another convenient way to run the one-key script is to select the “PX4InstallScript.p” file (see Fig. 2.3) with the mouse right key, and click the “Run” button on the pop-up menu.
Fig. 2.3 Installing multicopter simulation software package with one-click installation script
(4) In the pop-up configuration window shown in Fig. 2.4, select the required configuration according to the actual hardware and software requirements (the default configuration is recommended for beginners, where the compiling command is px4fmu-v3_default, the PX4 firmware version is 1.7.3, and the installation directory is the C disk, which may occupy around 6G storage), and click the “OK” button in Fig. 2.4.
Fig. 2.4 Options of PX4InstallScript
(5) Wait patiently for the package to be successfully installed and deployed, which may take around 30 min.
Noteworthy :
(1) Antivirus software may prevent this script from generating desktop shortcuts. If the script prompts that the shortcut generation has failed, please close the antivirus software (Windows 10 should also turn off the “Real-time protection” option in the Settings page) and manually click the “GenerateShortcutCMD.bat” script in the installation directory (the default directory is C:PX4PSP) to automatically generate all the software shortcuts.
(2) If readers want to change the firmware configurations or restore the compiling environment, just run the “PX4InstallScript” command again and select the required options.
(3) Readers can check the document “readme.txt” in the folder “RFLYExpPspSoftwarePack” for more detailed notes.
2.2. Advanced Settings¶
For advanced independent developers, Fig. 2.4 provides options to select the installation directory, Pixhawk hardware version, PX4 firmware version, compiling command, compiling environment, etc. The options in Fig. 2.4 are explained in detail below.
(1) Software package installation directory . All dependent files on the software package are installed in this directory, which requires around 6G storage. The default installation directory is “C: PX4PSP”. If the C disk space is not suffi- cient, readers should choose a directory in other disks; the directory name must be correct and only in English to prevent compilation failures.
(2) PX4 firmware compiling command . The default compiling command for PX4 is “px4fmu-v3_default”. By selecting this compiling command, the compiling toolchain is automatically called to compile the PX4 source code to a firmware file “px4fmu-v3_default.px4” after the PSP generates the controller code. Then, the file “.px4” is uploaded to the supported hardware to realize the deployment of the control algorithms. Different Pixhawk hardware products must select different PX4 firmware compiling commands. Figure 2.5 shows some Pixhawk hardware products, where “px4fmu-v3_default” can be used for three popular products: Pixhawk 1 (2MB flash version), mRo Pixhawk and Cube (Pixhawk 2 ). The command “px4fmu-v2_default” corresponds to the most famous Pixhawk 1 . PX4 also supports other hardware (for example, Intel Aero , Crazy-flie , and so on). The corresponding compiling commands are listed below.
Pixhawk 1: px4fmu-v2_default.px4
Pixhawk 1 (2MB flash version): px4fmu-v3_default.px4
Pixhawk 4: px4fmu-v5_default
Pixracer: px4fmu-v4_default
Pixhawk 3 Pro: px4fmu-v4pro_default
Pixhawk Mini: px4fmu-v3_default
Pixhawk 2: px4fmu-v3_default
mRo Pixhawk: px4fmu-v3_default
HKPilot32: px4fmu-v2_default
Pixfalcon: px4fmu-v2_default
Dropix: px4fmu-v2_default
MindPX/MindRacer: mindpx-v2_default
mRo X-2.1: auav-x21_default
Crazyflie 2.0: crazyflie_default
Intel Aero Ready to Fly Drone: aerofc-v1_default.
Fig. 2.5 Pixhawk hardware series products with compiling commands
(3) PX4 firmware version . The version of the PX4 source code is updated constantly, and the latest firmware version was 1.10 when this book was written. As the firmware version is upgraded, new features may be introduced, and more new products will be supported, but the compatibility with some old autopilot hardware will be affected. Because the Pixhawk 1 (2MB flash version, or mRo Pixhawk) hardware selected in this book is an old Pixhawk product with LED for better experimental observation effect, the older PX4 firmware version 1.7.3 was selected with the compiling command “px4fmu-v3_default” to achieve better-using effect.
(4) PX4 firmware compiling toolchain . Because the compilation of PX4 source code depends on the Linux compiling environment, the software package provides three sets of compiling toolchains to realize the simulation of the Linux compiling environment under the Windows environment.
- Win10WSL based on the Windows Subsystem compiler environment for Linux (WSL);
- the Msys2Toolchain based on Msys2 toolchain;
- the CygwinToolchain based on the Cygwin toolchain.
Note
the CygwinToolchain only supports PX4 firmware with version 1.8 or above; the Msys2Toolchain only supports PX4 firmware with version 1.8 or below. Both the CygwinToolchain and the Msys2Toolchain support Windows 7 and above, which are easy to deploy, but the compiling speed is slow. For Windows10 1809 and above, readers can follow the tutorial in “0.UbuntuWSLWin10UbuntuInstallationStep.docx” to install an Ubuntu subsystem in Windows and then choose theWin10WSL toolchain shown in Fig. 2.4. The Win10WSL toolchain can greatly accelerate the compiling speed and support all versions of PX4 firmware.
(5) Whether to reinstall the PSP Toolbox (yes or no) . If this option is set to “yes”, the PSP Toolbox is installed on MATLAB/Simulink. If the PSP toolbox has already been installed, a new installation of the PSP Toolbox is performed. If this option is set to “no”, the script does not do anything on the existing PSP toolbox (it will not uninstall the PSP toolbox or carry out other actions).
(6) Whether to reinstall the dependent software packages . If this option is set to “yes”, software tools (such as FlightGear, QGC, CopterSim, and 3DDisplay) are deployed to the selected installation directory and shortcuts for them are generated on the desktop. The related drivers for Pixhawk hardware are also installed. If the software tools have already been installed, selecting “yes” will remove the old installation files and reinstall them. If this option is set to “no”, then no change will be made.
(7) Whether to reinstall the selected compiling toolchain . If this option is set to “yes”, the selected compiling toolchain (Win10WSL, CygwinToolchain, or Msys2Toolchain) will be deployed to the selected installation directory. If the toolchain already installed, the script will remove the old toolchain files and reinstall it. In contrast, if this option is set to “no”, then no change will be made.
(8) Whether to reinstall the selected PX4 firmware source code . If this option is set to “yes”, the selected PX4 firmware source code will be deployed to the selected installation directory. If the firmware files already exist, the old firmware folder will be deleted, and a new copy of the source code will be deployed. If this option is set to “no”, then no change will be made.
(9) Whether to pre-compile the selected firmware . If this option is set to “yes”, the PX4 source code will be pre-compiled. This can greatly save the compiling time of the subsequent code generation process; whether the compiling environment is installed properly can also be checked. If this option is set to “no”, then no change will be made.
(10) Whether to block the actuator outputs of the PX4 original controller . If this option is set to “yes”, the control signals of the PX4 original controller will be blocked to prevent them from conflicting with the generated controller in Simulink. This option must be set to “yes” for the simulations and experiments in this book. If this option is set to “no”, the PX4 outputs will not be blocked, and this mode can be used to test the PX4 original controller.
Note
For the firmware versions 1.9 and above, the PX4 starts to use new compiling commands with the form “px4_fmu-v3_default.px4” instead of “px4fmu-v3_default.px4”. Because the simulation software package of this book will be continuously updated for the latest PX4 firmware when using the latest version of the firmware (1.9 and above), readers need to modify the compiling command in Fig. 2.4 to the correct format.
2.3. Installation Completion¶
When the above one-key installation scripted is successfully executed, readers can check the installed content with the following procedure.
(1) As shown in Fig. 2.6, the shortcuts for the core software tools will be generated on the desktop.
Fig. 2.6 Desktop shortcuts of simulation software package
(2) As shown in Fig. 2.7, the folders of all software tools are stored in the selected installation directory (the default is “C:PX4PSP”). Note that all the software tools are completely portable and independent of the original software (e.g., official versions of QGC and FlightGear) on Windows. In Fig. 2.7, the folder “Firmware” stores the PX4 source code. The folder “examples” stores Simulink source code examples of the PSP toolbox; the folder “drivers” stores Pixhawk drivers. The folder “Python27” stores a Python environment for the automatic firmware uploading of the PSP toolbox. The names of other folders are the same as the software names, whose detailed introduction can be found in Sect. 2.1.2.
Fig. 2.7 All files in installation directory of simulation software package
(3) As shown in Fig. 2.8, the installed PSP toolbox can be found on the “Add-Ons” - “Manage Add-Ons” page of MATLAB. On this page, some management operations can be performed for the PSP toolbox that includes disabling, uninstalling, and viewing the installation directory. Note that the PSP toolbox can be installed once for all the MATLAB applications on a computer whose versions are higher than or equal to MATLAB R2017b.
Fig. 2.8 PSP Toolbox management page in MATLAB
(4) As shown in Fig. 2.9, readers can open any Simulink file and click the “Simulink Library Brower” button to open the Simulink library browser, and then find the “Pixhawk Target Blocks” library generated by the PSP toolbox.
Fig. 2.9 PSP toolbox in Simulink library browser
If readers want to uninstall the simulation software package, they can carry out the following steps:
- Delete all the desktop shortcuts presented in Fig. 2.6;
- Delete all files and folders in the installation directory presented in Fig. 2.7;
- In the “Management Additional Functions” page of MATLAB presented in Fig. 2.8, click the “Uninstall” button to uninstall the PSP toolbox.
2.4. Brief Introduction to Software¶
(1) Double-click the desktop shortcuts shown in Fig. 2.6, which include “FlightGearF450”, “CopterSim”, “QGroundControl” and “3DDisplay”. Then, check the software User Interface (UI) one by one with Fig. 2.10 to confirm that each software can operate correctly.
Fig. 2.10 Basic software UIs for simulation tools
(2) Double-click the desktop shortcut “Eclipse” in Fig. 2.6 to open the Eclipse software. As shown in Fig. 2.11, click “File” – “Import…” – “C/C++”—“Existing Code as Makefile Project” from the menu bar of the Eclipse, and then click “Next”. In the “Existing Code Location” section of the pop-up window, click the “Browse” button to locate the “Firmware” folder in the installation directory (default is “C:PX4PSP”), then choose “Cross GCC” and click the “Finish” button.
Fig. 2.11 Importing PX4 Firmware source code into Eclipse
After completing the above steps, as shown in Fig. 2.12, the source code and directory structure of the “Firmware” can be found in the “Project Explorer” window, where readers can read the PX4 source code and try to modify it. Readers can also view the PX4 developer documentation website to clearly understand the architecture and implementation principles of the PX4 algorithms and deepen the understanding of an actual flight control system. Note that: a “Welcome” tab will cover the content shown in Fig. 2.12 when readers first open Eclipse, it must be closed manually.
Fig. 2.12 Eclipse code reading interface
(3) Double-click one of the three shortcuts “Win10WSL”, “Msys2Toolchain” or “CygwinToolchain” on the desktop to pop up the command window interface shown in Fig. 2.13 (the original UI has a pure black background, and the image color has been reversed for reading). Because the compiling toolchains are essentially Linux emulation software, the basic Linux commands (such as “ls”, “pwd”, and “gcc—version”) can be tapped on the command line. For readers who are unfamiliar with Linux operations, this compiling toolchain can also be used as a Linux learning and practice tool. The most important function of this toolchain is to compile the source code of PX4 and generate the “.px4” firmware file. As shown in Fig. 2.13, “make clean” can be tapped on the command line to clear the old compiling files, and the “make px4fmu-v3_default” command is used to compile the source code to the firmware file “C:PX4PSPFirmwarebuildpx4fmu-v3_defaultpx4fmu-v3_default.px4” for Pixhawk 1 (2MB flash version). Because the PSP toolbox will automatically call this compiling command after the code is generated, readers do not need to know how to use it.
Fig. 2.13 Commands tapped in compiling toolchains