iris_claudedrone — customizing the drone model

1. Copy the iris model into our project

cp -r ~/ardupilot_gazebo/models/iris_with_ardupilot \
  /home/aleks/git/proj/claudedrone/simulation/src/drone_sim/models/iris_claudedrone

Add sensors to model.sdf — we added a TOF TF-Luna.

2. Drone parameters

/home/aleks/git/proj/claudedrone/simulation/config/ardupilot/indoor.parm

Testing our params with the IRIS drone

Terminal 1:

gz sim ~/ardupilot_gazebo/worlds/iris_runway.sdf -r

Terminal 2 — after Gazebo finishes loading:

cd ~/ardupilot/ArduCopter
sim_vehicle.py -v ArduCopter -f gazebo-iris --model JSON --console \
  --add-param-file=/home/aleks/git/proj/claudedrone/simulation/config/ardupilot/indoor.parm

Our own world file

cp ~/ardupilot_gazebo/worlds/iris_runway.sdf \
  /home/aleks/git/proj/claudedrone/simulation/src/drone_sim/worlds/claudedrone_runway.sdf

Point this world at our model, open it in VS Code:

code /home/aleks/git/proj/claudedrone/simulation/src/drone_sim/worlds/claudedrone_runway.sdf

Find this line:

<uri>model://iris_with_gimbal</uri>

Replace with:

<uri>model://iris_claudedrone</uri>

Running our world with our model

Terminal 1 — Gazebo:

GZ_SIM_RESOURCE_PATH=/home/aleks/git/proj/claudedrone/simulation/src/drone_sim/models:~/ardupilot_gazebo/models:$GZ_SIM_RESOURCE_PATH \
gz sim /home/aleks/git/proj/claudedrone/simulation/src/drone_sim/worlds/claudedrone_runway.sdf -r

Breakdown:

• GZ_SIM_RESOURCE_PATH — add our model dirs to Gazebo’s search path
• Gazebo finds iris_claudedrone in our project
• And runway in ardupilot_gazebo

Terminal 2 — SITL:

cd ~/ardupilot/ArduCopter
sim_vehicle.py -v ArduCopter -f gazebo-iris --model JSON --console \
  --add-param-file=/home/aleks/git/proj/claudedrone/simulation/config/ardupilot/indoor.parm

Changing rotor colors

The iris_claudedrone model references iris_with_standoffs. Copy that into the project too:

cp -r ~/ardupilot_gazebo/models/iris_with_standoffs \
  ~/git/proj/claudedrone/simulation/src/drone_sim/models/

/meshes

iris.dae           → iris body (cross + standoffs)
iris_collision.stl → physics collision shape
iris_prop_cw.dae   → clockwise propeller     → motors 0 and 1
iris_prop_ccw.dae  → counter-clockwise propeller → motors 2 and 3

All edits go into the drone model — changing rotor color:

<link name='rotor_2'>
  <pose>0.13 0.22 0.023 0 0 0</pose>
  <visual name='visual'>
    <material>
      <ambient>0.8 0.1 0.1 1</ambient>
      <diffuse>0.8 0.1 0.1 1</diffuse>

Plugins for taking off in our world

<plugin filename="gz-sim-imu-system"
        name="gz::sim::systems::Imu"/>

<plugin filename="gz-sim-navsat-system"
        name="gz::sim::systems::NavSat"/>