ArduPilot SITL — install and basic commands

Where things live

~/ardupilot/          ← ArduPilot SITL
~/ardupilot_gazebo/   ← Gazebo plugin

1. Install ArduPilot

git clone https://github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot.git
cd ardupilot
git submodule update --init --recursive

The big step — installing dependencies (Python, compilers):

# This script sets env vars and installs the needed packages
Tools/environment_install/install-prereqs-ubuntu.sh -y

Reload your terminal so the new PATH takes effect:

source ~/.bashrc

WARN! sim_vehicle.py is not on PATH. Add it manually:

echo 'export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/ardupilot/Tools/autotest' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
which sim_vehicle.py

Go into the copter directory and build (first build is slow):

cd ArduCopter
sim_vehicle.py -w

The -w flag refreshes default drone schema. For prj — don’t use.

2. Run

sim_vehicle.py -w --console

Commands

Mode change via MAVROS:

ros2 service call /mavros/set_mode \
  mavros_msgs/srv/SetMode \
  "{custom_mode: 'GUIDED'}"