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Example with multiple simulated robots and MATLAB (Compatible with 2018b and later versions)

MATLAB wrappers for kr_mav_control using the Robotics Systems Toolbox are available in kr_matlab_interface.

Make sure you have the toolbox installed. In addition, for the interface to work with kr_mav_control, ROS custom messages have to be generated.

In MATLAB console

roboticsAddons
  • Install
    • Robotics System Toolbox Interface for ROS Custom Messages
    • Robotics System Toolbox UAV Library (Only available for 2018b and later versions)

Once installed follow the following instructions to generate custom messages used in kr_mav_control. More info on generating ROS custom messages is here

cd ~/ws_ros/src/kr_mav_control
mkdir -p ~/matlab_msgs
cp -r kr_mav_msgs kr_mav_manager ~/matlab_msgs
cd ~/ws_ros/src/kr_mav_control/interfaces/kr_matlab_interface
cp kr_mav_msgs.patch.xml ~/matlab_msgs/kr_mav_msgs/package.xml
cp kr_mav_manager.patch.package.xml ~/matlab_msgs/kr_mav_manager/package.xml
cd ~/matlab_msgs
git clone https://github.com/ros/ros_comm_msgs.git
cd ros_comm_msgs
mv std_srvs ..
  • Newer format 2 of package.xml has issues with MATLAB message generation. Hence, an older patched version is used.
  • MATLABs inbuild std_srvs does not have all the needed services. Hence, we clone and compile it again locally.

Open MATLAB and run the following

rosgenmsg('~/matlab_msgs')
  • Follow the instructions spilled out in MATLAB console, i.e edit javaclasspath.txt and addpath with necessary locations.

Clone and build kr_multi_mav_manager in your workspace

Running simple simulator with kr_matlab_interface

Helper bash scripts are added to launch multiple robots.

roscd kr_multi_mav_manager/scripts
./demo_sim.sh 4
  • This will launch 4 robots in simulator
  • Switch to the Kill tab in the tmux window and press Enter to close everything
  • dragonfly$ID namespace is used for each robot. Each vehicle can be interfaced with the kr_mav_control topics/services in this namespace.

In MATLAB

cd ~/ws_ros/src/kr_mav_control/interfaces/kr_matlab_interface
example_interface('localhost', 4)
  • This starts the motors, calls takeoff and moves all the 4 MAVs with random velocity.
  • The first string is the hostname. Use localhost if the simulators are running on your own machine.
  • Copy and reuse the example_interface.m to develop/test your own awesome MATLAB based algorithms.
  • This is a minimal interface. More API specific to kr_mav_control can be added easily.
  • If due to some issue, MATLAB gets stuck in a loop, type rosshutdown at the console. This will shutdown all subscribers.

Happy MATLABing