ROS Package to Control Pluto Drone

This project provides a ROS package for controlling the Pluto Drone via Keyboard Controls. It includes two Python nodes, drone_command_publisher.py and drone_command_listener.py, which communicate over the drone_command topic using the PlutoMsg message type from the plutodrone ROS package.

Project Overview

• drone_command_publisher.py:

  • Uses a pygame window to capture keyboard inputs for controlling the drone.
  • Publishes these commands to the drone_command ROS topic.
  • Supported commands:
    • Press 'q': Quit the controller.
    • w/s: Increase/Decrease Pitch.
    • a/d: Increase/Decrease Roll.
    • i/k: Increase/Decrease Throttle.
    • j/l: Increase/Decrease Yaw.
    • e: Altitude Lock/Unlock.
    • SpaceBar: Arm/Disarm the drone.

• drone_command_listener.py:

  • Subscribes to the drone_command topic.
  • Prints the current PlutoMsg commands being published by the drone_command_publisher.py.

Requirements

To use this package, you need to install the following dependencies:

1. plutodrone package: Available here. This package provides the PlutoMsg message type used for controlling the drone.
2. pygame library: Used to capture keyboard inputs.

Installation Instructions

1. Install the plutodrone ROS package: Clone the repository and build it in your ROS workspace:

   cd ~/catkin_ws/src
   git clone https://github.com/DronaAviation/pluto-ros-package.git
   cd ~/catkin_ws
   catkin_make
   source devel/setup.bash

2. Install the pygame library: You can install the pygame library using pip:

   pip install pygame

Usage

1. Run the drone_command_publisher.py node:
   This node will open a pygame window to capture keyboard inputs and publish commands to the drone_command topic.

   rosrun drone-controller drone_command_publisher.py
   

2. Run the drone_command_listener.py node: This node subscribes to the drone_command topic and listens for published messages from the publisher node.

   rosrun drone-controller drone_command_listener.py
   

3. Control the drone using keyboard inputs:

• Press 'q': Quit the controller.
• w/s: Increase/Decrease Pitch.
• a/d: Increase/Decrease Roll.
• i/k: Increase/Decrease Throttle.
• j/l: Increase/Decrease Yaw.
• e: Altitude Lock/Unlock.
• SpaceBar: Arm/Disarm the drone.