The Multi-robot Systems Group is a robotics lab at the Czech Technical University in Prague. We specialize in multi-rotor helicopters, and for them specifically, we develop this control, estimation, and simulation system. We think real-world and replicable experiments should support excellent research and science in robotics. Thus, our platform is built to allow safe real-world experimental validation of approaches in planning, control, estimation, computer vision, tracking, and more.

ROS2

Do you want to monitor the state of transition to ROS2 in real time? Check the following diagram:

System properties

The system is

• built on the Robot Operating System Jazzy,
• meant to be executed entirely onboard on a companion computer,
• can control underactuated multirotor helicopters,
• contains control, state estimation, mapping, and planning pipelines.

Documentation

The primary documentation source is here: https://ctu-mrs.github.io/. However, the website only scratches the surface of what it should contain (and we know it). Our system is a research-oriented platform, and it evolves rapidly. Most of our users are either researchers (who already know the platform) or freshmen students (who might not know ROS). Maintaining up-to-date documentation for such an audience is hard work since we mostly develop the system while using it for our research. So, instead, we aim at educating our students to look around the packages (each contains its own README), explore the launch files, and be able to read the code, which we strive to keep readable.

The control and estimation system are described in the article doi.org/10.1007/s10846-021-01383-5, pdf:

Baca, T., Petrlik, M., Vrba, M., Spurny, V., Penicka, R., Hert, D., and Saska, M.,
"The MRS UAV System: Pushing the Frontiers of Reproducible Research, Real-world Deployment, and
Education with Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles", J Intell Robot Syst 102, 26 (2021).

Installation

Native installation

1. Install the Robot Operating System (Jazzy):

curl https://ctu-mrs.github.io/ppa2-stable/add_ros_ppa.sh | bash
sudo apt install ros-jazzy-desktop-full ros-dev-tools

2. Configure your ROS environment according to https://docs.ros.org/en/jazzy/Installation/Ubuntu-Install-Debs.html#setup-environment

3. Add the stable PPA into your apt-get repository:

curl https://ctu-mrs.github.io/ppa2-stable/add_ppa.sh | bash

• >>> Special instructions for the MRS System developers <<<

  • Instead of the stable PPA, you can add the unstable PPA, for which the packages are build immediatelly after being pushed to ros2.
  • If you have both PPAs, the unstable has a priority.
  • Beware! The unstable PPA might be internally inconsistent, buggy and dangerous!

  
  

  • If you use the shell additions described here, you should not manually source ROS or your workspaces.
  • You should normally use zenoh as the RMW implementation.

4. Install the MRS UAV System:

sudo apt install ros-jazzy-mrs-uav-system-full

5. Start the example MRS simulation session:

cd /opt/ros/jazzy/share/mrs_multirotor_simulator/tmux/mrs_one_drone
./start.sh

System components

Main metapackages	Contents	Repository	Package
MRS UAV System	UAV Core & UAV Modules	mrs_uav_system	ros-jazzy-mrs-uav-system
MRS UAV System - Full	All of the bellow	mrs_uav_system	ros-jazzy-mrs-uav-system-full

Optional Modules & metapackages	Repository	Package
UAV Core	mrs_uav_core	ros-jazzy-mrs-uav-core
UAV Modules	mrs_uav_modules	ros-jazzy-mrs-uav-modules
Octomap Mapping+Planning	mrs_octomap_mapping_planning	ros-jazzy-mrs-octomap-mapping-planning
OpenVINS Core	mrs_open_vins_core	ros-jazzy-mrs-open-vins-core
PointLIO Core	mrs_point_lio_core	ros-jazzy-mrs-point-lio-core
Precise Landing	TODO	TODO
ALOAM Core	TODO (?, probably not)	TODO
LIO-SAM Core	TODO (?, probably not)	TODO
Hector Core	TODO (?, probably not)	TODO

Simulators	Repository	Package
MRS Multirotor Simulator	mrs_multirotor_simulator	ros-jazzy-mrs-multirotor-simulator
FlightForge Simulator	mrs_uav_flightforge_simulator	ros-jazzy-mrs-uav-flightforge-simulator
Gazebo Simulator	mrs_uav_gazebo_simulation	ros-jazzy-mrs-uav-gazebo-simulator
Coppelia Simulator	TODO	TODO

Hardware API plugins	Repository	Package
PX4 API	mrs_uav_px4_api	ros-jazzy-mrs-uav-px4-api
DJI Tello API	mrs_uav_dji_tello_api	ros-jazzy-mrs-uav-dji-tello-api

Example packages

Examples	Repository
Core examples	mrs_core_examples
Computer Vision examples	mrs_computer_vision_examples
Gazebo Custom Drone example	TODO

Build status (Buildfarm)

We utilize acceptance tests to determine the releasaiblity of the system and to release the system automatically. The stable version of our system should be installable and working allways regardless of the state of the tests and red flags below.

Docker - stable/unstable rolling release

Download from Dockerhub: ctumrs/mrs_uav_system

The multiarch (AMD and ARM64) docker image contains the ros-jazzy-mrs-uav-system-full ROS package and, with that, all the MRS dependencies.

ROS2 Build status (in development)(Buildfarm2)

PPAs

Stable	Testing	Unstable

Docker pipelines

Any package within the system have the option to generate a docker image. These are typically thirdparty package with complex dependencies that can not be easily satisfied through the apt installation system. Additionally, the mrs-uav-system package generates a docker image with the full system.

	Stable	Unstable
MRS ROS Packages
Thirdparty ROS packages

Testing

Stable	Release candidate	Unstable	Test coverage

x86-64/AMD64

	Stable	Release Candidate	Unstable
MRS ROS Packages
Thirdparty ROS packages
Non-ROS packages

AARCH64/ARM64

	Stable	Unstable
MRS ROS Packages
Thirdparty ROS packages
Non-ROS packages

Disclaimer

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.