Commander

description of the file commander.py

The class Commander deals with the publication of pwm to the RC_channels topics that leads to the motion of the BlueRov2

ROS

Node

Commander

Topics

ROS topics subscribed	Message	Function
/Command/depth	UInt16	pwm sent by depth controller
/Command/heading	UInt16	pwm sent by heading controller
/Command/velocity	UInt16	pwm sent by velocity controller
/Command/joy	sensor_msgs/Joy	pwm and buttons clicked sent by gamepad
/Settings/set_depth	bluerov_ros_playground/Set_depth	enable to send pwm to thrusters
/Settings/set_heading	bluerov_ros_playground/Set_heading	enable to send pwm to thrusters
/Settings/set_velocity	bluerov_ros_playground/Set_velocity	enable to send pwm to thrusters

ROS topics published	Message	Function
/BlueRov2/rc_channel3/set_pwm	UInt16	Throttle
/BlueRov2/rc_channel4/set_pwm	UInt16	Yaw
/BlueRov2/rc_channel5/set_pwm	UInt16	Forward
/BlueRov2/rc_channel6/set_pwm	UInt16	Lateral
/BlueRov2/rc_channel8/set_pwm	UInt16	Camera tilt

RC Input

Channel	Meaning
1	Pitch
2	Roll
3	Throttle
4	Yaw
5	Forward
6	Lateral
7	Camera pan
8	Camera tilt
9	Light 1 level
10	Light 2 level
11	Video switch

From https://www.ardusub.com/operators-manual/rc-input-and-output.html.

According to MAVlink and ArduSub, only the eight first channels can be overridden. To reach the other channels, the only way is to send MAVlink command with manual_command_sent

Modes

There are two modes in commander : the MANUAL mode where the gamepad controls the ROV or the AUTOMATIC mode where depth, heading and velocity pwm computed by the controllers drive the ROV if there are enable to be published.

Enable controllers

First you need to enable AUTOMATIC mode.

Then to enable controllers to control the ROV, you have to send a Set_[depth/heading/velocity] message with the parameter enable_[depth/heading/velocity]_ctrl to True. Otherwise, the ROV remains uncontrolled by [depth/heading/velocity] controllers.