ArduPilot SITL setup in Drone Programming - Mini Project: Build & Apply

ArduPilot SITL Setup

📖 Scenario: You want to test your drone flight code safely on your computer before flying a real drone. ArduPilot SITL (Software In The Loop) lets you run a virtual drone simulator that behaves like a real drone.This project will guide you step-by-step to set up ArduPilot SITL on your computer and run a simple simulation.

🎯 Goal: Set up ArduPilot SITL environment, configure a basic drone model, start the SITL simulation, and see the drone's status output.

📋 What You'll Learn

Install Python 3.12+

Install necessary SITL dependencies

Download ArduPilot source code

Run SITL simulation and view output

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Testing drone flight code safely on your computer before flying a real drone helps avoid crashes and saves time.

💼 Career

Drone developers and researchers use SITL to develop and test drone software efficiently without risking hardware.

1

Download ArduPilot source code

Use the command git clone https://github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot.git to download the ArduPilot source code folder named ardupilot to your computer.

Drone Programming

# Run the git clone command below
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Open your terminal or command prompt and type the exact git clone command to download the code.

2

Install SITL dependencies

Inside the ardupilot folder, run the command Tools/environment_install/install-prereqs-ubuntu.sh -y to install all required dependencies for SITL on Ubuntu Linux.

Drone Programming

git clone https://github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot.git
# Run the dependency install script below
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Make sure you change directory into ardupilot before running the install script.

3

Build and start SITL simulation

Run the commands cd ardupilot/ArduCopter and then ../waf configure --board sitl followed by ../waf copter to build the SITL simulator. Then start SITL with ../waf --target bin/arducopter.

Drone Programming

git clone https://github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot.git
cd ardupilot
Tools/environment_install/install-prereqs-ubuntu.sh -y
# Build and start SITL below
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Follow the exact commands to build and run the SITL simulator for the copter model.

4

View SITL simulation output

Run ../Tools/autotest/sim_vehicle.py -v ArduCopter -f quad --console --map inside the ardupilot folder to start the SITL simulation with a console and map window. Then observe the output showing the drone's status.

Drone Programming

git clone https://github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot.git
cd ardupilot
Tools/environment_install/install-prereqs-ubuntu.sh -y
cd ArduCopter
../waf configure --board sitl
../waf copter
../waf --target bin/arducopter
# Start SITL simulation with console and map
# Your code here

Need a hint?

This command launches the SITL simulation with a console and map to see the drone's status live.