Project Overview

The Aurelia X4 Drone Project aims to develop a comprehensive ROS 2-based control system for the Aurelia X4 drone. The system includes visualization in RViz, simulation in Gazebo, and execution of basic flight maneuvers on physical hardware.

Team Members

  • Seyi R. Afolayan (Remote PIC)

  • Sameer Khan

  • James Kaluna

  • Xinhao Chen

  • Lavinia Kong

Project Objectives

Primary Objectives:

  • Develop a comprehensive drone description package with URDF/xacro models (x4_description)

  • Implement a simulation environment in Gazebo (x4_gazebo)

  • Develop takeoff and landing capabilities in both simulation and real hardware (x4_gazebo and physical hardware)

Stretch Goals (If Time Permits):

  • Implement basic path planning for autonomous navigation

  • Add SLAM capabilities for mapping environments

  • Develop pick-and-place functionality

Repository Structure

/RSP_drone_project/src
├── x4_description      # URDF/xacro files, meshes, materials
├── x4_gazebo           # Simulation environments and launch files
├── x4_control          # Flight control algorithms
├── x4_interface        # Hardware communication bridge
├── x4_vision           # Computer vision with RX0II camera
└── x4_bringup          # System launch files

Development Practices

  • Regular meetings: Twice per week (to be discussed)

  • Documentation: ROS 2 style documentation, TODOs via Slack, Milestones tracker via Slack

Components

  • Aurelia X4 Standard drone

  • 4K Camera

  • Gimbal

  • Onboard Compute (NVIDIA Jetson Nano)