Flow-Based ROS2 Programming Environment for Control Drone

Abstract

This study describes a flow-based programming environment for drone programming. With the increasing demand for drones in recent years, end- users have also had the opportunities to program the operation of the drones. However, it is difficult for the end-user to read and program the source code, so the traditional text-based programming is inefficient. On the other hand, a framework for controlling drones such as Robot Operating System 2 (ROS2) has appeared, and libraries have been enriched. However, the API is complicated, and the programming cost still high.

In contrast, this system provides end-users with a flow-based programming interface using node-red. In the flow-based programming interface, functions abstracted by nodes, and programs can be created by connecting them with a line. This user interface allows the end-user to quickly create a program while visually confirming what he is doing. In drone programming, it is necessary to be able to easily switch between an actual drone and a simulator for an execution test. It was using a simulation environment that can operate the drone controlled on ROS2.