Agipix Autonomy: Planning and Control

license Linux platform Linux platform

Autonomy overview

AgiAUTO (ROS 2) — Agipix PX4 Autonomy Stack

This repository is the AgiAUTO autonomy module of Agipix for PX4-based UAV missions in ROS 2.

  • HW and SIM Platform Repository: https://github.com/SasaKuruppuarachchi/agipix.git
  • Platform docs: https://sasakuruppuarachchi.github.io/agipix/
  • Publication (ICUAS 2026 submission): “Agipix: A Comprehensive Aerial Robotics Platform Bridging Simulation and Reality”

System architecture (current)

									Sensors 
						(depth / point cloud / RGB / lidar) 
								+ PX4 state topics
										│
										▼
								onboard_detector
					(dynamic obstacle detection + tracking)
										│
										▼
									map_manager 
					(occupancy/dynamic map + collision/raycast)
										│
					┌───────────────────┴──────────────────────────┐
					▼                                              ▼
			global_planner (RRT/RRT*/DEP)                    trajectory_planner
		(global waypoints / exploration path) 	            (poly/PWL/B-spline)
					└───────────────────┬──────────────────────────┘
										▼
							 	 time_optimizer 
								   (optional)
								        │
										▼
								autonomous_flight 
						(mission executive/state machine)
										│
										▼
							  px4_control_interface 
				(DDS tracking mode + setpoint writer + executor flow)
										▼
  									   PX4

Package roles

  • autonomous_flight: mission orchestration (takeoff, navigation, rl_navigation, dynamic_navigation, inspection, dynamic_inspection, dynamic_exploration)
  • px4_control_interface: DDS-native PX4 mode/executor runtime and target tracking bridge
  • map_manager: occupancy and dynamic map representations, map services
  • onboard_detector: dynamic obstacle perception, data association, tracking
  • global_planner: global planning and exploration planning (RRT/RRT*, DEP)
  • trajectory_planner: smooth local trajectory generation (poly/PWL/B-spline)
  • time_optimizer: trajectory time allocation optimization utilities
  • agi_viz: centralized RViz profiles for autonomy stack visualization

Note: the standalone legacy middle-level controller package is no longer part of the active DDS runtime control path.


Setup

Validated against PX4 v1.16.1 message definitions.

Prerequiste : PX4 ROS 2 interface setup (see PX4 ROS 2 interface)

Build:

cd ~/workspace/agipix_control/src
git clone https://github.com/SasaKuruppuarachchi/agipix_autonomy.git -b dds
git clone https://github.com/SasaKuruppuarachchi/agipix_user_interfaces.git
agidocker
# inside the container

cd /workspaces/agipix_control
colcon build # builds the autonomy stack
source install/setup.bash

Demo media (placeholders)

ros2 launch px4_control_interface dds_shadow.launch.py use_sim_time:=true start_legacy_stack:=true mission:=<mission_name>

Available missions: takeoff_and_hover, takeoff_and_track_circle, navigation, rl_navigation, dynamic_navigation, dynamic_inspection, dynamic_exploration, inspection

  • [PLACEHOLDER] Takeoff + hover demo video
  • [PLACEHOLDER] Dynamic navigation demo video
  • [PLACEHOLDER] Dynamic exploration demo video
  • [PLACEHOLDER] Dynamic inspection demo video

Current status

  • ROS 1 → ROS 2 porting completed for the autonomy stack in this repository.
  • Runtime stack is PX4 DDS-native (MAVROS backend removed from active control path).
  • Mission validation status:
    • ✅ takeoff and hover
    • ✅ takeoff and track circle
    • ✅ navigation
    • ✅ rl navigation
    • ✅ dynamic navigation
    • ✅ dynamic exploration
    • ✅ dynamic inspection

Credits

This stack builds on original CERLAB autonomy components and research implementations by Zhefan Xu and collaborators.

This repository version is a ROS 2 integration within Agipix by Sasa Kuruppuarachchi.

Please credit both:

  1. Original algorithm/software authors (see package-level citations)
  2. Agipix ROS 2 integration and platform engineering work in this repository

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