Precision Landing on a Rover

Some applications are more convenient with a 2D simulation, some would require a higher end simulation environment, which work in 3D. For functionalities such as obstacle avoidance and precision landing where the changes in the environment and behaviour of the drone must be tightly monitored, a 3D SITL Gazebo Simulator is used in lieu of a 2D ArduPilot SITL.

A virtual camera is attached to the bottom of the drone to experiment with precision landing. A MAVLink message of LANDING_TARGET is sent to pixhawk in order to change the position on the drone based on the position of the image detected in the camera.

Once the aruco marker is being detected, the x and y pixel coordinates of the image will be sent to pixhawk. In return, the drone will react to move the image to the center of the frame captured from the camera while descending.