Is it possible to keep RC/joystick control wile using blue?

[Gerjen100]

I’m running into an issue when launching the bluerov2_controllers.launch.py setup.
As soon as the controller manager loads the PolynomialThrustCurveController from the YAML configuration, the servo parameters on my autopilot change specifically, the motor configuration switches to RC_PASSTHROUGH for all of the servo's

Could you explain how you are controlling your sub in this setup?
Are you relying entirely on the ROS2 controllers for thruster allocation and stabilization, or is there a way to keep joystick/manual control active while using this bringup configuration?

[evan-palmer]

Hi @Gerjen100

As soon as the controller manager loads the PolynomialThrustCurveController from the YAML configuration, the servo parameters on my autopilot change specifically, the motor configuration switches to RC_PASSTHROUGH for all of the servo's

auv_controllers and the associated ThrusterHardware (this is what bluerov2_controllers.launch.py loads) is designed to support integration of custom controllers. If you don't need custom control, then you can simply not load those and use manual control directly.

Could you explain how you are controlling your sub in this setup? Are you relying entirely on the ROS2 controllers for thruster allocation and stabilization, or is there a way to keep joystick/manual control active while using this bringup configuration?

When I personally deploy the system, I use both manual control (ArduSub) and the custom control (ThrusterHardware + auv_controllers). Attached are examples of the configuration and launch files that I use to enable this setup. Specifically, I launch the controllers and hardware interface in the inactive state. When I am ready to enable those, I send a command to the controller coordinator to activate the auv_controllers system and disable the manual control. The joy_teleop configuration file that I use is also attached, which shows how I map the joystick buttons.

(the .txt files are the configuration files - GitHub was being weird and not letting me upload .yaml files)

coordinator.txt
controllers.launch.py
controllers.txt
joy_teleop.txt

[Manouselis]

Hi @evan-palmer, just a clarification. You mentioned that you use the controller coordinator to activate the auv_controllers system and disable the manual control. I was wondering why you use the controller coordinator instead of the controller manager and what is their difference.

[evan-palmer]

The controller_coordinator is just a high-level wrapper around some of the functionality that the controller manager provides. It was written primarily for the scenario where you want to change control "modes" (e.g., enabling/disabling manual control)