PX4 SITL Multi-Vehicle Launcher

Launch one or more PX4 SITL vehicles in Gazebo from a single script.

Setup

sudo apt install tmux
chmod +x launch_*.py

Add this to your ~/.bashrc (then open a new shell):

export PX4_Autopilot_Dir=~/PX4-Autopilot

Running

./launch_multi_atmos.py

Each vehicle runs in its own tmux window; the script prints the attach command when it's ready.

Configuring

Each scenario script has a small CONFIG block at the top. Edit it to change the world, the tmux session name, or the vehicle list (names, models, poses):

WORLD   = "kthspacelab"
SESSION = "atmos3_kth"

VEHICLES = [
    Vehicle(name="snap",    model="gz_atmos", pose=(1, 0, 0.2)),
    Vehicle(name="crackle", model="gz_atmos", pose=(2, 0, 0.2)),
]

To add a new model, edit px4_sitl_launcher.py and add it to both MODEL_AUTOSTART and MODEL_BUILD.

Killing

./launch_multi_atmos.py --kill

Notes

ROS 2 integration. In a separate terminal, run the XRCE-DDS agent:

micro-xrce-dds-agent udp4 -p 8888

Each vehicle's topics then appear under its name, e.g. /snap/fmu/out/....

Troubleshooting

PX4 binary not found at .../build/<target>/bin/px4 — build the target it asks for:

cd $PX4_Autopilot_Dir
make px4_sitl_spacecraft   # gz_atmos / gz_atmos_dual
make px4_sitl_uuv          # gz_uuv_bluerov2_heavy

gz sim won't die after --kill:

pkill -9 -f 'gz sim'
pkill -9 -f 'bin/px4'
tmux kill-server