Bennu

DIY 7" photogrammetry drone built with PX4, ROS2, and OpenDroneMap.

Status: Active development — not flight-ready. End-to-end simulation works (PX4 SITL + auto-survey + bundle export); the airframe build is in progress and no real flights have happened yet.

Bennu produces versioned, signed, schema-validated mission bundles from autonomous survey flights. The bundles feed an independent geospatial analysis platform via a contract-first data interface.

Hardware

Component	Part
Frame	TBS Source One V5 7" Deadcat + custom 3D-printed adapters
Flight Controller	Holybro Pixhawk 6C (PX4 v1.16)
Companion Computer	Raspberry Pi 4 (4GB), Ubuntu 24.04, ROS2 Jazzy
Camera	Raspberry Pi HQ Camera (IMX477) + 6mm CS-mount lens
GPS	Holybro M9N (u-blox M9N)
ESC	Holybro Tekko32 F4 4-in-1 50A
Motors	T-Motor Velox V2207.5 1950KV x4
Battery	4S 2200-3000mAh LiPo
Target AUW	<830g

Architecture

Ground Station                    Drone (onboard Pi 4)
+--------------+                  +------------------+
| QGroundControl|<--- MAVLink --->| Pixhawk 6C (PX4) |
+--------------+                  +--------+---------+
                                           |
| WebODM       |<--- bundle --->  +--------+---------+
+--------------+    transfer      | ROS2 Jazzy       |
                                  |  bennu_camera     |
                                  |  bennu_mission    |
                                  |  bennu_survey     |
                                  |  bennu_dataset    |
                                  +------------------+

The drone captures geotagged images during autonomous survey flights, scores image quality onboard, packages everything into a signed mission bundle, and exports it for processing in WebODM or a geospatial platform.

Quick Start

# Clone
git clone https://github.com/fadi-labib/bennu.git
cd bennu

# Install dev dependencies (Python 3.12)
pip install -r requirements-dev.txt
pip install -e drone/ros2_ws/src/bennu_camera \
            -e drone/ros2_ws/src/bennu_core \
            -e drone/ros2_ws/src/bennu_dataset \
            -e drone/ros2_ws/src/bennu_mission \
            -e drone/ros2_ws/src/bennu_survey

# Run tests
python -m pytest drone/ros2_ws/src/*/test/ tests/ -v

# Lint
ruff check .

# Start simulation (requires Docker) — one command brings up PX4 SITL,
# QGroundControl, and auto-flies a survey mission
make sim

ROS2 Packages

Package	Description
bennu_camera	Camera capture, image quality scoring, geotagging (18-column metadata), sensor config
bennu_core	Drone identity and hardware manifest
bennu_dataset	Mission bundle packaging, Ed25519 signing, checksums
bennu_mission	Mission manifest generation (contract v1 compliant)
bennu_survey	Survey grid planner (lawnmower pattern, UTM projection)
bennu_bringup	Launch files and sensor configuration profiles

Mission Bundle Contract

The drone produces a versioned mission bundle — the only coupling point with downstream platforms:

{mission_id}/
├── contract_version       # "v1"
├── manifest.json          # Mission metadata (signed)
├── images/                # Geotagged survey images
├── metadata/images.csv    # 18-column per-image metadata
├── quality/report.json    # Image quality scores
└── checksums.sha256       # SHA-256 integrity chain

The manifest is canonicalized, signed with Ed25519, and validated against a JSON schema in CI.

Simulation

Bennu uses a Docker-based PX4 SITL + Gazebo Harmonic simulation stack:

# All commands run from the repo root
make sim          # One-command: containers + QGC + auto-fly nominal survey + shell
make dev          # Headless: containers only (CI / SSH / no GUI)
make dev-debug    # Headless + Gazebo GUI (requires GPU + X11)
make qgc          # Launch QGroundControl on its own
make test         # Run unit tests in container
make test-smoke   # Run SIL mission smoke test
make clean        # Stop and remove containers
make help         # Show all commands

Documentation

Full documentation is at fadi-labib.github.io/bennu, including:

• Build Guide & Parts Checklist
• Bill of Materials
• Wiring Diagram
• Power Architecture
• Frame Specifications
• Architecture Decision Records

License

Apache-2.0 — see LICENSE.