Drone Testing

Full setup and testing commands for the BeamNG ROS 2 drone integration. The drone_controller node converts /cmd_vel and /cmd_vel_stamped into /drone_control for the BeamNG drone.

Throughout this page, <ROS2_WORKSPACE> refers to your ROS 2 colcon workspace (for example ~/ros2_ws). Use <BEAMNG_HOST_IP> and <BEAMNG_PORT> for your BeamNG.tech instance (for WSL2, the host IP is typically the vEthernet (WSL) address from ipconfig on Windows).

Prerequisites

  • BeamNG.tech installed and running with -tcom-listen-ip 0.0.0.0 or your host IP.

  • ROS 2 workspace built and sourced: source install/setup.bash

All-in-one launch

The beamng_drone_all.launch.py launch file starts the bridge, scenario, drone controller and cmd_vel converter in one command. You then choose one of two control inputs (run in a separate terminal):

  • Keyboard teleop – for manual testing

  • MAVROS or any cmd_vel publisher – for UAV stacks (MAVLink, PX4, etc.)

Launch (set host for your setup):

cd <ROS2_WORKSPACE>
source install/setup.bash
ros2 launch beamng_bringup beamng_drone_all.launch.py \
  host:=<BEAMNG_HOST_IP> port:=<BEAMNG_PORT> \
  scenario:=/config/scenarios/drone_scenario.json vehicle_id:=drone

Use the host IP that matches your setup: same-machine=127.0.0.1, WSL=vEthernet (WSL) from Windows ipconfig, remote=BeamNG machine IP.

Override individual args:

ros2 launch beamng_bringup beamng_drone_all.launch.py host:=<YOUR_IP> port:=25252

If the drone controller times out (Connection timed out), the scenario may need more time to load. Increase the delay:

ros2 launch beamng_bringup beamng_drone_all.launch.py controller_delay:=25.0

Control input (choose one; run in a separate terminal):

  • Keyboard teleop (for manual testing):

    cd <ROS2_WORKSPACE>
source install/setup.bash
ros2 run beamng_teleop_keyboard drone_teleop

  • MAVROS or other cmd_vel source (for MAVLink/UAV stack integration):

    The launch already includes the cmd_vel converter. Instead of keyboard teleop, run your MAVROS (or any node that publishes geometry_msgs/Twist to /cmd_vel). The converter maps:

    • linear.x / linear.y → roll & pitch

    • linear.z → thrust (ascend/descend)

    • angular.z → yaw rate

    The drone will receive commands via /drone_control and fly normally. No need to run drone_teleop when using MAVROS.

Setup (alternative: run in order)

Terminal 1 – Bridge:

cd <ROS2_WORKSPACE>
source install/setup.bash
ros2 run beamng_ros2 beamng_bridge \
  --ros-args -p host:=<BEAMNG_HOST_IP> -p port:=<BEAMNG_PORT>

Terminal 2 – Drone scenario:

cd <ROS2_WORKSPACE>
source install/setup.bash
ros2 service call /beamng_bridge/start_scenario beamng_msgs/srv/StartScenario \
  "{path_to_scenario_definition: '/config/scenarios/drone_scenario.json'}"

Terminal 3 – Drone controller (BeamNG agent):

cd <ROS2_WORKSPACE>
source install/setup.bash
ros2 run beamng_agent drone_controller \
  --ros-args -p host:=<BEAMNG_HOST_IP> -p port:=<BEAMNG_PORT> -p vehicle_id:=drone

Terminal 4 – Keyboard teleop (interactive):

cd <ROS2_WORKSPACE>
source install/setup.bash
ros2 run beamng_teleop_keyboard drone_teleop

Optional – cmd_vel converter (this package):

ros2 launch beamng_bringup beamng_drone_teleop

Verification and testing

Check nodes:

ros2 node list
ros2 node info /beamng_bridge
ros2 node info /beamng_drone_controller
ros2 node info /cmd_vel_to_drone_control

Check topics:

ros2 topic list
ros2 topic list | grep -E 'drone|cmd_vel|control'

Echo control traffic:

ros2 topic echo /drone_control
ros2 topic echo /cmd_vel

Check services:

ros2 service list | grep beamng

Check parameters:

ros2 param list /beamng_bridge
ros2 param list /beamng_drone_controller
ros2 param list /cmd_vel_to_drone_control

Manual publish (no teleop):

ros2 topic pub /drone_control beamng_msgs/msg/DroneControl \
  "{ascend: 0.5, descend: 0.0, pitch: 0.0, roll: 0.0, yaw: 0.0, \
    yaw_left: 0.0, yaw_right: 0.0, takeoff_land: false, toggle_mode: false}" --once

Teleop display

When you run ros2 run beamng_teleop_keyboard drone_teleop, it prints the setup commands and key bindings at startup. A live status line shows:

  • Key: last key pressed (e.g. w, a, t, m, Space)

  • Reading: current control values being sent (Asc, Desc, Pit, Rol, Yaw)

  • Mode: flight mode (Crawl or Fixed Wing)

Example status line:

Key:     w  |  Reading: Asc:+0.50 Desc:+0.00 Pit:+0.00 Rol:+0.00 Yaw:+0.00  |  Mode:Crawl

Drone teleop keys

  • t: toggle takeoff/land

  • w / x: ascend / descend

  • a / d: roll left / right

  • q / e: yaw left / right

  • i / k: pitch forward / backward

  • m: toggle flight mode (Crawl ↔ Fixed Wing); status line shows current mode

  • space or s: hover / stop