vtol-AirSim

A copy-fork of AirSim's Unreal Engine plugin with added functionality for VTOL aircraft.

Quick links

• Setup (this page)
• Development
• Maintaining the byu-magicc/AirSim Fork

Setup Instructions

This repository uses Git LFS (Large File Storage).

1. On Ubuntu 20.04, install Git LFS by running

   sudo apt install git-lfs
   git lfs install
   

   Now use git as you normally would.

2. Install the build dependency clang by running

   sudo apt install clang
   

   • as of this writing, the clang package on Ubuntu 20.04 installs clang 10
   • check your version of clang with: clang --version, then run:

   sudo apt install libc++-<version>-dev
   

   • where <version> is 10 for clang 10, 9 for clang 9, etc.

3. Install Unreal Editor 4.25

   • Follow the "Linux - Build Unreal Engine" steps in the AirSim docs
     • Make sure you're on the 4.25 branch before building
       • fastest way: git clone -b 4.25 https://github.com/EpicGames/UnrealEngine.git

4. Clone the byu-magicc/AirSim fork repo

   • git clone git@github.com:byu-magicc/AirSim.git

5. Copy the Blocks Unreal environment out of the AirSim fork

   • cp -r ./AirSim/Unreal/Environments/Blocks ./

6. Set AIRSIMPATH environment variable - you can add this (using absolute path) to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc to have it set for all future terminal sessions

   • export AIRSIMPATH="$(pwd)/AirSim"

7. Create a Plugins directory in Blocks

   • mkdir ./Blocks/Plugins

8. Clone this repository into Blocks/Plugins

   cd ./Blocks/Plugins
   git clone git@github.com:byu-magicc/vtol-AirSim.git
   cd vtol-AirSim
   

9. Build static library files using build_static_libs.sh (builds rpclib, MavLinkCom, and rpc components of AirLib)

   ./build_static_libs.sh
   

10. Now start up Unreal Editor. You can find it at the following location (may want to make an alias for this):

    /<path_to_unreal_engine_repo>/Engine/Binaries/Linux/UE4Editor
    

11. When the editor is up and running, go to More > Browse, navigate to where you put the directory containing the Blocks project and open the file Blocks.uproject.

    • If you get a prompt that says "This project was made with a different version of the Unreal Engine" and asks if you want to open a copy, instead select "More Options..." then choose "Convert in-place".
    • When it prompts if you would like to rebuild the missing modules (Blocks and AirSim, which haven't been built yet), select "Yes".