Virtual Skynode
Usage of Virtual Skynode and its apps. Virtual Skynode simulates a Skynode device that can be used for app development
Last updated
Usage of Virtual Skynode and its apps. Virtual Skynode simulates a Skynode device that can be used for app development
Last updated
The Virtual Skynode allows you to fully simulate a Skynode device running AuterionOS. With Virtual Skynode you get all the benefits of a physical Skynode during app development. For example:
Virtual Skynode offers the same APIs for installing and managing apps as a physical Skynode
The MAVLink communication inside Virtual Skynode is set up identically to a physical Skynode
Apps do not need to be aware that they are being installed in a Virtual Skynode. This significantly simplifies the build workflow of apps
Virtual Skynode's simulated hardware closely resembles a real device when it comes to number of CPU cores, amount of system memory, file system partitioning and size etc.
Virtual Skynode requires two components:
virtual-skynode launcher package installed through your operating system's package manager
virtual-skynode's AuterionOS image which can be found on
The installation of both components is explained in the following section.
In order to use the Virtual Skynode, the launcher has to be installed on the developer machine first.
The following instructions were tested on Ubuntu 22.04:
Verify that your system supports Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) by running:
If this check does not return positively, CPU virtualization is most likely disabled in the BIOS. Virtual Skynode can be used without KVM, but this comes with a heavy performance penalty as the Virtual Skynode CPU will then be fully emulated in software.
Add the public Auterion debian package repository to apt:
Install the Virtual Skynode:
Ensure that you are currently in the directory that contains the downloaded AuterionOS rootfs and run (replace <VERSION-NUMBER>):
Running this command will launch the Virtual Skynode using the downloaded version of AuterionOS. It will also (if not already present) create a storage repo in ~/.virtual-skynode that will be used as persistent storage for all apps and files that will be created/uploaded to the Virtual Skynode.
The IP specified in --guest-ip can be used to interface with the running Virtual Skynode. You can choose any IP in the 10.41.200.0/24 subnet. If you are looking for an interactive setup you can also just type virtual-skynode.
The backbone of any Virtual Skynode setup is formed by the Virtual-FMU app. This app runs the PX4 Autopilot code on your Virtual Skynode and allows you to use PX4 as you would on a real Skynode.
Virtual FMU starts in self-contained SIH mode by default. This mode doesn't require an external gazebo instance, you can directly connect with Auterion Mission Control and fly.
As an alternative to running in self-contained SIH mode, the Virtual FMU app can also run external simulators like Gazebo Sim and AirSim. These can provide more accurate physics simulation and photorealistic environments useful for developing visual pipelines.
Auterion provides a meta Debian package called simulation-gazebo that essentially acts as a wrapper for default Gazebo Sim. It sets several environmental variables that are required to create a network connection between Gazebo and the Virtual FMU app.
If you have not done so already, setup simulation-gazebo by following the instructions here: Simulation-Gazebo Reference
Run simulation-gazebo to launch gazebo. This should open up a Gazebo Sim window
Go to the Virtual FMU configuration browser tab
Click the Simulation mode dropdown menu and select the desired simulation mode
Then click the "Reload Simulation" button
If you don't have gazebo running on your host, you will see the following warning:
WARN [gz_bridge] Service call timed out as Gazebo has not been detected
If everything has been installed correctly you should see the vehicle show up in your Gazebo Sim window.
Auterion offers a meta debian package for Ubuntu called simulation-airsim that simplifies the setup required to start an AirSim simulation. This is meant to be run in conjunction with Virtual Skynode.
If you have not done so already, setup simulation-airsim by following the instructions here: Simulation-AirSim Reference
Run simulation-airsim to launch AirSim. This should open up a AirSim window
Go to the Virtual FMU configuration browser tab
Click the Simulation mode dropdown menu and select the desired simulation mode
Then click the "Reload Simulation" button
Change the "Camera Topic" setting of "gst-ros-bridge" app to /camera/airsim/image_raw to get video feed in AMC
Your Auterion apps that you have built for Skynode will fail to install on Virtual Skynode. This is because apps for Skynode target the linux/arm64 architecture, whereas apps for Virtual Skynode running on your machine need to target linux/amd64.
You can also connect Auterion Mission Control (AMC) to the Virtual FMU. To do so open the AMC settings and select the tab "Settings/Comm Links". There create a new comm link configuration with the following settings:
Name
Can be an arbitrary string
Type
TCP
Automatically Connect on Start
True or False, based on personal preference
High Latency
False
Host Address
10.41.200.2
TCP Port
5790
Click on the created comm link and select "Connect" at the bottom.
In order to run Virtual Skynode, you have to download AuterionOS for Virtual Skynode by visiting and then browsing the Downloads > App Developer Tools page.
If you want to run a different AuterionOS rootfs, make sure to use a different storage location or clear your current storage location by .
Check that Virtual Skynode is up and running by visiting the IPv4 address specified at launch. By default this is :
When you run the virtual-skynode command for the first time, it initiates an app installation process.
Do not prematurely stop the virtual-skynode process before it successfully completes the installation. If you do so, it may result in a corrupt configuration, which cannot automatically recover and you will have to .
You can ensure the installation is complete with the web interface in Dashboard panel.
With Virtual Skynode running visit its web interface at
Go to the Apps page
Find the Virtual FMU app (com.auterion.virtual-fmu) and click the Configure button next to it. This should open a new browser tab. This is the web interface of the Virtual FMU where the simulation environment can be modified or interacted with
To build your Auterion app for Virtual Skynode, you can follow the workflow:
This will produce a *-simulation.auterionos artifact compatible with Virtual Skynode. You can now install your app either via auterion-cli app install, or navigating the web interface at to Dashboard > Install Software.
