SimToFly — Drone Autonomy Guide

From Simulation to Flight
Complete beginner-friendly tutorials for autonomous drones using ROS2 Humble, ArduPilot, and Gazebo Harmonic

Documentation • Getting Started • Tutorial Phases • Community

Learn autonomous drone development from simulation to real hardware deployment using modern tools: ROS2, ArduPilot SITL, and Gazebo Harmonic.

Who this is for:

• Beginners with no prior ROS or ArduPilot experience
• Developers wanting to learn modern drone autonomy stack
• Students and hobbyists building autonomous drones
• Anyone interested in transitioning from simulation to real hardware

What you'll build:

• Complete SITL simulation environment
• 3D visualization with Gazebo Harmonic
• ROS2 integration with MAVROS
• Companion computer deployment on Raspberry Pi
• Real autonomous flight system

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Master drone fundamentals in safe virtual environment.

Topics:

• Prerequisites and environment setup
• ArduPilot SITL installation
• MAVProxy command-line control
• Gazebo Harmonic 3D simulation
• First autonomous waypoint mission

Status: Complete
Time: 6-8 hours
Start: Phase 1 Documentation

Connect ArduPilot to Robot Operating System.

Topics:

• ROS2 Humble installation
• MAVROS setup and configuration
• Understanding topics and services
• Custom ROS2 control nodes
• Autonomous missions via ROS2

Status: In Development
Expected: February 2026

Deploy ROS2 on Raspberry Pi for onboard processing.

Topics:

• Raspberry Pi configuration
• Serial connection to flight controller
• ROS2 node deployment
• Hardware-in-the-loop testing
• Network communication

Status: Planned
Expected: March 2026

Deploy complete system on actual drone.

Topics:

• Hardware assembly and wiring
• Pre-flight safety procedures
• Ground testing
• First real flight test
• Complete mission deployment

Status: Planned
Expected: April 2026

Hardware:

• Computer with 8GB RAM minimum (16GB recommended)
• Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (native or VM)
• 30GB free disk space
• Stable internet connection

Knowledge:

• Basic terminal/command-line familiarity
• No prior ROS or ArduPilot experience required

1. Check system requirements: Prerequisites Guide
2. Set up environment: Environment Setup
3. Start learning: Phase 1 Overview

👉 Begin Phase 1: Simulation Mastery

All tutorials tested and verified on:

Software Stack:

• Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
• ArduPilot Copter 4.5.7
• ROS2 Humble
• Gazebo Harmonic
• MAVProxy 1.8+

Hardware (Phase 4):

• Flight Controller: Cube Orange / Pixhawk 6X
• Companion Computer: Raspberry Pi 4 (4GB+)
• Frame: Various quadcopter frames tested

Last verified: December 2025

simtofly-guide/
├── docs/
│   ├── phase-1-simulation/      # SITL and Gazebo tutorials
│   ├── phase-2-ros2/            # ROS2 integration guides
│   ├── phase-3-companion/       # Raspberry Pi setup
│   ├── phase-4-hardware/        # Real drone deployment
│   ├── appendix/                # Ubuntu install, terminal setup
│   └── images/                  # Logos and shared assets
├── mkdocs.yml                   # Documentation configuration
└── README.md                    # This file

• Questions: GitHub Discussions
• Bug Reports: GitHub Issues
• Documentation: Website

We welcome contributions! Ways to help:

• Report bugs or errors in tutorials
• Suggest improvements or new topics
• Submit fixes via pull requests
• Share your success stories
• Help other learners in discussions

See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

• ⭐ Star this repository for updates
• Watch for new releases
• Follow @sidharthmohannair

SimToFly Ecosystem:

• simtofly-ros2 — ROS2 packages and examples (coming soon)
• simtofly-setup — Automated setup scripts (coming soon)

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

• Commercial use
• Modification
• Distribution
• Private use

• License and copyright notice must be included

• No Liability
• No Warranty

Note: While attribution is not legally required, it is appreciated and helps the project grow.

Built with knowledge from:

• ArduPilot community and documentation
• ROS2 official guides
• MAVROS maintainers
• Open-source drone community

Special thanks to everyone who contributes to open-source robotics and drone software.

Author: Sidharth Mohan Nair

Project Goals:

• Make drone autonomy accessible to beginners
• Provide complete workflow from simulation to hardware
• Use modern tools (ROS2, latest ArduPilot)
• Verify all tutorials on real hardware
• Maintain active documentation

Ready to start your journey?
Begin Phase 1: Simulation Mastery

Made with ❤️ for the drone community
SimToFly • @sidharthmohannair