OpenUAV2 Container Architecture

This repository contains the containerized environment for OpenUAV simulations with GPU acceleration and web-based access.

Container Components

The OpenUAV container consists of two main component groups:

Simulation Components

• Gazebo: 3D robotics simulator
• Unity: 3D visualization engine
• ROS: Robot Operating System framework
• PX4: UAV autopilot software
• QGroundControl: Ground control station

User-Interactive Components

• NoVNC: Web-based VNC client (Port 40001)
• TurboVNC: High-performance VNC server
• SSH/SSHFS: Secure shell access and filesystem mounting (Port 22)

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                OpenUAV Container                        │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐       │
│  │           Simulation Components              │       │
│  │   ┌────────┐  ┌───────┐  ┌─────┐  ┌────┐   │       │
│  │   │ Gazebo │  │ Unity │  │ ROS │  │PX4 │   │       │
│  │   └────────┘  └───────┘  └─────┘  └────┘   │       │
│  │          ┌─────────────────┐                │       │
│  │          │ QGroundControl  │                │       │
│  │          └─────────────────┘                │       │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘       │
│                                                        │
│  ┌─────────────┐    ┌──────────┐    ┌──────────┐      │
│  │   NoVNC     │    │ TurboVNC │    │SSH/SSHFS │      │
│  │  (40001)    │    │          │    │  (22)    │      │
│  └─────────────┘    └──────────┘    └──────────┘      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Network Architecture

The OpenUAV platform uses Nginx as a reverse proxy to handle both HTTP and SSH connections:

Components

1. Nginx Proxy

   • HTTP proxy module: Handles web interface access
   • Stream module: Manages SSH connections
   • Domain format: cpsvo-.openuav.us

2. DNS Resolver

   • Resolves container-specific URLs to Docker network IPs
   • Handles dynamic container addressing

3. Container Instances

   • Multiple containers run in parallel
   • Each container has:
     • Web interface (NoVNC)
     • SSH access
     • Unity + Gazebo simulation environment

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     Nginx Proxy                         │
│  ┌───────────────────┐      ┌────────────────────┐     │
│  │   HTTP Module     │      │    Stream Module   │     │
│  └─────────┬─────────┘      └──────────┬─────────┘     │
└────────────┼──────────────────────────┬┼───────────────┘
             │                          ││
┌────────────┼──────────────────────────┼┼───────────────┐
│            ▼                          ▼▼               │
│  ┌─────────────────┐      ┌─────────────────┐         │
│  │  Container 1    │      │  Container 2    │   ...   │
│  │digital-twin-1   │      │digital-twin-2   │         │
│  └─────────────────┘      └─────────────────┘         │
│                Docker Network                          │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Installation

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu 20.04 or later
• NVIDIA GPU with 470+ drivers
• Docker 20.10+
• NVIDIA Container Toolkit

Host Setup

1. Install NVIDIA drivers:

   ubuntu-drivers autoinstall

2. Install Docker:

   curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
   sudo sh get-docker.sh

3. Install NVIDIA Container Toolkit:

   distribution=$(. /etc/os-release;echo $ID$VERSION_ID)
   curl -s -L https://nvidia.github.io/nvidia-docker/gpgkey | sudo apt-key add -
   curl -s -L https://nvidia.github.io/nvidia-docker/$distribution/nvidia-docker.list | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nvidia-docker.list
   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install -y nvidia-docker2

Building the Container

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/your-org/openuav2.git
   cd openuav2

2. Build the image:

   docker build -t openuav:px4-sitl .

Running Containers

1. Start a container:

   bash run_container.sh

2. Access via web browser:

   https://digital-twin-xxxxx.deepgis.org
   

Troubleshooting

Display Issues

1. Check X server logs:

   docker exec CONTAINER_ID cat /var/log/Xorg.1.log

2. Verify GPU access:

   docker exec CONTAINER_ID nvidia-smi

3. Test OpenGL:

   docker exec CONTAINER_ID vglrun glxinfo

Network Issues

1. Check VNC server:

   docker exec CONTAINER_ID netstat -tulpn | grep 590

2. Verify noVNC:

   docker exec CONTAINER_ID netstat -tulpn | grep 40001

Common Problems

1. Black screen: Usually X server or GPU driver issue
2. No 3D acceleration: Check VirtualGL configuration
3. Connection refused: Check port mappings and firewall

Notes:

sudo pkill -f "Xorg :1" sudo Xorg :0 -isolateDevice PCI:82:0:0 -config /etc/X11/xorg.conf -noreset vt1 -e DISPLAY=:1 # For TurboVNC's 2D operations -e VGL_DISPLAY=:0 # For GPU-accelerated 3D rendering

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch
3. Submit a pull request

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file