robot_pose_ekf on a quadcopter
I'm working on a controller for a quadcopter. Currently I have 9-DOF IMU data and localization data (just x-y-z). The onboard controller already has an algorithm (DCM) for calculating orientation. However the localization operates at a max frequency of 4Hz or so. Would the robot_pose_ekf package be suitable for fusing the IMU data with this on a quadcopter platform? I performed a brief literature search and it doesn't appear this has been done before with this package, but I have no reason to believe it would not work.
I think it would be best if you described the design problem you're facing in more detail, ie what particular hardware are you using (I'm assuming ArduPilot Mega, right?) and what exactly are you trying to achieve. Would you like to create a quadcopter based SLAM solution, or hold pos indoors? etc
Thanks for the reply Tom. The platform is actually a modified version of AeroQuad (similar in several ways to ArduPilot). For the time being I'm trying to perform position holding indoors. I'm also using the starmac-ros-pkg to provide some of the functionality.
And how exactly is the localization achieved?
Localization is achieved with an indoor ultrasonic-based triangulation system.
You'll definitely have to republish IMU data as an IMU topic. DCM doesn't give you information about measurement uncertainties (error covariance), which might be a problem. I remember once trying to achieve what you're doing, but failed for some reason (don't remember exactly, sorry). Good luck.