What's this?

Ardupilot - open-source autopilot for unmanned vehicles (drones, planes, boats, you tell me)

SITL - software in the loop - a simulator for ardupilot

SITL was a PITA to work with, when you have 0 experience with ardupilot, so I've made a docker image and a python helper script to make the whole procedure a bit easier for newcomers.

Usage

sitl.py script

The script is documented, so I'll just post the output of ./sitl.py --help here:

usage: sitl.py [-h] [-m] [-c] -v VEHICLE [-l LOCATION]

SITL Runner

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -m, --map             Show the map window
  -c, --console         Show the console window
  -v VEHICLE, --vehicle VEHICLE
                        Choose vehicle (ArduPlane or ArduCopter)
  -l LOCATION, --location LOCATION
                        Select location (Legnica by default)

Manually, through docker

Just use docker-compose from here

Or if you HAVE to use just docker, here's your long boi:

docker run -it --net=host --env="DISPLAY" --volume="$HOME/.Xauthority:/home/akl/.Xauthority:rw" wnt3rmute/ardupilot-sitl ./sim_vehicle.py -L Ballarat --console --map -v ArduCopter -N

How this works

GUI works through sharing the .Xauthority file (see tutorials on how to use host's X from inside Docker. Wayland works through XWayland (last time that I checked).