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node-mavlink

node-mavlink is a library for parsing and packing MAVLink 2 messages using TypeScript or, when transpiled, using JavaScript in NodeJS. This project is an typed alternative for node-mavlink with the additional support of MAVLink2, char strings and arrays.

Limitations

At this point, not supported are:

• message signing

Installation

The module is published on npm. Install using:

npm install @heotaein/node-mavlink --save

Usage

Generating dialect files

To be able to use this module, the MAVLink message definitions need to be parsed using a modified pymavlink, which creates the TypeScript classes. Using the command-line interface, the classes can be generated using

git clone https://github.com/trygve55/pymavlink
cd pymavlink
python3 -m venv .   # Optional, sets up a virtual environment. 
source bin/activate # Optional
pip install future
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mavlink/mavlink/master/message_definitions/v1.0/minimal.xml
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mavlink/mavlink/master/message_definitions/v1.0/common.xml
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mavlink/mavlink/master/message_definitions/v1.0/ardupilotmega.xml # Only run if you need the ardupilotmega dialect.  
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mavlink/mavlink/master/message_definitions/v1.0/uAvionix.xml      # Only run if you need the ardupilotmega dialect.
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mavlink/mavlink/master/message_definitions/v1.0/icarous.xml       # Only run if you need the ardupilotmega dialect.
mkdir ./assets
python tools/mavgen.py -o ./assets --lang TypeScript --wire-protocol 2.0 <message_definition.xml>

which will produce all needed TypeScript files in a folder called assets. Instead of <message_definition.xml> you will probably use common.xml. Together with the all messages (classes directory) and enums (enums directory), a file messageRegistry.ts is created, which provides an array holding all message IDs and the respective constructor.

Pure JavaScript

If you want to use the library with pure JavaScript, you need to transpile the generated files. You can install the transpiler with:

npm i typescript --save-dev

Then run within the assets directory

tsc

to start the process.

Examples

TypeScript

import {MAVLinkModule, MAVLinkMessage} from '@heotaein/node-mavlink';  
import {messageRegistry} from './assets/message-registry';  
  
import Serialport from 'serialport';  
  
const mavLink = new MAVLinkModule(messageRegistry);  
const serialPort = new Serialport('COM4', {  
    baudRate: 57600  
});  
  
serialPort.on('data', function (data: Buffer) {  
    mavLink.parse(data);  
});  
  
mavLink.on('error', function (e: Error) {  
    // event listener for node-mavlink ALL error message  
 //console.log(e);
});  
  
mavLink.on('message', function (message: MAVLinkMessage) {  
    // event listener for all messages  
  console.log(message);  
});  
  
mavLink.on('COMMAND_LONG', function (bytes: Buffer) {  
    console.log('Sending COMMAND_LONG to PX4');  
  serialPort.write(bytes);  
});  
  
mavLink.on('HIGHRES_IMU', function (message: MAVLinkMessage) {  
    // event listener for HIGHRES_IMU message  
  console.log(message);  
});

JavaScript

var SerialPort = require('serialport');  
var messageRegistry = require('.assets/messageRegistry');  
var mavLink = require('@ifrunistuttgart/node-mavlink')(messageRegistry);  
  
var serialPort = new SerialPort('COM4', {  
    baudRate: 57600  
});  
  
serialPort.on('data', function (data) {  
    mavLink.parse(data);  
});  
  
mavLink.on('error', function (e) {  
    //console.log(e);  
});  
  
mavLink.on('message', function (message) {  
    // event listener for all messages  
  console.log(message);  
});  
  
mavLink.on('COMMAND_LONG', function (bytes) {  
    console.log('Sending COMMAND_LONG to PX4');  
  serialPort.write(bytes);  
});  
  
mavLink.on('HIGHRES_IMU', function (message) {  
    // event listener for HIGHRES_IMU message  
  console.log(message);  
});

License

node-mavlink is released under the GNU Lesser General Public License v3 or later.