In the RotorS simulator, we can prepare a demo environment with a power plant and a waypoint publisher to experiment with different planning algorithms. A file with the Octree representation of a demo environment including the power plant can be found in the rotors_gazebo/resources folder and can be used with the octomap_server package. The Octree representation allows for efficient collision checking in the planner and is applicable for 3D environments.

The following command will execute our experimental setup: 

$ roslaunch rotors_gazebo mav_powerplant_with_waypoint_publisher.launch  

Following is the output:

ROS also provides a large collection of planning algorithms in the MoveIt! package, which was discussed in Chapter 8, Robotic Arm in ROS. These can also be configured to perform 3D path planning in a static environment and control the MAV.