Hi, the thruster we bought working on the rs-485 principle, but want to integrate BlueOS also, if we made a customized gui or application is that possible to add as an extension in BlueOS, the pi board handling the rs-485 communication and navigator is on the top of pi, we bought the complete set up from bluerobotics but thruster will work only on rs-485 protocol, is there any chance for blueoS integration with our thruster?
Hi @sree
Welcome to the forums!
Getting an RS-485 controlled thruster working with ArduSub is going to be a bit tricky… The simplest way may be to program a microcontroller to translate the servo-style pwm signal from the Navigator to the format of command via RS-485.
You could also try using a BluArt, and develop code on the Pi to query the throttle value from Mavlink2Rest, and send the corresponding throttle signals via this RS485 output(s).
Both solutions will require custom code and additional hardware - the first option seems easier to me!
Hi @sree, welcome to the forums! 
Are you specifically wanting BlueOS to control your thrusters, or are you intending to have it integrated/controlled by an ArduPilot autopilot? From some searching in the ArduPilot documentation it seems there is already support for Torqueedo motors (in ArduRover), which communicate using RS-485, so if you’re willing to do some software development then you could presumably add support for the relevant messages for your thrusters as a motor driver option in ArduPilot.
If you don’t care about the autopilot controlling your thrusters, or are willing to dedicate one of the Navigator outputs per thruster for a proxying approach (so you can read the autopilot’s intended output via SERVO_OUTPUT_RAW MAVLink messages, and convert them to relevant messages in your thruster’s RS-485 protocol) then your Extension idea could be viable, although all approaches will still require a logic level converter (as Tony was suggesting).
Hi Tony,
Thank you for your feedback, I will work with the first solution and update the results. Hope you are there for supporting me.
Thank You
Hi Eliot,
Thanks for your feedback , actually we want to use BlueOS for controlling our thrusters, but the thrusters works with rs-485 protocol not with pwm, so currently I face difficulty in integrating them together.
Thank You
Hi @sree -
What Eliot was alluding to was existing RS-485 support in the Ardupilot Autopilot - perhaps this could be modified to support your RS485 devices. This would require updating ArduRover (or ArduSub, if you’re working with an underwater ROV) - not BlueOS! Once you flashed a modified autopilot, your system will know how to communicate with the thrusters, but the faster and easier path still seems to me to be development of some sort of logic type translator microcontroller…