Blueboat link with a SIYI MK 32/HM30 - has anyone tried this?

Blue Robotics Vehicles BlueBoat
1

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice from anyone who has experience integrating SIYI systems (MK32/HM30, MK15, etc.) with a BlueBoat running BlueOS. E.g.: SIYI MK32 Enterprise Handheld Ground Station Smart Controller with 7 Inch HD High Brightness LCD Touchscreen Dual Full HD Digital Image Transmission 4G RAM 64G ROM Android OS for UAV UGV USV 15KM Range CE FCC

My goal is to move away from carrying a laptop+base station and instead use a dedicated handheld controller for day-to-day operations.

For context, typically, I don’t operate offshore. Most of my work is on inland lakes and rivers, often in areas with many obstacles, vegetation, narrow passages and limited access. Because of this, compactness is very important—I’d really like to avoid carrying a laptop and instead have everything I need in a single handheld controller. Manual control is also important, as I frequently need to maneuver precisely around obstacles rather than relying solely on autonomous missions.

I’m not looking for extreme range. A reliable 1–2 km communication link would be enough if it allows me to operate manually, run missions, and access BlueOS when needed.

Ideally, I would like to:

  • Control the boat manually using the controller.
  • Run QGroundControl on the controller for mission planning and autonomous missions.
  • Access the BlueOS web interface directly from the controller’s browser (to configure payloads, check system status, etc.).
  • Iif possible, forward NTRIP corrections from the controller (connected to my phone’s hotspot) to the boat.

From what I’ve found, the HM30 air unit appears to support Ethernet/network communication in addition to MAVLink, but I haven’t found a real-world example where someone accesses BlueOS over the HM30 link.

So my questions are:

  1. Has anyone successfully integrated a SIYI MK32/MK15 (HM30) with BlueBoat and BlueOS?
  2. Does the HM30 provide a transparent enough IP connection for normal BlueOS operation (browser, extensions, SSH, etc.), or is it limited to MAVLink/video?
  3. Is Internet sharing from the controller to the onboard Raspberry Pi possible (for example, to provide NTRIP corrections)?
  4. What real-world communication range are you seeing over water with the standard HM30 antennas mounted on a BlueBoat?

Perhaps it is a overkill, and a 4G modem onboard is sufficient. If the latency is low enough for confident manual maneuvering, maybe that’s the more practical solution for most of the cases. However, I’d prefer not to depend on cellular coverage. I often work in remote inland locations where coverage can be unreliable or unavailable, so having a communication system that works independently is a major advantage for me.

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has tried this setup—or has gone down a similar path with BlueBoat. Any real-world experience, recommendations, or alternative approaches would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

2

Hi @konrads -

Most of your questions seem better suited to the vendor of that hardware… We’ve tested similar devices but not had great results. You can run some versions of QGC on Android, which it seems this unit runs. It may also be possible to use Cockpit lite in the Chrome browser on the unit. Getting the kind of extreme range you’re after seems unlikely to be possible, as that is likely achieved with a telemetry radio rather than data (Wi-Fi). If you modified your BlueBoat to use arn rc radio to control at extreme range, but this would be absent feedback to the GCS on vehicle position or state.

A steam deck with cellular modem and local hotspot, and the antenna mast and directional antenna (yagi) you should be able to achieve 1km, and with enough made station height even 2km at low data rate is possible. I routinely run at 600-800m with the flat panel directional and antenna mast, with a connection sufficient for 2Mbps video. I typically have my phone connected via zerotier and cellular data for backup control should Wi-Fi disconnect.

We’ve not worked with Android much, so I’m not sure if sharing network connectivity between adapters is possible! I’ve had no problems doing this on Mac OS

I hope someone else in the community may have some experience with these types of devices to share!

3

Hi,

I builded a blueboat with a siyi mk15 and a pixhawk. This work fine. You can change the ip address of the siyi setup to match the blueOs ecosystem snd then avcess all features in the mk15 browser. Pretty sure you can reproduce this with a navigator instead of the pixhawk.

You then have access to the siyi camera’s product and a descent range of wireless communication.

C.