To give a quick update, i decided to go with the RTK3compass as I need accurate heading.
I was interested in the RTK2bheading but it won’t work easily with the cerulean surveyor for anyone wanting to do the same. The Surveyor needs heading in NMEA0183 or NMEA2000. Here is the answer I got from Ardusimple when asked about the rtk2bheading :
Also, for the antennas I will use 2 Ardusimple mini survey antenna : https://www.ardusimple.com/product/mini-survey-tripleband-gnss-antenna-ip66/
They use a 2.5m pigtail cable with TNC to SMA connector. Now i wonder how to route them inside the hull using Wetlink connectors ?
This will require the SMA connector of the antenna cable to be cut to pass through the hull as only the cable itself will fit. Is there a way to do this and then be able to connect to the boards ? Should i look for another cable ?
I’d love to hear your suggestions on how to use the Wetlink penetrator, I guess there is the same issue with the holybro rtk system.
Hi @renanm -
When installing the holybro system, I kept the antennas inside the BlueBoat to avoid having to re–terminate the coax! I mounted under the deck on the stern on starboard side, and under the deck on bow on the port.
Hi @tony-white ,
I just tested my new BlueBoat with the Cerulean Surveyor and ran into an issue, it seems like sonarview isn’t receiving position and heading information from the system. So far the GPS and compass are the stock ones (waiting to receive the holybro mosaic solution). What did I miss in the configuration? It works beautifully with the ping2…
Also, any update on the Blue Robotics RTK solution?
Hi @Patrik -
Welcome to the forums!
Congrats on your new system! The setup of SonarView can be a bit tricky - you must create a session, and add not only your multibeam, but the vehicle so that GPS and heading data can be pulled in from the autopilot. Please review the documentation.
Development on the RTK kit for the BlueBoat is actually paused for a brief moment (lots of new options came out!), but should be resuming soon!
Hi @tony-white,
Thank you for your kind advice. I read the documentation again, created a new session with the Surveyor and the BlueBoat but still haven’t had any luck in regards to heading and position data from the autopilot.
(Also restarted, reinstalled, configured windows defender and tested with the Ping2 disconnected)
The MAVLink Inspector shows a steady stream of position data in the GLOBAL_POSITION_INT, and everything else works well.
Hi again @tony-white,
I got some good news and a new challenge. SonarView is working!
I also just managed to get my BlueBoat to accept NTRIP corrections via MAVProxy with the HolyBro H-RTK Mosaic with dual antennas. However, as soon as I got the Link in MAVProxy to work (0.0.0.0:14550) I was no longer able to connect to Qgroundcontrol. Did MAVProxy steal the connection? If so, what can I do to create a new connection with QGC? I’m connecting to the BlueBoat via ZeroTier and already tested creating a new mavlink endpoint with my computers zerotier ip. Was also trying to make a new Comm Link in QGC without any luck. After a computer restart QGC connected as it is supposed to, but now I can’t get my Link in MAVProxy to work… I would guess that a new connection should do the trick, but so far I haven’t been able to figure it out.
Grateful for any and all advice on the matter!
Thank you!
/Patrik
UPDATE: Managed to get it to work, a few hours of sleep was all that was required (and adding a mavlink enpoint udp client for mavproxy with the same port as a udp server with ip 0.0.0.0).
/Patrik
I’m afraid we don’t have that information - we only tested that unit initially, and preferred the holybro unit as it was much easier to setup. I believe configuring it via Mission Planner software is required (which we’re not huge fans of) - we did receive support from the vendor but never had a lot of confidence in the result…
Thanks Tony! Figured I would check. We got it figured out late into the evening on Friday. I wanted an external antenna that would feed GPS to 2 different autopilots on a single USV. We are working on a remote sediment sampling USV, so we are using the Navigator for general propulsion, and a pixhawk orange to run an omni-boat configuration for precise position hold while sediment coring with no anchor lines. Got the single GNSS board to send data to both autopilots.
Hi @tony-white Is there any news on RTK offering? We are rapidly testing our new blueboat and planning upgrades. RTK is one of the first tasks. If you are working on solution and it is coming soon, then perhaps we should wait for it instead of creating our own solution
Regards.
Hi I have been testing the H-RTK um982 on a different boat, and it looks to be doing well. My local issues are a significant metalwork lining of my test pond, which any of the compasses doesn’t seem to enjoy! The H-RTK with a base station, doesn’t seem bothered about it!
So the question is, how are the Blue Robotics developments going with RTK?
Alternatively how can the H-RTK be integrated to the BlueBoat? (Without too much “drama!”?
Blue Robotics development has been a bit stalled - Holybro, who makes that H-RTK unit, have been out of stock of all components and wrestling with supply chain / tariff issues of there own.
That hardware is a bit cheaper than what we’ve been evaluating, but should offer good performance. It would be a bit of a pain to integrate on a BlueBoat, as you’d need to run the antennas from outside to inside the hull, through a drilled out WetLink Penetrator, and then re-terminate the co-ax connectors. Our approach was focused on using the dual antennas mounted below the deck on each hull, and cabling to the autopilot from there requires no waterproofing - gotta love the cross-tube!
From a software standpoint, that H-RTK unit should be fairly plug and play - just need to link the comm port the device is connected to the Autopilot (on Autopilot Firmware page) and configure that Serial# channel for GPS, per the BlueBoat FAQ as noted earlier in the thread.
Many thanks. I will hold fire and wait a bit for the “announcements “ of the in house rtk system. I am trying not to go to far off track, to ensure a standard BlueBoat configuration.
(However I will be playing with the side BR scan installation in the coming days. Looking forward to that!)
did this go anywhere ? I bought one but cant get it to communicate with Navigator. Is there any set up we must do on the unit its self to get it to work. The documentation I find is vague and inconsistent.
Hi @vantitech -
We’re still simmering on RTK GPS - what hardware did you purchase? How have you connected it to the system? Sharing pictures and what documentation you’re trying to follow would be helpful. My own testing connected the units via USB, and was fairly straightforward to configure ArduRover to communicate with them.
Remember, the Navigator hat doesn’t actually have any “brain” to communicate with - it just runs peripherals the autopilot process on the Pi uses!
