About a week ago, I had a dense algae mat get caught in one of my BlueBoat’s propellers, which ended up damaging the motor. I have three BlueBoats, so I removed the damaged thruster and replaced it with one from another unit.
To be precise, I took the motor and propeller from the same side of the donor boat as the one that failed, and installed it on the affected boat.
Since the swap, I’ve been running into major issues during auto missions in QGroundControl. Despite extensive testing, I can’t get the boat to function properly in auto mode:
In QGroundControl > Vehicle Setup > Actuators, the motors respond correctly when tested with the sliders — each is on the correct channel and spinning in the right direction.
I verified and adjusted motor direction in BlueOS, reversing as needed.
Despite this, in the water, auto missions result in the boat driving in reverse or snaking unpredictably.
Switching to manual mode results in altered RC behavior: thrust is no longer on the thrust stick, and stick mappings appear off.
I’ve spent hours every day for nearly two weeks trying to debug this and would greatly appreciate any insight or suggestions. Is it possible something reset or mismapped during the motor swap that isn’t obvious through the UI?
Hi @kenbyrrrd -
Sorry to hear of the issue. Can you share how the original motor was damaged? A broken prop is easy to replace, did something else happen to it?
It sounds like your motor direction, once the prop was swapped, isn’t set correctly. With the vehicle armed and in manual mode, when you push forward on the joystick do both props spin with the blade going up in the middle? I’m a bit confused that you checked direction in QGround Control, and then checked in BlueOS and made reversals only in the latter? Was QGround Control closed when interacting with BlueOS vehicle setup page?
If the vehicle drives as expected in Manual mode, but goes a bit crazy in Auto, you may have swapped the connections from the ESCs to the Navigator? Generally if it doesn’t drive as expected in Manual mode, something isn’t connected correctly or spinning in the correct direction - are the props marked both LH and RH? Can you elaborate on
“stick mappings appear off” ?
Can you share a .BIN log file from when the behavior happened, as well as what version of ArduRover and BlueOS you’re running? This can be found under Autopilot Firmware, and in the lower left of BlueOS, respectively.
Please don’t beat your head against a wall for weeks - never hesitate to reach out here on the forums or via our contact form.
Thanks for the response. I do want to say, up until now everything has been great when working with the BlueBoat!
I have attached a picture here showing what happened to the prop/motor. Basivally, it got clogged while on an auto mission and couldnt spin. When the clog was removed, it still would not spin. We took it apart and there was no debris in the motor, so I assumed we just ruined it.
For prop direction, I used the image you have attached when testing. Both props spin correctly. I checked qgroundcontrol initially, by using the slider bars in the BlueBoat setup documentation. There is a command in qgroundcontrol for reversing the motor direction. When I change this, then reset the vehicle, it does not actually change the prop direction. I then tried changing prop direction via BlueOS, which worked. We then checked with the controller (thrust forward and directional movement) and everything worked great. We then tested it on auto in a pond, and the boat was driving in reverse in a circular pattern. We then changed back to manual mode, and thrust/directional movement were no longer mapped to the same sticks. I do believe qgroundcontrol was closed when in BlueOS. I can check the ESCs and LH/RH marking tomorrow for you.
The “stick mappings appear off” comes from sliders 3 & 4 in qgroundcontrol should control the motors. This was no longer the case when testing. Furthermore, in BlueOS it seems the servo command to control the motors (when trying to reverse the direction) were wrong.
I can provide the BIN and firmware versions tomorrow along with the other information.
Again, it has been a great experience thus far and I know I am simply missing something.
Hi @kenbyrrrd -
Wow, I haven’t seen our weedless props defeated before!
If you disassemble the rotor and remove any debris, that motor should be just fine…although it looks like the prop blades themselves may have broken off? Simply remove the shaft collar at the back of the motor to pull off the entire motor rotor.
The motors not moving with sliders 3&4 is cause for concern - can you confirm the black and white ESC signal wires are connected to the correct channels of the Navigator?
By “servo command” in BlueOS do you mean the PWM Outputs page sliders?
I sent your message to some guys at the facility. One of the blueboats were assembled incorrectly, so when we took the “correct motor off” it was in fact the wrong one - per your LH RH comment. I think us getting into the settings made everything worse.
Completely on us but I am very thankful for your response and direction. We will field test tomorrow and I will update if everything is back in order.
