I wanted to ask how I could do one thing. And forgive me if there is any similar question.
Since we are using the Blue Boat in an area where 4G coverage is sometimes not very good, depending on which area of the construction site it moves… I wanted to add control using an RC transmitter, for example, a FlySky transmitter. My doubts are the following:
How do I wire the receiving device in the navigator?
I want to work normally with my 4G modem, but when there is a coverage problem, immediately take the remote and act manually. Can I change the mode (AUTO, MANUAL, HOLD…) with the remote?
What range do these remotes usually have?
The receiver that has 2 antennas like the ones seen in the picture, do I have to put the antennas outside or can I put the entire device inside the black box on the starboard side?
For these receivers, could I change the antenna they carry to wire the receiver to the antenna that goes over the starboard skid of the BlueBoat? In this case, to avoid damaging the BlueBoat’s radio module, I just have to disconnect the power, right?
You can use any transmitter/receiver combo that supports sbus - you may need to modify the Navigator depending on the type of SBUS signal - see this.
You’ll wire the Receiver to 5V power (from fuse block V2 terminals), and connect ground and signal to the Navigator.
Yes, you can change modes via the radio transmitter in parallel with the normal 4G or WiFi connection.
We’ve not conducted much testing with these types of transmitters - if using a 2.4Ghz one, the range is likely to be only slightly better - the improvements from using a channel for just carrying radio signals and not tcp/ip packets are mitigated by the poorer quality of the receiving antenna. If using a 900mhz transmitter, you may see a bit better range.
Putting the receiver inside the BlueBoat hull is your best bet - secured under the deck as high as possible off the water.
Blue Robotics doesn’t have any recommendations beyond units that support SBUS!
Connecting the Receiver’s antenna to the default Mikrotik WiFi radio antenna is not likely to be possible. Disabling the Mikrotik is not advised, as a 4G connection isn’t always great for connecting to BlueOS? You are correct- avoid powering the Mikrotik radio with no antenna connected, as this can damage it.
If 4G coverage isn’t great in your area, improving WiFi range with the antenna mast and a directional antenna can have dramatic results…
I imagine that later, from the controller, I will have to configure it so that when I move such lever it has to send the signal over channel X, because there is only one signal pin on the navigator, right?
I hope that with a controller like this it will be enough, we are no more than 300 meters from the point that the Blue Boat gets farthest.
SBUS protocol sends the axis and all switches with a communication protocol using a single wire! You should be able to configure a switch to control modes - this may be easier with QGround Control than Cockpit…
300m should be no issue for the standard WiFi radio - especially with the flat-panel directional antenna, which can easily do 500m line of sight, and with the antenna mast, close to 1km! That seems a preferrable solution to a setting up a whole different controller…
I just wanted to throw it out there, because I went down this path too. The RC controller in the picture is some pretty old tech. Something with ELRS seems to be the norm now, and is used by most drones. You can get ~10km from 2.5 GHz, and 900 MHz can go even further. Though you’d need a tall antenna for this.
I didn’t know the navigator could work with this kind of input. Could this go the other way, and could I set up the cellular modem to go between my AUV and computer? I’d like to be able to leave the beach while this is in the water.
The communication is not compatible with a cellular modem - the RC receiver is just sending control inputs via the SBUS protocol- while this is technically a bit like UART serial, it is low baud compared to the cellular data rates, and not bidirectional (as far as I know!)
You could tow a cellular modem (or WiFi) in a surface buoy to maintain contact with your AUV! This would be fairly straightforward to accomplish, but of course is a big efficiency / generally different application direction than you may be pursuing.
