Interest in Thruster Layout Similar to QYSEA W6 and FullDepth HAYATE

General Discussion
1

Hi everyone,

I’m interested in a thruster configuration similar to what’s used on the QYSEA W6 and FullDepth HAYATE – where six thrusters are aligned horizontally, three on each side of the ROV in a straight line.

Examples:

I’ve had the chance to use the W6 before, and I was very impressed with its excellent linear tracking performance and high-speed capability. The layout seems to provide efficient forward/backward movement with good stability.

My questions:

  1. Is it possible to achieve this thruster layout using BlueROV2 or other Blue Robotics-compatible frames?
  2. Are there any frame designs or software updates planned to support this configuration?
  3. If not officially supported, would it be possible to customize an existing frame and modify BlueOS/ArduSub to accommodate this kind of setup?

Any advice, insight, or experience with similar modifications would be greatly appreciated!

2

Hi @Itaru -
That is a cool layout or sure! The BlueROV2 frame does not support mounting the thrusters in those orientations, you’d likely need to engineer an entirely new frame or some means of adapting the current.
When it comes to the software side of things, you should simply be able to tweak ArduSub to have the correct thruster matrix - after compiling and flashing this customized version of ArduSub, your custom frame type will work as expected! The trickiest part will be determining the correct contributions of each thruster based on the orientation, and compiling ArduSub within an environment. Let us know if you get stuck on this! It’s a topic that has come up many times on the forums, so feel free to review what others have experienced!