We are so so so pumped to announce a new initiative we’re launching today, with the release of the Water Linked DVL A50 on our store! It’s called The Reef and it’s a curated collection of products from some of the most innovative companies in the industry that will take your marine robotics efforts to the next level!
We’ve been working with our friends at Water Linked for a while now and we are excited to embark on this new journey with these acoustic magicians by our side.
So, what is DVL anyway? Well, it stands for Doppler velocity logger, and it provides the accurate measurements needed for position holding and autonomous navigation capabilities for the BlueROV2 (+ other vehicles!) We’ve taken the super innovative A50 and added a few things (like a WetLink Penetrator and a bracket) and we’ve made a BlueOS extension to make integration with the BlueROV2 easy peasy!!!
Check out the launch video below plus the product page for all the DVL details
We’ll be releasing more products on the Reef in the near future - our peers in the industry are doing some seriously rad stuff out there and we can’t wait to see how our community expands with each new partnership! Oh and PS - we made some new swag too
I was wondering how it would be possible to update software on dvl site. For instance recently waterlinked released 2.4.0. My question is do I need to update the dvl itself and the blueos, or it’s enough to update the dvl?
To my understanding you are using docker which can be installed via the web gui and it’s runs on the boot, but is there any dependencies between extension and the dvl, i.e. would I face with any incompatibility/incompleteness issues with feature which has been added/updated/removed?
Also 2nd question, in the future are we going to expect any updates on the firmware/software part from you or from the waterlink
Thank you.
The Water Linked documentation says it’s possible to update through the DVL’s web interface, which the BlueOS extension exposes, so if I’m understanding correctly then as long as you’ve got an internet connection it should be possible to update the DVL firmware through the extension.
The protocol documentation indicates that API changes should be backwards compatible unless there is a major change of the version number, so if your DVL is currently on firmware version 2.a.b and you want to update it to a 2.x.y then doing so should not cause any issues with the BlueOS extension.
That said, firmware updates generally to provide new features, and if and when that occurs those new features may not be supported by your installed BlueOS extension version.
The DVL firmware is entirely managed by Water Linked, as it is their device (we just happen to be selling them in a form that’s convenient for integration into our vehicles).
The BlueOS Water Linked DVL extension is currently maintained by Blue Robotics, and the source code is in a Blue Robotics repository, but it’s likely ownership and maintenance of that will get transferred to Water Linked at some point in future.
This is exciting news and it gives us the confidence to consider using the technology. I can’t wait to share my own experiences with the new capability.
Thank you for your answers,
I would like to clearify few things regarding the auto/mission setup using dvl.
Do I need usbl or any other underwater gps system to make Guided mode or auto mode working? Can I use those modes using A50 DVL, if so, what is specific parameter configuration I need to do in my blueos? As right now, I got only errors that guided mode is not supported.
