I hope this email finds you well. We recently purchased Blue Robotics components for an underwater robot project. It includes navigator, thruster, enclosers, and other essential parts. Currently, we are developing a single-thruster underwater glider and have encountered an issue during the setup and we hope you can help us.
We have set up the Navigator and Raspberry Pi, configured BlueOS via Ethernet, and attempted to control a servo motor using an FrSky transmitter paired with a receiver connected to the Navigator. We were trying to actuate the servo in 1st channel of the receiver. An external 5V supply is provided to the AUX pin, configured the ArduPilot parameters (Servo1_function = RC1N, Servo1_Max = 2500, Servo1_Min = 500, Servo1_trim = 1500) and the servo connected to PWM Channel 1 does not respond to transmitter input after arming the setup in BlueOS. Though the servo works fine if directly connected to the receiver but not using the Navigator.
We had also setup the transmitter directly via USB to the PC—Cockpit, to check the joystick input, but the servo remains inactive even after setting the axis as RC Channel 1. We have gone through these articles from your website during the setup.
Are there any alternative methods to resolve this issue? Is the because of signal-mapping or incorrect setup ? Additionally, we are exploring using VS Code and Jupyter Notebook extensions—could these tools help map the signals effectively?
Your prompt guidance would greatly help us move forward with our project. Thank you for your time.
About the direct connection to the RC, and Navigator setup, @williangalvani will be more of a help than me.
About the Cockpit side of things, you’re connecting your RC Transmitter to your computer via USB, right? If so, can you access this website and take a screenshot of the screen? Also try moving your sticks and using the buttons to see if everything works as expected.
In Cockpit, is the joystick icon in the top-right corner turning white when you connect the joystick? You just need to click a button or move a stick after opening Cockpit for it to light up.
Can you add a couple of Plotter widgets in Cockpit, and set them to RC_CHANNELS.chan1_raw and SERVO_OUTPUT_RAW.servo1_raw? That should allow you to see the input the Navigator is receiving (e.g. whether your communication hardware is working and set up correctly), and the pulse durations it is trying to output to the ESC (e.g. whether the autopilot is configured as you want it to be).
I believe arming only affects MotorN values for the servo output functions, so this shouldn’t be relevant - all other output types are active at all times.
By the way, I am curious how this is connected, and whether you’re testing it in air or water.
