Hi @banergy -
Yes, this is possible, but requires some configuration on each unit. It has been discussed on the forums before, even in guide form. . Support on the ArduPilot forums may be more familiar with general considerations…
Each vehicle will need
- IP address changed - avoid .2.3, .2.4, and .2.10
- Parameter changed for vehicle ID - MAV_SYSID for ArduRover, SYSID_THISMAV for ArduSub
- Mavlink Endpoint set appropriately
Only QGround Control supports multiple vehicle connections, and we’ve only tested multiple BlueBoats - not ROVs. I’d think using QGC for the boats, and Cockpit for one ROV would be the best approach. You select the vehicle to be controlled, and others only respond if configured to do so via follow-me parameters.
ArduRover has follow-me mode that can make coordinating the movement of multiple vehicles easier - this is how we filmed the blue boat color hull launch video!
Bandwidth is going to be the limiting factor - if using only BlueBoats without cameras, I’d imagine you could connect dozens to the same WiFi AP from the BaseStation. As long as all units are in range of it, things should work well! Note that the MikroTik radios do not support mesh networking…
Having an ROV on the same system could consume a lot of bandwidth - but tethering ROVs to BlueBoats has never made much sense to me. Assuming it is connected to the same computer that the BaseStation is, via FXTI, then bandwidth should not be much of a concern - just the “horespower” of the control computer being used!
More than one Fathom-X can be connected to the same twisted pair, so you could have two ROVs connected to the same FXTI - however the bandwidth available does not increase with multiple tether communications modules sharing the bus…