Pixhawk and it's need

Blue Robotics Products Flight Controllers
1

Is there a need(necessity) to use a pixhawk while making an rov and what exactly does it do?

2

The Pixhawk is the brains in our ROV. The Pixhawk creates the signals to spin the motors, it takes measurements from pressure sensors, orientation sensors, and temperature sensors and sends that information back to the surface. It also uses the measurements from those sensors to stabilize the ROV, so that the ROV can automatically control it’s heading and depth.

It is not absolutely necessary to use a Pixhawk to build an ROV, but using a Pixhawk will mean that you have a lot less work to do. You can also build an ROV with no automatic functions or sensors like the SeaPerch ROV. If you want a simple ROV like that, then you don’t need a Pixhawk.

3

I’m building an rov as my project being a student and i don’t think just assembling the parts together will do the job. I just need to know if it’s okay not to use the pixhawk and just configure the rov with the pi and some additional hardware. Plus could you please help me understand what an tether interface does, how to use it(in accordance with using the pi) and which one to buy from the list that your website offer’s. That would be appreciated. Thanks

4

The tether interface extends the maximum tether length between the computer in the ROV and the computer at the surface. Connecting an arduino serial port normally will only work for maybe 20 feet of wire. If you use the Fathom S serial interface it can work through hundreds of meters. The Fathom X is used for Ethernet communications instead of serial communications.

5

See also: Hardware Components | ardusub-gitbook

6

That answers almost all my queries. The question still being, is it ok not to use the pixhawk, it’s ok if i don’t use the tether interface as long as I’m not going long distance (because I’m initially working on a prototype and it doesn’t need to cover insane distance), plus and I’m sorry for asking it now and for so many questions is there an alternative to using a battery (battery+charger) that doesn’t cost an insane amount? Appreciate your concern.