Sensor Intergration

Hey,

I am currently working on integrating additional sensors into our BlueRov2.
Ideally the goal would be to use the ROV as a research platform we could “plug and play” any sensor required for the mission.
I am a relatively new to this and am still trying to find the best way to go about it, although I have found some suggestions using the I2C on the pixhawk as the main interface.

I appreciate this is quite a broad and complex topic but can anyone give me some advice on the best method for additional sensor integration which will allow us to

  • log data
  • use the data for autonomous feedback control

Thanks!

@owenr Great! This is functionality that we are actively developing and improving on. You mentioned I2C, but it really depends on what communication interface the sensor uses. You have two options for where to handle the sensor on the BlueROV2: the Raspberry Pi or the Pixhawk.

It can be easier to get going by writing a program to read the sensor on the raspberry pi and communicate the data to the Pixhawk, but if you need the data in the Pixhawk for feedback control, it might make more sense to read the data on the Pixhawk. I think the decision here depends on the type of information the sensor provides.

Logging can be performed on the Pi or the Pixhawk. If you don’t want to use the tools available for processing logs on the Pixhawk, then you should probably read the sensor with the Pi and make your own log format to save to the Pi SD card.

I think we will have this some day, for now can you tell us which sensors you have in mind, and where you want to start?

-Jacob

We have Cyclops 7 analogue turbidity sensor which we already have working separately through an Arduino data logger. I think we would like to go down the rout of integrating it onto the raspberry pi.

http://www.turnerdesigns.com/t2/doc/brochures/S-0060.pdf

Thanks for your help,

Owen

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