Three of the thrusters on my BlueROV2 have stopped responding to MAVLink commands sent via a custom pymavlink keyboard control script that was previously functioning without issue. I am looking for guidance on how to systematically isolate whether this failure stems from software signal routing, an issue with the ESC, or a physical hardware fault in the thrusters themselves.
Hi @atanu585,
Sorry to hear about your issue.
- Close any software you have that may be sending control inputs to the vehicle, including your pymavlink script and any control station software (like Cockpit or QGroundControl)
- If you’re unsure if you’ve left some version of your script running in a background process, it may help to restart your computer
- Go to the
Vehicle Setup / PWM Outputspage in BlueOS, click the arm toggle, and gently test each motor- If they all respond then the problem is with your software
- If some of them don’t respond, you’ve either reconfigured the outputs in an invalid way, or you have a hardware issue
- If at least one is responding as expected, try connecting the signal wire of each non-working thruster’s ESC into the working one (one at a time), and drag the slider again
- If it works now, the problem was with your configuration
- If it still doesn’t work your ESC or thruster could be damaged, or they’re not connected to each other
- If there’s a hardware issue, try connecting a known working ESC to the wires of the non-working thruster
- If it works, the problem is the original ESC (or how it’s connected)
- If it still doesn’t work then there’s a problem with the thruster
- Try troubleshooting, and if that doesn’t help report a product problem
Hi @atanu585 -
Also worth verifying those problematic thrusters easily turn by hand (with the system off for safety.) if they don’t, that is the root cause!
Hi @EliotBR ,
Thank you for your response. I tested the Vehicle Setup page and found that it shows only 6 motors while there are 8 propellers in the ROV. Does that mean the ESC is not receiving any signal from those two motors? Rest of the motors are responding
Hi @atanu585 -
That actually means your vehicle is not configured correctly! You should be able to load the default “heavy” parameters for an 8 thruster vehicle on the vehicle setup page, with the system connected to WiFI with internet (via icon in the upper right. ) This should resolve your issue!
The remaining question is how your frame type got set to a standard ROV if it was previously working as a Heavy! Are you setting up a new vehicle?
Hi @tony-white ,
Thank you for your response. I am not sure how did that happen since it was not up my me. I did load the heavy parameters still those motors are not responding and their status is shown in the image attached
Hi @atanu585 -
The percentage there definitely looks a little funny. Have you restarted the autopilot or the vehicle since making the change?
What pwm value for this motor outputs appears on the right side of the page?
You haven’t specified what version of BlueOS you’re running- it’s a good idea to update to the latest stable, currently 1.4.3 but 1.4.4 release is coming very soon!
Hi @tony-white ,
When I reconnected the ROV, the outputs of all the motors look good and they are responding as well.
Currently the BlueOS version which is running is 1.5.0-beta.33.
Nice, glad you got that working! Note that you should probably only be running beta versions if you need a specific feature they provide- they are not stable and dependable like the stable release. If you must run beta, run 1.4.4…
Do I need to change the Blue OS version or the Firmware version?
Hi @atanu585 -
The latest stable BlueOS is 1.4.3, with 1.4.4 about to be released. The latest stable ArduSub is 4.7, but this juuuust came out, so you may want to stick with 4.5.7