PEP25

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Cube ArduPilot Installation Instructions

Telemetry Radio Manual

 

PEP 2025 Information

Rule book Link

Major Rules

Requirements

Optional 

Deadlines

Scores

Completion Date

Possible Points

Bonus: Mid-Year Review

Feb. 10, 2025

3

White Paper

Mar. 25, 2025

20

Video Presentation

Mar. 25, 2025

20

Demo Video (200m/2 min. Operation)

Apr. 1, 2025

N/A

Race Performance

Apr. 15-17, 2025

60

Bonus (Unmanned): 60 lb payload

Apr. 15-17, 2025

5


Total Possible Points

108

Code

Temperature sensors

CAN ports : https://discuss.ardupilot.org/t/how-to-send-data-from-arduino-to-pixhawk-using-i2c/99814


Temp sensor datasheet : https://www.analog.com/en/products/ds18b20.html 


Applets : https://github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot/tree/master/libraries/AP_Scripting/applets 


Ardupilot forum: https://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-optional-hardware.html 


Temp sensor ardupilot: https://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-temperature-sensor.html 


Pihawks with Raspberry 

https://ardupilot.org/dev/docs/raspberry-pi-via-mavlink.html

Hull Design

Hull Design - General Notes 
---------------------------------

Hull Composition:

The hull of our vessel has to accomplish multiple things in order to be successful. 

  1. Don't sink
  2. Go fast
  3. Fit everything nicely
  4. Don't put us in debt

The first thing it has to do is not sink, as we are designing a surface vessel, not a submarine. The way a ship doesn't sink depends entirely on its hull's ability to resist taking on water during normal use. The way we have chosen to do this with our hull is by creating a composite hull, comprised of the following layers: 

image.png

The second thing the boat hull has to do is go fast. This component is dependent on the electrical and motor teams' abilities to collaborate effectively to deliver an optimal motor for our boat. It is also, however, dependent on the hull team's ability to deliver a hydrodynamic hull. 

The hull team has chosen a catamaran design for our boat. This essentially implies that the hull will have two "pontoons" which are structurally integral to the central, primary cabin (interior, below-deck room of a ship) that houses our electronics box. The basic layout for the boat is below: 

image.png

The two "pontoons" of the boat are on either side of the electrical box, annotated by the yellow lightning bolt. They are spaced as such to prevent the boat from rolling over. The pontoons will also house the 4 batteries (blue boxes) and the payloads (red boxes). 

The third thing a hull has to do is fit everything nicely. Our hull will accomplish this by default; we will dimension it around the necessary components, which are listed below:

Component  Full dimensions Scaled dimensions Weight
Battery (x4) 12 x 9 x 7 inches 3 x 2.25 x 1.75 in undefined
Payload (x2) undefined
 undefined
 30 lbs
Electrical box (x1) 12 x 16 x 8 inches 3 x 4 x 2 in
 undefined

scale: 1/4

The fourth thing the hull has to do is prevent us from going into debt. The way we accomplish this is by using affordable materials, planning our production of the hull, and through testing scale models to avoid wasting excessive material. The production procedure, as it currently stands, is below:

Step
 Procedure
 Purpose
 Status
1 decide on a hull type

to decide on the best course of action for the mission.

 complete
2 prototype the first rudimentary iteration of the hull to allow the team members to make decisions on the hull while they are able to comprehend it as a 3d concept complete
3 prototype the next iterations of the hull in CAD  to allow each member to implement their own ideas on hull design; to allow each member to gain 3D CAD experience; to begin the process of figuring out the best general shape for the scale design in progress
4 Decide on the best CAD scale prototype for testing purposes to decide which CAD model is the most optimal; to give each member the chance to have their ideas heard and weighed --
5 Print the scale model / panel test to test the effectiveness of 3D-printed hulls; to test the printers and optimize their settings for printing panels out of PETG later on; to provide data for optimizing the thickness and infill of the panels which will be printed later on --
6 Design the skeleton of the real boat in CAD

the skeleton is necessary for the structural integrity of the boat, and for anchoring the panels along bulkheads. 

 --
7 Design the real hull in CAD  this step is necessary for simulations (OPTIONAL); the general shape of the hull will be required before we can break it up into individual panels.  --
8 Break up the CAD design into panels Each panel gets printed individually. We also need to figure out how they will be attached to the skeleton. --
9 Print the panels and 3D geometry This is necessary for assembly of the final boat. --
10 Assembly The final boat needs to be assembled. --
11 Finishing The assembly needs to be finished (plastic welds around electrical box, apply coatings, etc...) --
12 Dry testing

The Dry test is necessary for making sure the electronics won't explode. During dry testing, a single panel should be submerged in water for a few hours to determine the effectiveness of the finishing process on waterproofing the hull panels.

 --
13 Wet testing The Wet test is necessary for determining the performance of the boat in actual water. Leaks should be addressed in this phase, and they should be thoroughly patched. This phase is also necessary for determining if the hydrofoils are go/no-go, and if they need to be adjusted. --
14 Competition :D  --

-------------------------------------------------

Current hull iterations:

Author Iteration
 Image Description
Cai, Dylan, et. al 0

(cardboard model)
  • general catamaran shape
  • included hydrofoil geometry
  • 1/4 scale
Cai 1

image.png
  • pontoons were generated via subtractive manufacturing techniques (he cut the pontoons out of solid rectangular prisms with the extrude-cut tool)
  • Includes an "air-ram" geometry in the front/center which theoretically increases the lift force, aiding the hydrofoils
  • accurate dimensions
Li 1
  • (add your description here, Li)
Dylan 0
  • (add your description here, dingus)
Brooke 0
  • (add your description here, Brooke)
Anyone Else














----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Materials used for final hull:

Material
 Quantity
 Purpose
 Cost $$
PETG Plastic filament undefined All models will be made of PETG. The final boat will use PETG panels for its skin.  undefined
Waterproof Material --> Edits required

Translucent Resin (brand? type?) undefined
 Final layer of boat will be translucent resin. It will act as a sealant. undefined
Hydrofoils (type, brand, material, etc...) --> Edits required

--


--


Notes

11/08/2024

Meeting goals

Get ArduPilot up and running on Cube

Meeting Notes

What was completed?

What is in progress?

What is the goal for the next meeting?

11/12/2024

Meeting goals

Meeting Notes

What was completed?

What is in progress?

What is the goal for the next meeting?

 

11/15/2024

Meeting goals

Meeting Notes

What was completed?

What is in progress?

What is the goal for the next meeting?

 

1/14/2025

Meeting goals

Meeting Notes

What was completed?

What is in progress?

What is the goal for the next meeting?

 


Images

 

Propeller Design Research and Specifications

Date: 9/6/24

Meeting goals

Meeting Notes

LINKS:

https://bblades.com/props-101/#:~:text=Rake%20is%20the%20amount%20of,outboard%20propellers%20is%2015%20degrees. -Propeller 101

https://fliteboard.com/products/flite-air-pro-acai?variant=43220266189000 - eFoil with diff. propellers

https://bit.ly/4e8DVso - Tentative motor

CAESES Video Tutorials › CAESES - Design software

https://web.mit.edu/2.016/www/handouts/2005Reading10.pdf - MIT paper on propellers

Manufacturing

3D-printing for prototype and later have the propeller milled

Propeller design

We were brainstorming about the use of 2 or 3 blades due to the size of the boat.  Depending on the actual power needed to lift the hydrofoil out of the water we could reduce the amount of blades used on a counter rotating prop. Since the efficiency of the counter rotating prop design is more efficient, maybe it is possible to reduce the amount of blades from 6 to 4 on the shaft.

Counter-rotating propellers

What was completed?

What is in progress?

What is the goal for the next meeting?

Images

 

Propeller Design Research Part 2

Date: 09/17/24

Meeting goals

Meeting Notes

What was completed?

What is in progress?

What is the goal for the next meeting?

Images

 

v


**Abstract**

            Whether one is prototyping, recreating, or even creating a new unique item there is no question that 3D printing is a positively helpful tool in the process of an item going from a fantastical idea to reality. The Robotics Club of Central Florida (RCCF) has found 3D printing an essential part of bringing forth an idea to the real world; however, this process is not without its challenges. With this paper, RCCF’s Rapid 3D team presents the challenges of designing, developing, and testing a fully custom 3D printed hull designed around a central direct drive electric propulsion system. This system is based upon RCCF’s direct expertise in robotics, specifically the need to keep component interactions simple, functional, and reliable. With that in mind, the drive assembly of the boat (Rapid 3D) features an optimized propeller, selected based on diameter and pitch to maximize thrust efficiency, a submersible pod electric motor for direct drive propulsion, and a custom-geared rudder system for both enhance maneuverability and control. The power system integrates 4 LiFePO₄ and a LiPo battery, ensuring a balance of power efficiency, safety, and redundancy. \

Software Report

How, what, why?

Software Goals:

Primary

Secondary:

Control Software:

We moved away from our completely custom software setup on ESP32 last year. The ESP32 was simple and great for allowing plain RC controls, however was limited for further development. We also had no way to receive data back from the boat in real time. 

Hardware Choices:

Rudder

9/20/2024

Balanced Barn door rudder which can either be attached from just the top or form a top and bottom, which is a rudder with a shaft through the middle which will spin the rudder. 

Benefits:

Cons:

OpenProp Design Parameters

OpenProp Design Parameters

- B-series propeller design parameters: Untitled
- B-series propeller design procedure: OptimumdesignofB-seriesmarinepropellers.pdf

1. c/D (Chord Length / Diameter Ratio)
2. Cd (Drag Coefficient)
3. t0/D (Thickness at Hub / Diameter Ratio)
4. Skew
5. Xs/D (Distance from Leading Edge to Maximum Thickness / Diameter Ratio)

Motor

9/10/2024

By looking at the possible motors that we have chosen and comparing them with power and price we have decided to go with:

APISQUEEN 70167

Also worked on calculation in the spread sheet, Current spread sheet to calculate values(PDF):

image.png

Coming up
will need to pick out a ESC before friday.

Motor Controllers

Main motor controller (link)

We made the decision to go with the Flipsky 75350. We made this decision because of prior years experience with Flipsky controllers and they give some of the best functionality and configuration. 

Pros
Cons
Specs

Batteries

High Power System Batteries (link)

We will continue to use out 4 100ah Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFe) batteries that we choose last year for our competition. These batteries were very oversized for our purposes last year but will much better suited this year with our higher power requirements. Lithium iron phosphate was chosen for it's safety to density ratio. Compared to Lithium Ion(Li-Io) or Lithium Polymer(Li-Po) LiFe is less energy dense but also comes with a more safe chemistry.  

Battery Configuration

Full Boat-Page-2.png

The batteries will be configured in a 4s configuration of the battery packs we use. If you consider the internal configuration of each pack we will be using a 16s battery configuration. 

PCB

Old Boat PCB.zip

Notes

Notes

09/06/24

Meeting goals

Meeting Notes

List of sensors/control connections for the boat
  • temp sensors
  • actuator communication
  • imu / GPS
  • main motor
  • Controller
  • data collection
  • e-stop control

What was completed?

What is in progress?

  • motor selection
  • controller selection
  • PCB improvements
  • battery requirements (based off motor selection)
  • boat computer decision
  • Software

What is the goal for the next meeting?

Images

 

09/10/24

Meeting goals

  • Basic EasyEDA design
    • Example project

Meeting Notes

What was completed?

What is in progress?

    What is the goal for the next meeting?

    Images

     

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    Full System Layout

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