Software Report

How, what, why? 

 Software Goals: 

 Primary 

 

 Reliable RC Controls for long distance 

 Telemetry data feed back: Primarily battery voltage, current draw 

 

 Secondary: 

 

 Autonomous navigation through way points via GPS 

 Data logging to allow for us to gather data on battery usage, speed, etc. 

 

 

 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.  

 

 ArduPilot:

 

 Why: Already built library for autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles

 

 Ability to tune PID controls w/ integration w/ IMU 

 Ability to switch from remote to autonomous controls 

 Ability to communicate with ground control station allowing for us to view position of boat, send waypoints, view real time telemetry. 

 ArduPilot would also allow for control of active hydrofoils if we develop those in the future 

 

 

 

 

 

 Hardware Choices: 

 

 OrangeCube Pilot: Connects directly w/ RC controller, integrated IMU,  

 RPi 4: Interface with ArduPilot via WiFi for data streaming 

 ESP32 controls the stepper motor by translating the PWM signal for the rudder from the Flight controller into the apropiate signals for the stepper