Hi everyone, I'm new to the community though I have been keeping an eye on this project for several months with the hopes of integrating it with my ROV Project. Last week I finally ordered my initial load out of Ardupilot gear. For starters I'll explain my project and my goals.

My project is very different from anything I have seen using Ardupilot of course I could be wrong and if I am thats going to make my life easier :) My project is a PC Based Tread-Based ROV Chassis (more details here). There are several issues I will have to overcome in order to get this to work properly, Control, Data Transfer and I'm sure I'll hit a few other snags.

So far on my list:

The ROV isn't "RC" so I have to somehow send the control commands to the PC and then interpret them into signals the motor controller understands (currently using an Phidgets HV Motor controller).

The ROV doesn't have a typical control system, no "steering" system its just like a tank, turning based on motor speed.

Communicating with the Ardupilot is also going to be interesting, I'm not currently looking into Xbee as I have a wifi link to the ROV, but I'm not ruling it out, I have some short range Xbee modules I may do some testing with.


Thats it for now, I know I have alot of work ahead I certainly don't think this is going to be a quick and dirty project but thats half the fun. I have an Ardupilot and the new "Main" Sensor board with an EM406 GPS unit coming next week.