Hi everyone. Apologies in advance if this has already been covered but I did have a look around on the forums and couldn't find anything.
I need a boat. Maybe two. I need to be able to test the APM:Rover code in a boat. I'm in Australia and summer has just started so it seems like a great idea to get my APM boating off the ground. As this is going to be used for testing new code the boat will ideally be cheap, parts easily replaceable and have room in the boat for the electronics - Pixhawk, radios etc. I would like to be able to test single motor as well as twin motor for skid steering code so I'd be interested in recommendations on both. I have no doubt I will crash, flood, sink or have the boat disappear over the horizon never to be seen again so cheap and easily replaceable would be good.
Needless to say the supplier needs to be able to ship to Australia.
cheers
Grant
Replies
I'm in Canberra and plan to operate the boats on one of the local lakes.
A submarine - cool. Got any photo's or build notes? I'd be terrified of loosing it underwater. Do you attach it to a line or something for testing purposes?
The problem with the compass of course is all the other localised magnetic fields so you want to get it away from everything else if possible. Its why 3DR externalised the compass from their APM2.5 boards in the 2.6 ones and the compass now lives in the GPS module. in fact we had a problem with our auto takeoff in the Outback Challenge and Tridge isolated it to the compass bearing being off. He has modified the code so it no longer requires the compass during takeoff run.
cheers
Grant
Hi
I am n Melbourne and want to put some stuff into a boat of mine. Where are you, for how long and what kind of boat do you want?
John
@Grant,
Hobby King (HK) has a large selection of prefabricated model boats that might meet your needs: Boat Kits Boat ARR
I prefer Traxxas R/C Boats, but most of them do not have enough room to install a Pixhawk far enough from the brushless motor.
There are build it yourself boat kits too: Tug Boat It has enough room to easily mount a Pixhawk and accessories. I just finished build one for lake rescue.
Regards,
TCIII AVD
Hi Tom. That Tug Boat looks highly suitable. Nice amount of real estate on the boat to get all the electronics on.
I know nothing about the running gear for boats. Did you just purchase the recommended gear they had on that site and put it together?
I've just skimmed the assembly instructions and its possibly a bit trickier then my skill set or time allows. On the flip side I would learn tons. Hmmmm. Need to think about this one.
I did leaf through the Hobbyking website and they have a few boats but its hard to tell what would be suitable. I was hoping like your tugboat recommendation someone is going to say "get this exact model for these reasons" and I'll go yep - that's the one.
Thanks
Grant
Hi Grant,
Yes, the Tug Boat has plenty of room inside and on the deck behind the pilot house for a waterproof container to house the Pixhawk and associated components.
I just about have my built and am waiting for the paint on the bottom of the Tug to dry so I can sand and apply a second coat. Then I can complete connecting the motor, ESC, radio and battery together.
I bought all the accessories for the Tug except for the brushed electric motor which I already had on hand. It does require a fair amount of ballast to get it trimmed properly if you do not use the SLA batteries and go for a LiPo like I did. You can use bee bees and epoxy for ballast as mentioned in the instructions. 2400 steel bee bees weigh around 2 pounds (~1kg).
Regards,
Tom C AVD
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