Catamaran
« on: October 13, 2016, 10:47:30 pm »
Hi
Has anybody make a catamaran boat control on Revo?
Is possible autonomy control like this

Tomasz
« Last Edit: October 14, 2016, 05:27:02 am by hwh »

mogur

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Re: Catamaran
« Reply #1 on: December 18, 2016, 08:32:30 pm »
That's too bad, Tomasz_K, that you haven't received any response, here. I also am very interested in using LibrePilot and Revo for autonomous waypoint boat control. I am building a salt-water airboat for underwater FPV filming. I assume that, for now, ArduBoat is my only choice.

Although I have spent many hours researching and getting excited about LibrePilot and the Revolution hardware platform, I just found out, by way of this forum, that ground vehicles in LibrePilot do not include watercraft. I know that it was silly of me not to check that out before wasting my time, but I just assumed...

f5soh

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Re: Catamaran
« Reply #2 on: December 18, 2016, 10:40:23 pm »
There is already a GroundPathFollower module and user reported it works for RTB or waypoints.

Configuring a boat seems not so difficult to configure, like a car.
Rudder and motor.


mogur

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Re: Catamaran
« Reply #3 on: December 19, 2016, 12:27:30 am »
Thank you for the response, f5soh. Yes, I'm sure I could fiddle with it enough to get it to work for me, even if I needed to play with the source code a bit. Micro-controlled process equipment was my occupation. Just a bit disappointed that others haven't already contributed their rc boat experiences with this platform, as I already have a learning curve to overcome with the boat/electronic/waterproof-camera design end of my project.

I really like the cost/capability of this hardware and software, so I probably will continue on this path. If something shinier doesn't distract me down the road, I will do my best to share my experiences with you all.

@marc

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Re: Catamaran
« Reply #4 on: December 19, 2016, 08:24:25 am »
I'm going to use the GroundPathFollower for my Truck eventually.

For a boat, some things may be easier (like fewer obstacles on the surface), some may be more difficult (like drift from wind or water current).

It would be very interesting to have someone try this with a boat.

karla

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Re: Catamaran
« Reply #5 on: December 20, 2016, 09:55:10 pm »
Last summer I was tinkering with a sailboat and a traxxas car. The closest code to use for waypoints and RTB was for fixed wing but the steering is not handled by the rudder and that made it a challenge to implement on car and boat. Around the time when Openpilot imploded we had concluded that the module for the car did have a Return To Base function. However it was to rudimentary code to work properly. It over compensated the steering.

However it did pick out the general direction to home every time I tested. I was seriously about to pick up coding again to improve the code. I wanted to use the waypoint and RTB also on the RC Laser boat.

I tried to find that little piece of code that handled this but I can't find any records of it anymore - unfortunately.
Great to see some others with an interest in this. 

Re: Catamaran
« Reply #6 on: December 20, 2016, 10:15:53 pm »
There is a GroundPathFollowerSettings in System->Settings

I guess you have played with that?

I would have guessed that RTB would work with vehicle type set up as ground.

It would be really neat (and safe) to do ground based waypoints to self drive around the subdivision (while following in a car to watch).
« Last Edit: December 20, 2016, 10:21:29 pm by TheOtherCliff »

karla

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Re: Catamaran
« Reply #7 on: December 21, 2016, 07:11:16 am »
Thanks,
No not much playing with those settings yet.
But yes, it would be neat, safe, cool, useful and lots a fun to get a generic ground waypoint function work. Should be a lot less complex compared to a quad who can go in all directions plus altitude. Cars and boats generally just go forward and control speed. How hard can it be?
Maybe someone here like to start a new thread about that. Catamaran seems a bit special case?
What do you think?

@marc

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Re: Catamaran
« Reply #8 on: December 21, 2016, 11:43:48 am »
I was seriously about to pick up coding again to improve the code

You really should. I would love to use this on my .

As for the boat, I don't see why it shouldn't work on a catamaran. It's basically a "Fixed Wing" on the water surface.

karla

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Re: Catamaran
« Reply #9 on: December 21, 2016, 02:30:04 pm »
 :) I love that video clip Marc!
That truck has a dream to go beyond the fence and break free!