I am starting a new project that will require a bait boat, about 500mm long. to be automated to drop bait into a lake. It currently works with 2x bait buckets that is triggered by a transmitter to operate servos to do the dropping. The boat is full RC at this stage and is making use of one DC brushless motor for propelling and a servo operating the rudder.
The idea is to install a ardupilot system so the bait can be dropped on the same spot every time. It should be possible to program multiple dropping points with the remote transmitter and also program a launch / home position from the transmitter.
the transmitter will be a Flysky FS-I6x.
I am new to ardupilot and the boards is not widely available where I am based so will need to order on Aliexpress.
Can someone please give advice on what board will be suitable and possibly provide a link as I dont want to make the wrong purchase. I also want to keep the project as cheap as possible. The boat will not be required to go on missions outside of the transmitters range.
A pixhawk kit from Aliexpress would work fine (assuming you can get it shipped to you, which I couldn’t for some reason). The pixhawk can run your motors with pwm, can take your receiver’s input via PPM mode (I had the same setup for my plane), and can run additional servos if you bind them to your radio.
Any pixhawk kit will do, if you aren’t looking for a GPS, you can grab one for ~$110. I won’t give a link as aliexpress won’t ship anything to me, so you’ll have to look for yourself.
(you may also want to grab a telemetry radio, which would be another ~$50-100. you use it to control and read data from your computer, very useful, but not 100% necessary)
Fair warning, the i6x’s range is pretty limited, it won’t matter too much for a boat I guess, but just be aware of that.
Yes I am thinking of the getting the following setup to integrate in the RC boat:
Pixhawk PIX 2.4.8 32 bit, I see there is three options on this controller (100mw, 500mw and 1000mw) if I am planning to have reception on a lake for aprox 500m will the 100mw unit be sufficient?
I will use Flysky FS-i6x transmitter with ia10B reciever. (Looking at ardupilot it seems like all missions and waypoints needs to be pre-set or set from a tablet / laptop. Is there a way to set waypoints from the transmitter while at the lake? Maybe I missed something. I will need to set about 5 waypoints per trip on the lake to mark drop points and be able to return to those set points.
If I want to add a sonar to the boat to do 3d mapping of the underwater enviroment will I be able to integrate it to the Pixhawk? This is something I am thinking of adding at a later stage and have not done much research on it but will be a nice to have addition. Can someone perhaps reccomend a transducer that will be capable of good quality mapping. Or perhaps a link on someone that did this type of project.
Thanks for the help thus far, I am looking forward to the build.
I don’t have advice for most questions but re saving waypoints we have an auxiliary function called “Save Waypoint” that allows recording the current location as a waypoint.
I’m too sure what you mean by the power options. Afaik, this transmitter doesn’t have settable power options.
Missions and waypoints should be set before you leave (let the boat go) ideally. If you have a telemetry radio, you can do this at any point from your computer. If you don’t, you can still plug your computer into the pixhawk with a usb cable at the lake before you go.
About the reception: I assume you mean rc control. In that case, like I said, the i6x is preset. I only get ~300m max in the sky with the i6x. Since you’re on the water, the range might be even lower. Do not rely on it, especially since turning a boat around can take longer than turning a plane around. I highly recommend you get an ERLS system for about the same price, it will be more than enough for your use.
I highly recommend you get a telemetry radio if you keep the i6x. If you loose rc, you’ll still probably have mavlink, and you can get the boat to auto come back closer to you so you can get RC. It will also allow you to quickly set waypoints on the spot without having to bring your boat back.
As for the sonar, afaik that’s not something you can integrate with the pixhawk. I recommend you get a separate SBC, like a pi zero, to do that. You can hook it up to a telem port on your pixhawk if you want live data and control.