Should have more video tomorrow. plan on tuning a bit more with the top on and then using it on a model sailboat racing course tomorrow. And taking feed back from the sailors racing as far as what they see good or bad about it.
that’s a result we aspire to, well done.
would you get the same ability to stay in one spot in a completely calm environment, like a swimming pool ?
I have not tried a pool yet. With the loiter radius at .5 my guess is it would still move. Starting to wonder if a three thruster mark could be done using Ackerman steering. Adding a bow thruster basically. Eventually we will probably have a four thruster option in the code I hope. A + configuration would make this work really well I think.
That’s an interesting thought David. So a fixed mounted thruster perpendicular to the others and being driven by the steering servo output? Like a hybrid of differential thrust and Ackerman steering.
I just realized what I described is essentially Omni3.
I’ve used this hybrid system on my Catamaran. Thrusters plus rudders and saw no problems. I don’t know if it will really help my with this buoy though.
Nothing to report today with the buoy. No wind. I do have a heat issue with the pyramid top though. Need to vent it. Raw temp got up to 65 and then I decided to pull it out of the water. I’ve had upper 50’s on my boat but 65 seems to me a bit hot.
We find, in a pool, with loiter radius .5 or 1, buoy moves (steering oscillation mainly) about the same. But as soon as you place in moving water or a face even a small amount of wind … I.e. elements are pushing the buoy to extremities of the allowable radius … from the users perception, the buoy stays still … I.e. satisfies the sailors. Your result the same ?
Driving us mad trying to tune out oscillation in those calm situations !
So thinking 4 thruster Omni style (is that Ackerman like sea going tugs employ ?) is ideal for calm, but twin skid steer is ideal for anything over 2 knots of wind/current.
Your thoughts ?
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Yes. I think when there is wind and waves the buoy moving is less noticeable. I have found that detuning the P & I on the steering controller is less important than restricting how many degrees per second the buoy is allowed to rotate. In other words I found a higher P & I with restrictions on max rotation is better for me. If P & I were to low sometimes the buoy could not achieve what it wanted to do. I don’t have my parameter print out handy at the moment but there is a parameter you can set for the maximum degrees per second allowed for turning. Default is like 360 IIRC and I have turned mine down to like 45.
And currently my loiter radius is .4 and I am trying to reduce that with tuning that does not spin the mark around all over the place with the smaller radius.
Thanks for that, will give .4 a go and keep you posted
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Todays testing. This is as good as I can get it in light air. It’s 12 minutes of various clips. Bit frustrated at the moment.
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Hi Folks,
just joining in on the discussion after seeing robobuoys at the IQ Foil Worlds in action. I’m involved with the Illawarra Windsurfing Division so would love to have a couple of Buoy Bots. Was contemplating making them and found this discussion. I’ll just watch and learn for a bit. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Neil
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Hi Neil, what physical size / shape would suit your application ?
Hi Andrew,
We sail in the NE bay of Lake Illawarra and for our normal weekly races we use 700mm buoys and just throw them in where we want around the bay. This sort of thing https://www.environmental-expert.com/products/marker-buoys-494958 So I’m thinking of creating a platform that we can simply tie one of these into without all the chain and weights. Our buoys need to be a little tougher than yours as our windsurfers are faster and heavier than your lovely RC boats. We don’t hit them often, but when we do…
They need to be able to communicate up to about 1NM to be of any use to us.
If the concept works, we could also use bigger ones to go out into the main lake itself.
It will work, but … what is your budget to purchase, and maintain ?
$2 
Nah - it’s more me doing it for fun cos I love this sort of stuff. E.g. I built my own CNC Router - just for fun. If I spent $500 and had a working prototype I’d be thrilled. Then I’d upgrade components as necessary.
has anyone tried a F9 RTK L1/L2 type of GPS. I’m using a M9N currently. 30 Sats and a hdop of .5 or .6. With possibly a little water reflection going on it is holding position O.K. but I am looking for better.
am buying motors and ESC from chinese crowd - Rovmaker. They have a couple of different types. i believe that there is a specialist ESC manufacturer in Sydney ?
Hi Randy,
I’m looking at the setups and I was wondering if it would be better for turning to have the thrusters/trolling motors attached to the middle of the pontoon boat. A lot of trolling motors are mounted on the bow.
2021 Cadet Worlds Lake Garda
For a dual motor setup on a pontoon boat what will be better, the bow, middle or the stern?