Loiter mode boats

ArduRover ArduBoat
1

What happened with the loiter mode for boats, meaning to hold the boat exactly on waypoint position. Is this still on the roadmap?

Thanks,
Bas

2

Hi Bas,

Yes, definitely on the roadmap. I have some code in development that is looking promising and below is a video of it in action in a very gentle environment. It doesn’t support using lateral thrusters yet but that’s on the plan too.

3

Wow, looking great! I can’t wait to test.

Br
Bas

1 Like
4

I am also eager to test out this improved Loiter! Any update on when it will be ready?

Brgds
Per

5

It’s ready now on 3.4rc1.

6

Thanks David, I will test it at first opportunity.

7

when and how will more thrusters be implemented? If I had a normal boat with rear and front thrusters that allowed for sideways thrusting (port/starboard) how would I set those up in the pixhawk and groundstation configuration? I need to build some boats that hold position and then go execute their path, holding positiong for about 30 mins or so.

8

@jason_goldenberg, Rover doesn’t support bow/stern thrusters yet. Ammar from EAMS lab is working on generalising the omni rover so that more arbitrary set-ups for thursters are supported (instead of just 3 thrusters spaced 120deg apart) but I can’t make any promises of when that will be complete or if it will directly support bow/stern thrusters… so I guess we don’t have an exact time line at this point. To be totally clear, the way things get done is:

  • a developer interested in solving the problem shows up and implements it
  • a company funds the effort to add the feature

… so it’s often hard to tell when one of those will happen.