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Boat Autopilot - Based on the Arduino by

comsa42 (/member/comsa42/) in robots (/explore/category/technology/keyword/robots/)

Download h (/id/Boat-Autopilot/) 13 Steps .  Collection I Made it!  Favorite  Share 

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About This Instructable

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comsa42
(/member/comsa42/)
(/file/FWFRI94I9NDWJ34/)
The Way Things Work
(http://denialmedia.ca/)

(/member/comsa42/)
Follow 718

Bio: I'm a highschooler who is interested in

(/file/FZPS2LMI9NDWJ0K/)
technology, science, and engineering. In
my spare time I work on projects that allow
me to learn ... More » (/member/comsa42/)
Here's how to build an autopilot which can steer an RC boat to waypoints! It's
easy to build, based on the popular Arduino platform, and great for hobbyists More by comsa42:
who want some soldering practice! With this autopilot, an RC boat can go long
distances without any human intervention, like an autonomous drone. The
original idea was to mimic robotic boats like the UBC Sailbot
(http://ubcsailbot.org/), and the Scout (http://www.gotransat.com/) (which almost
successfully completed its trans-atlantic voyage!) (/id/Fast-
Electric-
This project has been in the making for over a year now, and has taught me a lot Skateboard- (/id/Carbon- (/id/DIY-
about autopilot theory and circuit design. Hopefully, one day, I'll be able to take LiPo- Fiber- Nunchuck-
the skills used to make this autopilot, and apply them to make an autopilot for Charging- Electric- Controller-
System- Skateboard- for-Electric-
my dad's 38 foot catamaran (http://flipflopscat.blogspot.ca/)!
BMS-/) Deck/) Skateboards/)
To get to the final version of this autopilot, I went through three main prototypes.
Each prototype got increasingly more complex in terms of circuitry and code.
After those three prototypes, I built the final circuit, which was able to steer an Related
RC boat around a pond multiple times. Very detailed schematics and pictures
are available if you want to build your own.
 The final version is bug-free, but still has room for improvement. In terms of Pi0Boat: a $250 Smart
Aquatic Vehicle With the Pi
code, I still need to get the boat to follow a path, and not simply go to a waypoint Zero (/id/Pi0Boat-a-250-
(this counteracts sideways drift). In terms of electronics, I'm hoping to add an Pi0drone: A $200 smart
accelerometer in order to add tilt-compensation to my compass. drone with the Pi Zero
(/id/Pi0drone-a-200-Smart-
Drone-With-the-Pi-Zero/)
Step 1: Video Overview and Autopilot Explaination (/id/Pi0drone- by ErleRobotics
Burning Bootloader to Atmel
Atmega 328P Using Arduino
(/id/Burning-Bootloader-to-
Boat Autopilot Project - Overview and Explaination Atmel-Atmega-328P-Using-
(/id/Burning- Ardu/)
Pilothouse - Robotic Sailboat
(/id/Pilothouse-Robotic-
Sailboat/)
by srlm (/member/srlm/)
(/id/Pilothouse-
Pi0Rover: a Smart Rover
With the Pi Zero
(/id/Pi0Rover-a-Smart-Rover-
With-the-Pi-Zero/)
(/id/Pi0Rover- by ErleRobotics

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Here's a short video that goes over the project, the prototypes, some theory, and
more!

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Step 2: Prototype #1

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The first prototype of the autopilot was very basic. The goal was to build a
device that could:
Read the location from a GPS
Read the bearing from a compass
Steer a rudder servo
Test formulas which are necessary for making a real autopilot
Use the rudder to keep a bearing
For this early prototype I decided on using an Arduino Uno for the brains; I
would switch over to a barebones Arduino design (AtMega328) in the final
version.

Reading a GPS
For the first prototype, I wanted the cheapest possible GPS I could get my
hands on, so I went with the $8 UBlox PCI-5s. To connect the GPS to the
Arduino, all I had to do was solder four wires to the back of the card, connect
them to Arduino, then attach an antenna. I used the TinyGPS++ library
(http://arduiniana.org/libraries/tinygpsplus/) to parse incoming serial data, which
allowed me to get the current location, speed, direction, and more! Here's my
other Instructable (https://www.instructables.com/id/8-GPS-Receiver-Hack/)on
how to implement this chip. I used this GPS up until the third prototype, where I
replaced it with another one.
Reading a Compass

The compass I used is the HMC5883L

(https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10494), which connects to the Arduino
through I2C. Bildr has a very nice tutorial
(http://bildr.org/2012/02/hmc5883l_arduino/) on how to connect this compass to
the Arduino. To read the bearing I used this Arduino library
(https://github.com/jrowberg/i2cdevlib/tree/master/Arduino/HMC5883L).
Steering a Servo
Steering a servo with an Arduino is incredibly easy
(http://playground.arduino.cc/Learning/SingleServoExample), but not when the
SoftwareSerial library (necessary for TinyGPS++) interferes with one of the
Arduino's timers! When SoftwareSerial is running, it will interfere with any servos
using the standard servo library. A simple solution is to use the PWM Servo
library instead.
Implimenting Autopilot Formulas
In this prototype, I implemented several functions that would become critical
later on. These functions use the haversin formula
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haversine_formula) to calculate things like the:
distance between two waypoints, direction from one waypoint to the next, and
 real bearing from a magnetic bearing. Here's a build-log post
(http://denialmedia.ca/autopilots-and-the-haversine-formula/) I made on these
formulas.
Putting it All Together

I decided to make a wooden case to hold everything together (see images

above). So now that I knew what the bearing of the autopilot was, I was able to
compare it to a preset heading and turn the rudder to keep that certain heading.
This would become necessary later on in order to travel to a GPS coordinate.

Step 3: Prototype #2

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I was satisfied with the success of the first prototype, so I decided to make a
secound one with the intention of putting it on a boat. Most of the changes to this
autopilot were software based. The goals for this prototype were to:
Travel to a set of GPS coordinates
Run the autopilot on a battery
Test and record autopilot data
I made a few changes to the physical structure of the autopilot. I added a
ProtoSheild, which connects to the Arduino and has a little breadboard on it. I
moved the compass there. I also attached all autopilot components to a new
plywood base, and put that plywood base inside a sandwich container.
I also tried adding an RC receiver to this autopilot, but I was not successful due
to the space limitation inside that container.
 Traveling to GPS Coordinates
I programmed the Arduino with a sketch that turns the rudder in order to travel to
the next waypoint. The sketch used the GPS to calculate the bearing to each
waypoint, then compared it to the compass, and the difference between the two
was the error. If the error was to the right, 90 degrees, then the rudder would
turn to 60 degrees. If the error was to the left, 270 degrees, then the rudder
would turn to 120 degrees. If the error was between 330 and 30 degrees
(straight ahead), then the rudder would turn exponentially in order to keep going
straight.
All of this would happen in a loop similar to this one (this code is exaggerated):

while(distanceInMeters(gpslat, gpslong, waypointlat, waypointlong) < 5) {

int bearing = GetBearing();
int heading = GetHeading(gpslat, gpslong, waypointlat, waypointlong);
bearing = RealBearing(gpslat, gpslong, bearing);
RudderTurn(RudderAngle(bearing, heading));
}

Here's an "english" explanation of the code above: if the distance between you
and the waypoint is more than five meters, then calculate the bearing of the
compass, the bearing to the waypoint, get the real bearing of the compass, then
send the two bearings to the RudderTurn function, which calculates the error
and turns the rudder accordingly.
Adding a Battery
Adding a battery to power the Arduino was simple. There is a Vin pin on the
Arduino Uno. It accepts up to 20 volts DC. I had a 12.6v, 3 cell, lithium battery
laying around, so I simply made a connector that went from the battery to the
Vin pin.

Step 4: Testing Prototype #2

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In order to assist with the testing of the autopilot, I added two LEDs. One LED
would turn on when there is a GPS lock, the other would turn on when I have
arrived at a waypoint.
Testing the Prototype
 I used a local field for the testing of my autopilot. I would bring my laptop,
connect it to the autopilot, run the serial monitor (part of the Arduino software),
and have it record the GPS coordinates, all while walking to pre-programmed
waypoints. I used the rudder to guide me to each waypoint, and I responded to
the rudder by turning like a boat would.
The images you see above are just some of the paths I recorded. When I would
get within five meters of a waypoint, the autopilot would switch, and begin
navigating to the next one. I made lots of minor changes to the code during the
tests.
In order to convert serial text into a Google Earth track, I imported the text into
Excel using the text import, then saved the file, then followed the instructions at
Earthpoint (https://www.earthpoint.us/ExcelToKml.aspx) to convert the file to
KML format.

Step 5: First Boat

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The first boat I made for this project was more of an experiment than a real
prototype. I wanted to see if I could make a functioning airboat instead of having
to go and buy one.
Most pieces were cut out from foam, including the deck, which is a marine grade
foam. I originally used a brushed motor, but then I switched over to a brushless
motor and a 5x3 prop for thrust. That 9 gram hobby servo was mounted on the
back, and the sandwich container had some holes drilled into it for wires to pass
through. In the end, this boat never really sailed. The ESC I was going to use
 burnt out in a tragic electric longboarding accident
(https://www.instructables.com/id/Electric-Longboard/), and the GPS absolutely
refused to work on the surface of a pond.

Step 6: Modifying the Boat

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Okay, so back to the drawing board with the boat. I picked up this new boat from
eBay for $20.01; free shipping too! It came with a 7.4v NI-MH battery, a charger,
a transmitter, and a receiving circuit. I had some trouble finding the appropriate
number of AA batteries to fit the transmitter (12 to be precise), and I was left
disappointed when the boat didn't work. Oh well, I can still make this work.
I salvaged two N-Channel MOSFETs from the receiving circuit; those came in
handy later on. After that, I proceeded to clip all of the remaining wires, and hot-
glue every opening, crevice, and crack I could find in the boat.
The two motors had an intricate cooling system: a very noisy propeller which
blew air through the motors. There were also decoupling capacitors on the
motors as well. Both of these things worked to my advantage. There was also a
little switch on the top of the boat. I haven't found a good use for it quite yet.
Next order of business was to secure the prototype. I got a scrap piece of wood,
hot-glued a horizontal support (a bamboo skewer) near the motors, and velcroed
the piece of wood to the boat and support. The velcro had enough holding force
to keep the autopilot secured, even when upside down.

Step 7: Prototype #3
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One problem that plagued the previous prototypes was the slow update speed.
The rudder simply didn't react fast enough to a changing bearing, so I included
that in my list of goals:
Increase the update speed of the autopilot
Add motor controllers
Program a motor mixer
Adding a receiver
Increasing the update speed
The only problem with the TinyGPS++ library is that it is slow. The problem was,
the Arduino Uno cannot run two things at the same time (well it can, but not
really). A simple solution would be to have another Arduino use the TinyGPS++
library to parse GPS data, then send the position to the other autopilot. Problem
was, I didn't have another Arduino.
 An Arduino Uno is essentially an AtMega328 chip and some extra components.
It's easy to build your own "Arduino" on a breadboard, so that's exactly what I
did. Here (http://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Standalone)'s a really good guide on
how to do that. After I built my breadboard Arduino, I hooked up a brand new
Ublox NEO-6M GPS module in the same way that I hooked up my previous
GPS. I programmed this new Arduino to use Bill Porter's Easy Transfer library
(http://www.billporter.info/2011/05/30/easytransfer-arduino-library/), and I used
single wire to form a one-way serial connection between the main Arduino and
the breadboard one. With this new breadboard Arduino, I was able to increase
the update speed from 4Hz, to up to 50Hz!
Adding Motor Controllers
I really liked the ProtoSheild for the Arduino Uno that I was using, but I found
that it didn't have enough space to hold two motor controllers. So I ripped off the
old, mini breadboard, and put in a much larger one.

The circuit for the motor controller is simple, a MOSFET, with the help of PWM,
controls the average voltage going to the motor. A 1k resistor limits gate current
so that the Arduino doesn't burn out, and a 10k resistor keeps the MOSFET off
when there is no input.

Programming a Motor Mixer: Going from a Rudder to Motors

This boat does not have a rudder, but instead, it uses two motors to steer. I
wanted to take advantage of the two motors instead of gluing a servo the the
boat. I already built the motor controllers, now all that was left to do is program
the Arduino to control these motors controllers.
I started out by programming a mock-up program in Visual Studio. I used
breakpoints to debug my code, and eventually I had a motor mixer. Now all that
was left to do was transfer the code from VS to the Arduino, which wasn't very
hard, considering they were very similar languages (C# and C++).

Adding a RC Receiver
I added an RC receiver to this prototype for manual override. It was easy to
measure the incoming values with the pulseIn function, and have the autopilot
react to those values.
Testing the Prototype
I placed this prototype in the boat, connected the motors to the MOSFETs, and
pre-programmed a path in the local pond. The boat was able to complete the
triangle path once, then it stopped working and died. I had to rescue it with an
inflatable boat. Turns out, the high voltage from the battery (12v), fried the 5v
voltage regulators.

Step 8: Soldering the Circuit-board(s)

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The final circuit was virtually a duplicate of the third prototype, except that I used
another AtMega328 chip instead of the Arduino Uno. Just above you can find
the full circuit diagram. Since there were two AtMegas, I decided to split them
amongst two 5x7cm perfboards I had laying around. The schematic is split along
the middle, everything on either side belongs to its respective board. This means
there are two voltage regulators for each board which disperses the heat over a
larger surface area. Instead of soldering all of the parts to the perfboard, I
soldered pin headers for replaceable parts like the GPS, compass, motors,
FT232, AtMegas. I also put two pin headers along each AtMega just in case I
wanted to add something else in the future.
These two AtMegas are simple to program, as all they need is a FT232 and a
computer. There's two pin headers for the FT232 to connect, so all you do is
plug them into there, plug the FT232 chip to your computer through a USB
cable, and program with the Arduino software like you would with a regular
Arduino.
There are several connections between the two AtMega chips. One of them is
for transferring the GPS location to the other one. There's a wire going from the
13th pin from one AtMega to the TX pin on the other AtMega. These circuits
need to be powered by the same battery. In order to connect them together I
 soldered female JST RCY connectors to each chip for power, then make a Y
splitter to connect them to the battery. I liked the power connector of the battery,
so I decided to make an adapter for it instead of chopping it off.
Here's a full parts list that I came up with after I built the autopilot. I was actually
shocked at the total cost of this project; but then again, most of the cost comes
from the GPS, RC boat, and RC transmitter and receiver.

Parts List

Resistors:
4x 10k resistors ($0.05)
2x 1k resistors ($0.02)
4x 220 ohm resistors ($0.06)
Power Regulators:
2x LM7805 regulators ($0.32)
2x L78L33ACZ regulators ($0.32)
Arduino Parts:
2x AtMega328 chips ($3.52)
4x 5mm LEDs ($0.20)
2x 16MHz clock crystal ($0.16)
2x Momentary pushbutton: normally off ($0.81)
4x 30pf Ceramic capacitors ($0.08)
2x 0.1uf Ceramic capacitors ($0.04)
2x 47uf Electrolytic capacitors ($0.16)
2x N-Channel Logic Level MOSFETs ($0.43)
3x Female JST RCY connectors ($0.34)
1x Male JST RCY connectors ($0.14)
2x 1N5408 diodes ($0.02)
Lots of female and male pin headers ($0.50)
At least one FT232 Breakout Board ($1.56)
Large Parts:
1x NEO-6M GPS Module ($12.00)
2x 5x7cm Perfboard ($0.95)
1x HK-GT2B Transmitter and receiver ($24.00)
1x HMC5883L 3-Axis compass ($1.00)
1x RC Boat ($20.01)
Grand Total: $66.69

Most of these parts I either had laying around, or are available in bulk from
eBay.

Step 9: Combining the Autopilot With the RC Boat

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I used a scrap piece of wood I had from the third prototype to hold the autopilot
together. I used little screws to attach the perfboards to the board. I also drilled
four holes and used zip-ties to hold the battery. Once again, I used Velcro to
attach the autopilot to the boat.
The GPS antenna was also Velcro'd to the board, and the GPS receiver was
simply held by the pin header on the perfboard. In order to attach the RC
receiver to the circuit, I used some pre-crimped female jumpers, to which I
soldered some male header pins and secured with hot glue. The wires for the
motors were also soldered to a male connector, insulated with hot glue, and
connected to the board according to the schematic.

Step 10: Programming the AtMegas

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In order to program the AtMegas I used a FT232 chip, and all I had to do was
plug it into each circuit and upload the appropriate sketch using the Arduino
software (see image above) just like I would with an Arduino Uno. The only
difference is that you need to select "Arduino Nano w/ ATmega328" instead of
"Arduino Uno" in Tools > Board. The code was very similar to the code used in
the third prototype.
The first sketch parsed GPS data and sent it to the second GPS through a serial
connection. The sketch would flash the LED on pin 13 when data was being
sent, and the LED would glow when there is no GPS lock.

The second sketch has far more responsibility. It takes the current GPS location,
calculates the distance from that location to the next waypoint, compares the
heading to the next waypoint with the compass bearing, and controls the motors
to go there. There's also the override function, which pauses the autopilot while
there is a signal from the RC receiver. That signal is then used to calculate the
speed of each motor. The waypoints that the autopilot goes to are programmed
directly into this sketch.
The second AtMega also needs to calibrate the compass before using it. This is
where I switched over to helscream's compass library (http://hobbylogs.me.pn/?
p=17) which does the calibration for me. When calibration is finished, a green
LED lights up!
The sketch that I uploaded to each chip was essentially a combination of all my
previous sketches.

You can download all source code at the very last step of this Instructable!

Step 11: Separating the Compass

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With the third prototype, whenever I turned on the motors, the compass would
shift up to ten degrees to the left. Clearly there was some interference. I noticed
that this interference got exponentially smaller as I moved the autopilot up the
boat, so I decided to simply move the compass forward.

Since the compass is really sensitive to tilt, I decided to build a support for the
compass out of foamcore. I used double sided tape to stick this support to the
front of the boat, then I placed the compass inside the support. I also created a
four wire extension cord for the compass out of scrap speaker wire and some
pin-headers. One end of this extension cord went to the compass, while the
other plugged into the autopilot. Once again, I used hot glue to insulate these
connections.

Step 12: Testing the Autopilot

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After extensive bathtub testing, it was finally time for a proper real-world test!
Once again, I brought the boat to the pond, programmed three waypoints that
were in a triangle, used the manual override to steer the boat away from land,
and let it rip! The autopilot was able to go to each waypoint in order, and when it
was done will all three waypoints it would loop and go to the very first waypoint
again! Success!

The autopilot was able to travel to these waypoints at about 30% throttle, which
is about walking speed. I set the speed this low because I didn't want the
MOSFETs to overheat, and I generally wanted to play it safe.
After the first fully successful triangle test, I spent the next week testing one new
path a day. I tried everything from triangles, to circles, to squiggles, to zig-zags,
and the autopilot was able to travel the paths just like it was supposed to!
On two occasions, the wire that served as the one-way serial connection
between the two AtMegas came loose. Thankfully, I was able to use the manual
override to bring the boat to shore, connect the wire again, and send the boat on
its way. The GPS signal never got lost during testing, and the battery lasted
roughly ten minutes each charge.

Step 13: Next Steps, Final Thoughts and Downloads

Improvements:
 This boat is essentially finished, but there is always room for improvement.
While doing the last few tests, I noticed that the boat would sometimes begin
oscillate after a turn. Turns out, since the compass is not tilt-compensated,
there's enough deviation after a turn to start this oscillation. In order to make a
compass tilt-compensated you need add an accelerometer, but I thought an
easier way to implement one is to buy the GY-511, which is a compass and an
accelerometer, and it uses the same I2C protocol as my current compass! When
the new chip gets here, all I will have to do it switch some pins around and that's
it!

There's also the issue of paths. The program I wrote for this autopilot is very
simple, so it doesn't follow a path, or compensate for drift. A PID controller is
specifically made to compensate for this, so I'm going to try to implement one in
my software.

Also, I have an SD card reader available. I was thinking of implementing it in

order to record GPS data, but it seems to run at a lower voltage level.
Downloads:

Just below you can find the source code for my autopilot. The Autopilot_GPS file
is for the AtMega chip that is connected to the GPS, and the Autopilot_Main is
for that main AtMega. Other files contains previous versions of the autopilot (the
first two prototypes). Again, just extract the archives somewhere, and inside are
the files that are directly compatible with Arduino software
(http://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software)!
Final Thoughts:

I am really happy with not only how this project turned out, but I'm also happy
that I learned a lot of really important skills; everything from programming to
designing circuits. I think that when I grow up I'll be doing things like this, writing
programs, making drones, projects, but obviously on a bigger level.

Also, there's a lot I haven't mentioned in this Instructable. On my blog

(http://denialmedia.ca/) there's more info about this project, and you'll be able to
find my other projects like my weather station (http://denialmedia.ca/weather-
station/), electric longboard (http://denialmedia.ca/electric-skateboard-version-2-
0/), and flying machines (http://denialmedia.ca/category/projects/rc-planes/)!

Other Files.rar
Download (https://cdn.instructables.com/ORIG/FQC/U61Q/I9NDWQZE/FQCU61QI9NDWQZE.rar)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/ORIG/FQC/U61Q/I9NDWQZE/FQCU61QI9NDWQZE.rar)

Autopilot_GPS.rar
Download (https://cdn.instructables.com/ORIG/FBW/0EZO/I9NDWQZF/FBW0EZOI9NDWQZF.rar)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/ORIG/FBW/0EZO/I9NDWQZF/FBW0EZOI9NDWQZF.rar)

Autopilot_Main.rar
Download (https://cdn.instructables.com/ORIG/FCF/5EMJ/I9NDWQZG/FCF5EMJI9NDWQZG.rar)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/ORIG/FCF/5EMJ/I9NDWQZG/FCF5EMJI9NDWQZG.rar)

Comments

We have a be nice comment policy.

Please be positive and constructive. w I Made it!  Add Images Post Comment

ibrahimd4 (/member/ibrahimd4/) 2017-08-21 Reply

Any advice about good resources ( articles, websites,
video..etc) to learn how to make fishing torpedo kontiki with arduino ?

gideona9 (/member/gideona9/) 2017-08-14 Reply

im impressed, I have always wanted to make a solar vessel less than a meter
long and send it around the world autonomously, i just dont have the skill sets,
great tanacity thanx

MarcusC77 (/member/MarcusC77/) 2017-05-02 Reply

am looking for a developer who i can pay to make something similar to this for
me email me triniprices@gmail.com asap

sxj42case (/member/sxj42case/) 2016-06-03 Reply

SInce I started to enjoy arduino for a month, I am thinking about autonomous

boat and writing down many ideas.

But you've done most of thing already.

Really impresive project!

Well done!!!

mauribilis (/member/mauribilis/) 2016-05-07 Reply

Hi, can you talk about the speed limitation of autopilot (according to my
comprehension of your post, the current speed of the prototype is walking
speed to avoid overhead problems)

Do you think that (without problems of overhead...) the algorithms are able to
work at an higher speed ?

antimausas (/member/antimausas/) 2016-02-28 Reply

Hi, nice project. Can you explain this connection?

http://clip2net.com/s/3uV46Qh

rsikandar (/member/rsikandar/) . antimausas (/member/antimausas/) Reply

2016-03-06
it must be for radio joystick control, override manual control.
vladislav can explain in details.

rsikandar (/member/rsikandar/) 2016-03-06 Reply

i had not the actual size of ATmega328 so i draw a custom component in a pcb
design software this is the left side of autopilot circuit. and does pin 21 is
connected to 20?

(https://cdn.instructables.com/F86/KWAI/ILFG0CXW/F86KWAIILFG0CXW.LARGE.jpg)

vann_solo (/member/vann_solo/) 2016-02-25 Reply

I can't download your .rar files its just jiberish. Is there a way you can put those
files In another format that would download easier?

devzLOVESyou (/member/devzLOVESyou/) 2016-01-09 Reply

Hi awesome project!! Mind If I ask you for a schematic diagram for all
prototypes?

ErikH19 (/member/ErikH19/) 2015-12-02 Reply

I'm very impressed by your job! That will have cost you a few hours...
I have a 10 meter motor boat (we have a lot of lakes and canals over here in
the Netherlands). I wondered if i could used your sketches... I wil have a look.

ccronkhite (/member/ccronkhite/) 2015-09-01 Reply

Pretty awesome!

About the issue with not following a path... Does it only calculate the angle of
error once it reaches a way point? If so, can you program it to continuously
calculate and adjust accordingly?

comsa42 (/member/comsa42/) . ccronkhite (/member/ccronkhite/) Reply

2015-11-20
No it continuously calculates and adjusts. It does not adjust for
drift from the lone connecting two coordonates though.

saau (/member/saau/) 2015-10-23 Reply

can you tell me the top speed of your boat? Please

comsa42 (/member/comsa42/) . saau (/member/saau/) 2015-11-20 Reply

It's about 5km/h. Just a test boat :)

SatyaK (/member/SatyaK/) 2015-08-16 Reply

Awesome. Great Job..

RidhoT (/member/RidhoT/) 2015-06-27 Reply

I'm not download your file.

diy_bloke (/member/diy_bloke/) 2015-06-02 Reply

interesting that your gps didnt work above water. I would never expect that.
good to know

comsa42 (/member/comsa42/) . diy_bloke (/member/diy_bloke/) Reply

2015-06-10
It's only that one GPS module that did not work. I'm pretty sure
it was because of all the trees around.

diy_bloke (/member/diy_bloke/) . comsa42 (/member/comsa42/) Reply

2015-06-10
Thanks :-)
Ashutosh Swain (/member/Ashutosh+Swain/) 2015-05-31 Reply

Oh that's a great idea

comsa42 (/member/comsa42/) . Ashutosh Swain (/member/Ashutosh+Swain/)

2015-06-10 Reply
Yuppo

Ashutosh Swain (/member/Ashutosh+Swain/) . comsa42 (/member/comsa42/)

2015-06-10 Reply
Hi comsa42

Ashutosh Swain (/member/Ashutosh+Swain/) . comsa42 (/member/comsa42/)

2015-06-10 Reply
hi

Salman Naveed (/member/Salman+Naveed/) 2015-05-28 Reply

Lalalala........ Lovvvved it! Well done! =D

comsa42 (/member/comsa42/) . Salman Naveed (/member/Salman+Naveed/)

2015-06-10 Reply
Thank you very much!

stringstretcher (/member/stringstretcher/) 2015-05-27 Reply

I would love to try this. Drones fascinate me! Nice project and a good
instructable, thanks!! I checked out the Scout, it seems (according to their FB
page) it went missing near the Azores and is lost at sea. Tough loss for that big
group of workers. Keep it up!

comsa42 (/member/comsa42/) . stringstretcher (/member/stringstretcher/) Reply

2015-06-10
Yeah, thank you! I'm hopefully going to join the UBC sailbot in a
couple of years!

manavshah (/member/manavshah/) 2015-06-01 Reply

awesome! Will try this with a plane.(automated landing).

comsa42 (/member/comsa42/) . manavshah (/member/manavshah/) Reply

2015-06-10
Oooh! Watch the weight!

ItzMynow (/member/ItzMynow/) 2015-06-05 Reply

Really cool! :D

comsa42 (/member/comsa42/) . ItzMynow (/member/ItzMynow/) Reply

2015-06-10
Thank you! I worked really hard on it!

Brock_M (/member/Brock_M/) 2015-05-27 Reply

 Very cool! I voted for this one. :)

comsa42 (/member/comsa42/) . Brock_M (/member/Brock_M/) 2015-05-27 Reply

Thank you! I worked very hard on it!

Just4Fun Media (/member/Just4Fun+Media/) 2015-05-27 Reply

Great tutorial! Did you ever have any issues with GPS accuracy?

Great job and good luck in your contest!

comsa42 (/member/comsa42/) . Just4Fun Media (/member/Just4Fun+Media/)

2015-05-27 Reply
Thank you! The only issue with accuracy I had was
when I used a scrap antenna for the GPS. In the final version I used a
totally different GPS which came with a ceramic antenna, it was accurate
down to about 2 meters! It was even more accurate when you were
moving. I highly recommend it!

bravoechonovember1 (/member/bravoechonovember1/) 2015-05-26 Reply

awesome! I can't wait to see an 38 foot catamaran with nobody steering it!

Just4Fun Media (/member/Just4Fun+Media/) . bravoechonovember1

(/member/bravoechonovember1/) 2015-05-27 Reply

I would love to see that... but at the same time be nowhere in the
immediate vicinity! LOL :-)

I More Comments

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