EvoLogics Sonobot User Manual

Autonomous surface vehicle

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EvoLogics GmbH

Ackerstr. 76

13355 Berlin, Germany

Tel.: +49 30 4679 862 - 0

Fax: +49 30 4679 862 - 01

Email: support@evologics.de

EvoLogics Sonobot

Autonomous Surface Vehicle

User Guide Version 1.0

March 2018

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Page 1 EvoLogics GmbH Ackerstr. 76 13355 Berlin, Germany Tel.: +49 30 4679 862 - 0 Fax: +49 30 4679 862 - 01 Email: support@evologics.de EvoLogics Sonobot Autonomous Surface Vehicle User Guide Version 1.0 March 2018...
Page 2 EvoLogics does not warrant that use of such information will not infringe any third party rights, nor does EvoLogics assume any liability for damages or costs of any kind that may result from use of...
Page 3: Table Of Contents
Assembling the Sonobot vehicle ........
Page 4: Introduction
1 Introduction This document describes the EvoLogics Sonobot - the autonomous unmanned surface vehicle for hydrographic surveys. The manual is organized as follows: • Section 2 overviews the main hardware components of the Sonobot system. • Section 3 contains detailed descriptions and instructions on setting up the Sonobot hardware.
Page 5: Hardware Overview
Figure 1: EvoLogics Sonobot system • The Sonobot surface vehicle consists of the main body (1) with the on-board equipment, mounted on crossbars (2) that attach to the twin hulls - the ﬂoaters (3), housing the batteries and the integrated hydro-jet thrusters (see Fig.
Page 6: Hardware Installation
3.1 Assembling the Sonobot vehicle The Sonobot’s main body, the crossbars and the ﬂoaters are held together by eccentric latches that are both secure and fast to unlock. You do not need any tools to assemble the vehicle before the mission.
Page 7 • Put the crossbars in place, so that the latches land on the mount spikes of the ﬂoaters. Make sure the crossbars are perpendicular to the ﬂoaters! Figure 3: Sonobot assembly • To tighten a latch, turn it until you feel it lock (see the C marking on the latch, Fig. 4).
Page 8 • Mind the front and place the main body onto the crossbars. Fasten the screws under the crossbars to lock the main body in place. The Sonobot is now assembled: Figure 5: Sonobot assembly...
Page 9 • Connect the propulsion cable (8-pin connector) and the (optional) side-scan sonar cable (3-pin connector) to the corresponding sockets (1 in Fig.6) on the main body. Fasten the connector screws. Figure 6: Sonobot assembly 1 - Connectors; 2 - Main body latches; 3 - WLAN antenna; 4 - On/Off switch Close the unused sockets on the main body with the attached screw caps.
Page 10 Fasten the GPS antenna: • Loosen the GPS cable holder on the main body and pull out the GPS connecting cable. Figure 7: The GPS antenna • Connect the GPS connecting cable to the GPS antenna. Figure 8: The GPS antenna •...
Page 11 • Turn the vehicle on by turning the On/Off switch (4 in Fig.6) 180 degrees. The On/Off indicator on the switch will start blinking. The side lights will light up red and green (see image below). Figure 9: Turning on the Sonobot • To turn off the Sonobot, turn the switch into the Off position.
Page 12: Assembling The Shore Equipment
• Make sure the ﬁeld PC is fully charged or make arrangements for an external power supply. • The ﬁeld PC connects to the WLAN box with a 5 m Ethernet cable, supplied by EvoLogics. Mind the cable length and the planned WLAN station position when choosing a spot for the ﬁeld PC.
Page 13: Wlan Station
• When choosing a spot for the antenna, make sure there will be no obstacles between the station and the Sonobot’s operating area. Installing the antenna at an elevated spot will beneﬁt the signal reception quality.
Page 14 Controls and connectors of the WLAN box are pictured below: Figure 12: WLAN box controls and connectors • The On/Off switch (1) turns the WLAN box on/off. • Press the Battery level button (2) to see the battery level on the light indicator to the right. •...
Page 15 To set up the WLAN station: • Take the tripod out of the transport case, spread its legs and set it on even ground. Screw the antenna holder onto the tripod, as shown below: Figure 13: WLAN station: antenna holder •...
Page 16 • Adjust the tripod height and push its legs into the ground for a secure stand. The wider tripod legs are spread, the more stable is the WLAN station - make sure it is stable enough to withstand eventual wind gusts etc. •...
Page 17: Remote Control
(4) to adjust the original position of the stick, if needed. • The right stick (3) - the Throttle stick - controls the speed of the Sonobot. The stick stays in position once you release it. Therefore, the vehicle will move at chosen constant speed without the need to hold the control stick.
Page 18: Charging The Batteries
• Do not store fully charged batteries over long periods of time (several weeks). The batteries are best to store at half-charge. It is not necessary to take out the batteries for charging - three 3.5 A battery chargers are supplied with the Sonobot to charge the battery packs while they are still inside the vehicle.
Page 19 Propulsion batteries Propulsion batteries are charged over the same cables, that connect the ﬂoaters to the main body. • If the Sonobot is fully assembled, disconnect the ﬂoater connecting cables from the main body. • Connect the propulsion battery chargers (8-pin connectors) to the cables.
Page 20: Software Overview
The Radmin Viewer is installed on the ﬁeld PC and allows to connect to the on-board PC of the vehicle. Over wireless LAN, the software transfers a screen’s image from the Sonobot’s on-board PC and allows to control and monitor it. The software’s ﬁle transfer mode allows to easily download measurement data from the on-board PC even during the mission.
Page 21 Once the connection is established, in the Radmin Viewer window you will see the on-board PC’s screen with the Sonobot 2 software open (read more about the Sonobot 2 in section 4.3). Figure 21: Radmin Viewer: Sonobot screen...
Page 22 You have full control of the on-board PC over Radmin Viewer. If you minimize or close the Sonobot 2 window, you will see the on-board PC’s desktop: Figure 22: Radmin Viewer: on-board PC desktop The desktop contains shortcuts to all software, needed for Sonobot operation.
Page 23: Service Programs
4.1.2 Service programs Please note, that two service programs (hub4com startup and serial2.py) are running on the on-board PC. Don’t close these windows, the services are needed for correct vehicle operation. The serial2.py script displays the GPS output (GPGGA sentences) and service information: Figure 23: Radmin Viewer: serial2 service program If you have accidentally closed any service program, relaunch it with the corresponding desktop shortcut.
Page 24: Transferring Data To/From The Vehicle
4.1.3 Transferring data to/from the vehicle The File Transfer Mode of Radmin Viewer allows to transfer ﬁles between the ﬁeld PC and the on-board PC of the Sonobot. • Choose the File transfer option from the Mode menu or press the corresponding button in the toolbar.
Page 25: Horizon Mp Software
The built-in autopilot of the Sonobot allows to precisely drive the vehicle in the operating area to collect the necessary measurement data. The mission plan that deﬁnes the route of the vehicle in the area can be repeated as often as needed to monitor any changes of the area over time.
Page 26: Configure The Map
4.2.1 Conﬁgure the map To visually aid planning and executing the mission, you must add a georeferenced map of the operating area to the Map view of the Horizon user interface. To add the area’s map and setup its geographic location in Horizon, you will need an image of the area and geographical coordinates of two points on that image.
Page 27 • To add a new map, go to File Add Maps... in the Map Selector menu: Figure 29: Horizon: Map Selector Browse for an image ﬁle and click Open to add it as a new map. Most common image ﬁle types are accepted (see the manufacturer’s guide for the full list).
Page 28 • In the Select Map Coordinates dialog, choose Map Corners to enter coordinates of map corners or Tie Points to enter coordinates of two points on the map. Enter the coordinates into the corresponding ﬁelds. • If you are using two tie points to reference the map, you must ﬁrst place the tie points on it: click 1 or 2 in the left panel of the dialog or right-click on the map and select Place Tie Point 1 or Place Tie Point 2 from the drop-down menu.
Page 29 • After the coordinates of reference points are entered, press Ok to accept them. Figure 32: Horizon: accept map coordinates Next, the origin of the map must be set up.
Page 30 • Set the origin of the map: in the main Map Selector window, select the map from the list and press the Select Autopilot Origin... button (see Fig. 27). The Select Autopilot Origin dialog will open. Figure 33: Horizon: Select Autopilot Origin dialog...
Page 31 • Check the map in the map list of the Map Selector. This map will be active the next time the Horizon starts. • Press Save in the Map Selector plug in. The map is now ready to use for Sonobot mission planing.
Page 32: Create The Mission Plan
4.2.2 Create the mission plan To create a mission plan, you must specify some waypoints the vehicle has to pass on its route and save them to a waypoint ﬁle. To create a waypoint ﬁle, follow the steps below: • Open the Horizon software on the ﬁeld PC - use the desktop shortcut. •...
Page 33 – Longitude and Latitude are absolute coordinates - do not use the relative coordinates (the command above in the Append Waypoint menu), as the vehicle will then travel the programmed path regardless of the launch location. This is unsuitable for most Sonobot applications. Figure 37: Horizon: adding a new waypoint To move a waypoint, click-and-drag it to the new position.
Page 34 • Make an open perimeter around the operating area, placing at least three waypoints, as described above. Remember to use the fromto command from the Append Waypoint menu when placing new waypoints to create a perimeter. The image below provides an example of the perimeter, placed around an area on the map. Figure 38: Horizon: creating a perimeter around the area •...
Page 35 – Wpt. spacing, m deﬁnes the space between two generated waypoints within the grid. We recommend setting the waypoint spacing at 200 m. – Altitude ASP, m setting is irrelevant for Sonobot missions, set it to 1 m. – The Track heading setting deﬁnes the angle of the grid lines.
Page 36 – Enter the ﬁle name into the corresponding ﬁeld. – Choose Sonobot std.ﬂy from the list of available Wission Types and press Save. The waypoint ﬁle will be saved to the default saving location (C: Program Files Horizon3.4 ﬂy). We recommend to save the ﬁle to the default folder.
Page 37 • The generated grid will be displayed. Make corrections, if needed. Go to Menu File Save Waypoint File... to save the ﬁnal waypoint conﬁguration for the autopilot mission. Figure 42: Horizon: save a grid...
Page 38 • Select an existing ﬁle to overwrite it or enter the new ﬁlename. Press Save. Figure 43: Horizon: save the waypoint ﬁle The waypoint ﬁle for the next autopilot mission is now ready. Go to Menu File Close Waypoint File to ﬁnish editing the waypoint ﬁle.
Page 39: Transmit The Waypoints File
4.2.3 Transmit the waypoints ﬁle Before the mission, you will need to connect to the Sonobot and transmit the created waypoint ﬁle to the vehicle’s autopilot. This is best to perform after arriving at the mission site. After you assemble and turn on the vehicle and the WLAN station (as described in section 3), turn on the ﬁeld PC and connect to Sonobot (see section 4.1).
Page 40 • In the Flight Files list in the left control panel, select the waypoint ﬁle you want to transmit to the autopilot for the mission. Press the Transmit Waypoints button to the right of the list. Figure 45: Horizon: select the waypoint ﬁle •...
Page 41 • The dialog will display transmission progress. Press Close when transmission is complete. Figure 47: Horizon: transmit the waypoint ﬁle The waypoints ﬁle for the mission is now loaded into the autopilot. The autopilot is programmed for the next mission.
Page 42: Connect To Autopilot
4.2.4 Connect to autopilot The remote control unit of the Sonobot is necessary for system check-ups before the mission, as well as to manually steer the vehicle during the mission, if needed to avoid an obstacle or in other case of emergency. As soon as the autopilot is connected and launched, manual steering with the remote control is enabled as well.
Page 43: Start The Mission
4.2.5 Start the mission As the autopilot is launched before you set the vehicle aﬂoat, make sure the vehicle is in manual operating mode: make sure the remote control is turned on and is in Manual mode! Follow the steps below to launch the autopilot and enable manual and automatic steering: •...
Page 44 • Press the Takeoff button to launch the autopilot. Figure 51: Horizon: launch the autopilot Now the autopilot and the remote control are initialized. The vehicle’s propulsion system is now controlled by the remote control. You can perform the necessary on-shore and near-shore checks, as described in secton 5.
Page 45: During The Mission
• After you are done with system checks, and have steered the vehicle towards the ﬁrst waypoint of the route, click on the ﬁrst waypoint on the survey grid to select it. Right-click and choose Fly to selected waypoint from the menu. Figure 52: Horizon: launch the autopilot When manual steering will be switched to automatic, the vehicle will ride to the ﬁrst waypoint of the survey.
Page 46: Finishing Up The Mission
• Temporarily stop the vehicle by pressing the Stop button in the control panel: Figure 53: Horizon: stop the vehicle The vehicle will stop. To resume moving along the route, press the v3.6km/h button in the control panel or use the buttons in the instruments panel to increase vehicle speed from 0 km/h.
Page 47: Sonobot 2 Software
The Sonobot 2 displays and controls are organized in 4 tabs: the Status tab, the Echosounder tab, the Echosounder Display tab and the Advanced tab. General controls are located in the lower section of the Sonobot 2 window and are accessible from each of the three tabs: Figure 54: Sonobot 2: general controls •...
Page 48: Status Tab
4.3.2 Status Tab The Status tab of the Sonobot 2 software is pictured below. Figure 55: Sonobot 2: Status tab This tab displays information about the status of the vehicle’s systems. • The voltage (in V) of the propulsion batteries is displayed by the corresponding bar indicators (Left, V and Right, V, if viewed from the rear).
Page 49: Echosounder Tab
• The Water Level, m ﬁeld is the elevation (height above mean sea level) of the operating area in m. 4.3.3 Echosounder Tab The Echosounder tab of the Sonobot 2 software is pictured below. Figure 56: Sonobot 2: Echosounder tab The Echosounder tab allows to conﬁgure the vehicle’s echo-sounder settings.
Page 50 • After taking a few measurements, the system can automatically estimate the appropriate depth range for best results. The Auto-range OFF box must be checked in the beginning of the mission. Uncheck the Auto-range OFF to enable the automatic range estimation during the mission. •...
Page 51: Echosounder Display Tab
4.3.4 Echosounder Display Tab The Echosounder Display tab of the Sonobot 2 software is pictured below: Figure 57: Sonobot 2: Echosounder Display tab The Echosounder Display tab provides visual representation of echo-sounder measurements during the mission. Visual control of stored data is essential during data acquisition and is also recommended for surveys in unfamiliar areas.
Page 52 Figure 58: Sonobot 2: Echsounder Display tab - a depth proﬁle example The picture above is an example of a measured depth proﬁle. A lake was surveyed by driving the vehicle back and forth from the shore. The measurement results can be interpreted as following: •...
Page 53: Advanced Tab
EvoLogics! • The Sonobot geometry group deﬁnes the antenna height (A, in m), the Sonobot’s height above water (S, in m) and the height of the antenna’s extension (V, in m). The last value repeats the Extension, m value from the Status tab.
Page 54: Deepview Software
• Make sure the Sonobot 2 software is running on the on-board PC. Relaunch it with the desktop shortcut, if needed. • In Deep View, make sure the Center GPS button is pressed, and that GPS coordinates, the vehicle’s speed and the echousounder’s depth measurements are displayed in the upper right corner of the map view.
Page 55: Processing Measurement Data
• Press the Depth recording button to start storing depth measurement data. • Press the Play button to start real-time visualisation of the side-scan-sonar data. • Press the Record button to start saving side-scan-sonar data. • Monitor the visualisation of the measurement data on the map view. •...
Page 56: Mission Control
• Connect to the Sonobot’s on-board PC: – Launch the Radmin Viewer on the ﬁeld PC and click on the Sonobot icon, enter the login and password you received from EvoLogics to log into the on-board PC of the vehicle.
Page 57 • During the mission, you can monitor the results in the Deep View software (see more in section 4.4). • Monitor the battery charge in the Status tab of the Sonobot 2 software during the mission. The voltage should never drop below 13 V!
Page 58: During The Mission: Important Considerations
Payload and propulsion batteries During the mission, monitor the payload battery voltage and the propulsion battery voltage in the Sonobot 2 software (the Status tab). If for any battery pack the voltage is about to reach 13 V, recover the vehicle from the water and charge the batteries, as described in section 3.3.