SPECTRE board

Last Updated on Wednesday, 22 December 2010 11:40 Written by Alison Little Friday, 26 March 2010 15:39

Attention: open in a new window.

The technology developed using the simulation environment includes a suite of self-tuning autopilots and attitude control, and this has been incorporated into the Spectre Processor Board. This board weighs 75g and provides 7 serial I/O channels and multiple analogue and digital I/O channels and supports standard navigational instruments and sensors. Boards may be daisy-chained to expand the I/O still further as may be required for more complex vehicles.

Autopilot controller algorithms, including

Heading control,
Speed control,
Track following, including event management at waypoints,
Vehicle following,
Obstacle avoidance / collision avoidance,
Attitude and depth control,
Hovering / Dynamic Positioning.

Machinery and control surface interfaces

Analogue, e.g. analogue I/O voltages, Pulse Width Modulation,
Digital I/O, e.g. ON/OFF, ENABLE and DIRECTION signals,
User requested: Additional interfaces may be provided upon request.

Navigational instrument / sensor interfaces

NMEA 0183 serial interface, standard NMEA uses 4800 baud, but each port may be individually configured to different baudrates,
Analogue and Digital input: e.g. voltage from a pressure sensor,
TCM2 propriety interface format,
User requested: Additional interfaces may be provided upon request.

Communications interface protocol

The propriety communications protocol is robust and efficient and ideally suited for low bandwidth applications. This allows RS232, radio or acoustic communications between the remote control operator workstation and the 3D-MC board.

Operator User Inteface

The standard remote control workstation includes a PC, or laptop PC, running the RCW software which provides:
- Route planning and upload/download,
- Mission recording and replay,
- Electronic chart input/output for vehicle activity, waypoints, routes,
- Vehicle system status and control,
- Payload system status and control.
The workstation may be supplemented by a handheld remote control unit for convenient use.