Configuration and Setup

All sailing parameters can be found by searching for the prefix SAIL, the sailing code relies heavily on getting correct information on the wind direction and strength from the wind vane.

Other useful parameters

SAIL_NO_GO_ANGLE defines the no go zone into witch the sailing vehicle cannot travel. In auto heading modes the vehicle will tack at this angle into the true wind If the desired heading is within the no go zone. Note: this angle will be used whatever the wind strength and should be set with that in mind.

WP_OVERSHOOT defines the maximum cross track error in auto mode that is allowed before the vehicle will tack. This keeps the vehicle within a corridor of width 2* SAIL_XTRACK_MAX. If set to zero the vehicle will ignore the cross track error and only tack once it can reach its destination.

PIVOT_TURN_RATE defines the maximum rate used for tacking, a lower value will result in slower tack. This should be reduced if the vehicle is tacking too sharply and losing momentum while tacking.

LOIT_RADIUS defines the radius from the loiter point the vehicle will try and stay within, the vehicle will keep moving and tack back towards the loiter point once it reaches this radius.

SAIL_HEEL_MAX defines the angle at which the sail heel control PID controller is enabled. If the heel is larger than this angle the PID controller will target this angle however if the heel is less the controller will not try and reach it. i.e. only sheet out, don’t sheet in.

Heel control PIDs values are set using ATC_SAIL_x parameters. The effect of changing the value can be seen in ACRO mode by manually heeling the vehicle. Most control should be done using the P (ATC_SAIL_P) and I(ATC_SAIL_I)terms. D gain (ATC_SAIL_D) is usually too quick for the relatively slow response of the sail winch servos so should be left at zero. The PID values can be sent via Mavlink using GCS_PID_MASK.

Tacking in ACRO and AUTO mode while traveling upwind can be triggered through the use of an aux switch. This can be setup by setting the RCx_OPTION parameter to function 63 – sailboat tack.

Tuning

The steering rate and navigation should be tuned in the usual way. Care should be taken that the final parameters work well on all points of sail and at range of wind speeds. For tuning the navigation controller it is recommended that a simple two point mission is run. The mission should be set up such that the boat travels at 90 degrees to the wind. This can be run indefinitely using a do_jump waypoint. Note that the L1 controller is only used when the vehicle is not tacking close to the wind.

If the vehicle aggressively responds to changes in wind direction when traveling upwind either the wind vane direction filter frequency can be reduced or the maximum straight line rate reduced. Note that reducing the filter frequency will also slow the response of the sails.

The heel angle controller can be setup in two ways. A low I term (ATC_SAIL_I) can be used with a low max heel angle. In this case the controller will never hold at the max heel angle but will progressively sheet out as heel is increased. Alternatively the heel angle (SAIL_HEEL_MAX) can be set at the actual maximum desired heel and then higher gains used to more aggressively let the sails out. In this case larger I and I max values should be used. Unlike the P and I terms the D term is always active however due to the slow response of typical sail winch servos it is unlikely to prove useful, vehicles with faster servos may benefit from a small amount of D gain.

Fences

Sailboats behave in the same manner as other Rovers regarding fence operation and breach failsafe actions. However, unlike other Rovers, which slow as they approach a fence boundary, Sailboats will just attempt to tack away from the boundary since they have no speed controller, as such.