BlueBoat Unmanned Surface Vehicle

Regular price $6,291.00

The BlueBoat is the planet’s most affordable robotic surface vessel. With an innovative hull design, endless expansion possibilities, and open-source BlueOS software, it’s the ideal platform for hydrographic surveys and robotics system development.

The BlueBoat is designed to carry any payload that you want to integrate and to do so better than any other vehicle its size. We fit all of the control electronics, batteries, and wiring into the hulls so that the space between the hulls is completely dedicated to payload integration. The hulls are designed with flat inner walls, creating a low-wake sensor area ideal for survey sonars.

The BlueBoat can carry up to 15 kg (33 lb) of batteries and payload. The cross members, brackets, and the bottom of the hull have mounting points so that you can mount anything, whether it’s a hydrographic survey echosounder, an enclosure full of prototype electronics, or both!

Electronics areas in both hulls leave plenty of dry space for internal hardware integration with access to dedicated payload power, interhull communications, and holes for electrical penetrators or connectors.

The BlueBoat’s unique deep hull shape pushes weeds and debris down and out of the way. Anything that isn’t pushed down is brushed away by highly swept weedless propellers driven by two M200 Motors. That means that whether you’re doing a bathymetric survey in a weed-filled lake or studying a plastic-polluted waterway, you can count on the BlueBoat to get it done.

Every BlueBoat includes a Navigator Flight Controller, GPS, and ArduRover control firmware with advanced autonomous navigation capabilities. Out of the box it can perform precision GPS waypoint navigation, position hold at a location, follow-me maneuvers, geo-fencing, automatic return-to-home if radio signal is lost, and more. Drag and drop mission planning makes it easy to design a complex mission in minutes.

If you prefer to operate the vehicle manually or take pride in smoothly docking it at the end of a mission, you can use a joystick controller to show off your skills.

 

The BlueBoat has a long-range wifi radio that connects to the BaseStation box from up to 1 km away using the standard antennas. The BaseStation acts as a wifi access point that you can connect to to interact with the boat. It has an internal battery as well as a USB-C port for charging and a hardwired network connection.

If you’re operating multiple boats, they can all be connected through a single BaseStation box. In addition to the wifi radios, the BlueBoat will eventually be compatible with other types of communication for longer range, such as 4G LTE and Iridium satellite communications.

With a folding hull and frame design, the BlueBoat fits in the trunk of just about any car. Quick release handles allow you to switch between the folded and deployed configurations in seconds.

The BlueBoat comes almost fully assembled and only takes a few minutes to get into the water. In addition to the boat, you’ll need a few things to get started:

  • Laptop – We recommend a medium to high-end model with Windows 10, Mac, or Linux operating systems. There are also some compatible tablets including the Windows Surface tablets. iOS and Android are not officially supported at this time.
  • Battery – We recommend our 14.8v, 15.6Ah lithium-ion battery for the best battery life, but we can’t ship it to all locations! There are other compatible batteries that can be used as well. We’d recommend getting a few for extended operation.
  • Battery Charger – We have a recommended charger as well, but any lithium-ion battery charger that can handle your battery will work!
  • Gamepad Controller (optional) – If you want to control the boat manually, we recommend a gamepad controller like the Xbox Wireless Controller.

Specifications

Parameter Value
Performance
Endurance @ 1 m/s (~30 W), no payload:
2 Batteries (532 Wh, 2.4 kg) 18 hrs (65 km)
4 Batteries (1064 Wh, 4.7 kg) 36 hrs (130 km)
6 Batteries (1596 Wh, 7.0 kg) 50 hrs (180 km)
8 Batteries (2128 Wh, 9.3 kg) 62 hrs (220 km)
Solar Power (user equipped) Indefinite
Maximum Speed (2 batteries, no payload) 3 m/s 6 kts
Maximum Static Thrust 8.2 kgf 18 lbf
Temperature Rating (air) -25 to 40°C -13 to 104°F
Temperature Rating (water) 0 to 40°C 32 to 104°F
Steering Skid Steering
Payload and Expansion Capabilities
Payload Capacity (batteries + payload) 15 kg 33 lb
Payload Power Battery Voltage @ 60 A (Direct Connection)
Battery Voltage @ 10 A (Fuse Board)
5V Auxiliary @ 5 A (Fuse Board)
Penetrator Holes (Starboard Hatch Lid)
2 x M10
Area to drill more
Penetrator Holes (Port Hatch Lid) 4 x M10
2 x M14
Area to drill more
Available Ports and Interfaces 3 x Serial UART
Ethernet (Blue Robotics Ethernet Switch required)
2 x USB 2.0
2 x USB 3.0
1 x 16-bit ADC (3.3 V)
1 x 16-bit ADC (6.6 V)
Physical
Dimensions (Length x Width x Height) 120 x 93 x 46 cm (deployed)
120 x 71 x 24 cm (folded)
120 x 46 x 20 cm (packaged)
47 x 36.5 x 18 in (deployed)
47 x 28 x 9.5 in (folded)
47 x 18 x 8 in (packaged)
Weight (no batteries or payload) 14.5 kg 32 lb
Freeboard (2 batteries, no payload) 160 mm 6.3 in
Maximum Draft (maximum payload) 320 mm 12.6 in
Propulsion 2 x M200 Motor w/ Weedless Propeller
Propeller Diameter 112 mm 4.4 in
Navigation Light 5V 2W LED, White All-Around, PWM-Programmable Flashing
Primary Materials LDPE (hulls)
30% Glass-filled Polycarbonate
Anodized Aluminum
Stainless Steel
Communications
Wireless Communications Protocol 802.11a/b/g/n (2412 - 2462MHz)
Wireless Router MikroTik RBGroove-52HPn
Default Wireless Configuration Client Mode (CPE)
BaseStation Router Default IP Address 192.168.2.3
BlueBoat Router Default IP Address 192.168.2.4
Included Antenna 7 dBi 2.4Ghz Omnidirectional, N-Male Connector
Wireless Range (w/ included antennas) up to 1 km up to 0.54 nm
Wireless Range (w/ directional antennas, not included) >10 km >5.4 nm
Cellular & Satellite Communications Capable, see integration guides
Software
Vehicle Control ArduRover
Onboard Operating System BlueOS
Onboard Operating System Default Address blueos.local (192.168.2.2)
Recommended Mission-planning Software QGroundControl or Mission Planner
Navigation Capabilities Manual Control (w/ Joystick)
Waypoint Navigation (Auto)
Click-to-Navigate (Guided)
Position Hold (Loiter)
Return-to-Home (if connection lost)
Electronics and Electrical System
Onboard Computer Raspberry Pi 4 w/ BlueOS
Flight Controller Navigator
Sensors 6-DOF IMU
Dual 3-DOF compasses
Internal barometer
GPS mRobotics M10034-M9N, (NEO-M9N, IST8308)
Speed Controllers Basic ESC 500 (BlueBoat Configuration)
Power Load Switching PowerSwitch (120A, 4S/6S Battery, Current/Voltage Sense, 5V/8A Out)
Recommended Battery Blue Robotics 4S Lithium-Ion
Input Voltage Range 12–26 VDC¹ (4S–6S Batteries)
4S Low Battery Voltage Protection Cutoff 8 V
6S Low Battery Voltage Protection Cutoff 12 V
5V Auxiliary Output 5 A
Individual Battery Fuses 60 A MIDI
System Fuse 150 A MIDI
Fuse Board Mini-ATC (2 A, 5 A, 10 A fuses included)
Regulatory
Harmonized code 8907.90.0090 (BlueBoat only)
9015.80.8080 (when equipped with hydrographic sensors)
Compatible Operating System
Windows Windows 10 64-bit or later
MacOS 10.20 or later
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or later
Recommended Control Computer Hardware
Processor i5 processor equivalent or better
RAM 8GB or more
Storage Solid-state drive (SSD)
¹ Voltages up to 26V may be used at reduced throttle level.