System Startup (BlueROV)

The Omnitrack system comprises three major subsystems: the ROV Locator, the Tracker 650 DVL, and the ROV. The ROV Locator has three subsystems of its own: The transmitter/transponder, the receiver/transceiver, and the GNSS compass. The ROV has two subsystems of its own that are relevant to our discussion: the autopilot software (ArduSub) and the interface between the network and the autopilot software (MAVLink).

Each subsystem starts up at different rates. There are inter-dependencies between the subsystems that require start-up synchronization. Omnitrack was designed to be very tolerant of start-up order and of subsystems dropping off and rejoining the system (for example, when one part of the system is power-cycled and the others are not).

This section briefly describes the startup of each subsystem, so you know what to expect.