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Overview

Blue provides a set of tools implemented using ROS 2 that help you test and deploy software for underwater vehicles. This is accomplished through the following features:

  1. Simulation using Gazebo: Vehicle models and configurations have been created for Gazebo. We have found that Gazebo provides a good representation of how the vehicle will behave in the real world.
  2. CI/CD pipelines: Blue implements CI/CD pipelines to help you deploy your software in the same environment that you performed development and testing in. Docker images are built for the amd64 and arm64 CPU architectures so that you can easily deploy your software to a variety of hardware platforms.
  3. Development environment: Blue provides a development environment that includes all of the tools you need to develop software for underwater vehicles, such as ROS 2, Gazebo, linters, and formatters. This helps you avoid spending resources setting up your development environment and focus on writing your robotics algorithms 😀
  4. Custom control and localization algorithms: Blue supports custom controllers implemented using auv_controllers and localization algorithms implemented using blue_localization.
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The features implemented in blue_localization are currently being ported to marine_localization. Keep an eye on that repository for the latest changes and updates.

Blue is designed to be flexible and modular, enabling you to make changes according to the needs of your project. However, our commitment to flexibility does not compromise our effort to ensure that the provided system caters to a wide range of use cases. With this in mind, we recommend the following workflow for using Blue:

Supported vehicles​

Several vehicle models have been implemented and tested with Blue in simulation and on hardware. These vehicles include:

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BlueROV2

The BlueROV2 is a popular lightweight underwater vehicle made by Blue Robotics that is used for hobby, research, and commercial applications.

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BlueROV2 Heavy

The BlueROV2 Heavy is an extension to the BlueROV2 made by Blue Robotics that includes additional thrusters and a larger frame to improve the vehicle's manueverability.

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BlueROV2 Heavy Reach

The BlueROV2 Heavy Reach modifies the BlueROV2 Heavy by moving the thrusters located on the upper chassis to the lower chassis. This was proposed by Reach Robotics to enable integration of a small manipulator for intervention tasks.