{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"Projects","provider_url":"https:\/\/projects.schneidr.de","author_name":"Gerald","author_url":"https:\/\/projects.schneidr.de\/author\/admin\/","title":"Boat arrived","html":"Today I got the boat I ordered last week. As stated previously, it is an \"Atlantic Yacht\" by Heng Long. The boat was returned to the retailer, so he sold it as defective on eBay. Since it was returned I expected something broken, but hoped it wouldn't be serious. Well, it exceeded my expectations. At least regarding the \"broken parts\", its performance leaves to be desired.\r\n\r\nFirst a full view of the boat.\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\r\nNow the broken part which I suspect was the reason the boat was returned:\r\n\r\n\"\"<\/a>\r\n\r\nOne of the three windshield wipers is loose. At least that's the only thing I can find that doesn't seem to work. I guess when I pay 50 \u20ac for a boat I expect everything to be fine, but this way I got a pretty good deal for the 13,10 \u20ac I paid for it.\r\n\r\nNow for the disappointing part. The boat has no working rudder. It is only steered by the two screws, both screws turning when moving forward, only one turning when it is steered to one side. The rudder is not just for show though, It is used to correct the straight forward movement if the motors aren't fully in sync.\r\n\r\n\"\"<\/a>Driving the boat is not as smooth as I hoped. Moving the control sticks on the remote yields to no result until at about two thirds the motors start to turn at full power.It is not capable of moving backwards. I hope that will change when I control it with an ArduPilot.\r\n\r\nThis brings me to another problem. As far as I gathered so far the ArduPilot is meant to control vehicles which have a rudder. I found nothing so far about controlling two individual motors independently. A member of the DIY Drones community already pointed me to an \"Arduino Dual Motor Shield Kit\", so I guess I'll have to try if that works for me.\r\n\r\nLast, but not least, some more pictures I took which I think don't need any explanation.\r\n\r\n[gallery link=\"file\" orderby=\"title\" exclude=\"55,57,60\"]","type":"rich","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/projects.schneidr.de\/files\/2011\/09\/P1070588-150x150.jpg","thumbnail_width":150,"thumbnail_height":150}