Study on the Application of Microcontroller-Based GPS Sensors on Floater Gliders to Reach the Specified Destination

The purpose of the study is to determine the performance of the control system of the floater glider to a predetermined location. The method used was a combination between software simulation and an experimental free-running test. The Floater control system is equipped with GPS as input and output sensors to determine coordinates or waypoints. The microcontroller mounted was Pixhawk 2.4.8 based on ARM cortex M4 – 32 bits. The floater was driven by two Brushless DC motors and servo motors to drive the Z-Peller steering to the desired trajectory. The floater system applies the default application software from Pixhawk, namely mission planner to plan and also monitor the actual trajectory. To have a proper procedure for testing the designed control system, the three stages of the test were conducted, firstly numerical tuning test using step function on MATLAB simulation, then trajectory simulation test of waypoint using mission planner, and finally the field test in the ILH pond. From the three stages of the test, it was found that the selection of PID gain values Kp = 0.2, Ki = 0.3, and Kd = 0.02, indicating the performance of the floater glider control system to the planned location has a good fit between the trajectory simulation results and the waypoint testing in the pond. These results can be used as a reference in conducting further research so that the navigation accuracy of the control system will be improved.