Navigation / Embedded systems
USV Main Control Unit
- PCB design
- CAN bus
- Ethernet
- STM32
Developed as part of professional work. Architecture is described at a high level; proprietary schematics, source code and client details are omitted.
The problem
An autonomous navigation computer needs a hardware bridge to actually command and read back from vessel systems — thrusters, sensors, power. Two vessel programs needed this: OKHAN’s main control unit, and the AUTOPLAN INA project (MarTERA / Horizon 2020), which interfaces with the INA autonomous navigation assistant. TODO(berk): confirm and sharpen this framing.
My role
I designed the main control unit hardware for OKHAN, and the hardware architecture and PCB design of AUTOPLAN INA’s main control unit — the board that enables communication between the autonomous computer and vessel systems and provides centralized control of operational components and user-interface integration.
Constraints
TODO(berk): marine environment (vibration, ingress protection), power budget, real-time/latency requirements between the autonomous computer and actuators.
System architecture
TODO(berk): block diagram (SVG) showing the autonomous computer, the main control unit, and the vessel subsystems it bridges.
Firmware design
TODO(berk): task structure, how commands from the autonomous computer are validated and applied, safety interlocks.
Communication
TODO(berk): protocols used between the autonomous computer and the control unit, and between the control unit and vessel subsystems — CAN, Ethernet — and why.
Hardest problem
TODO(berk): the specific integration failure — e.g. a timing or protocol mismatch surfaced during field testing — how it was diagnosed and fixed.
Result
TODO(berk): measured outcome from system integration and field testing.
What I’d do differently
TODO(berk)