Files
scottp 95bc2ae9fe docs: fix dangling references, document Gitea/GitHub mirror split
CONTRIBUTING.md: remove the deleted wii5_modes sketch from the testing
guidance; mention the surviving test/ subsystem sketches instead.

README.md: drop the now-incorrect "hardware schematics" entry from the
repository-layout block (doc/hardware/ was removed earlier). Add a
Repository section naming the Gitea canonical and the GitHub mirror
(https://github.com/SH3D/WII5Firmware) used for community issues and PRs.

SECURITY.md, CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md: point at the GitHub mirror for security
advisories; drop the vague "private GitHub message" path from the CoC.

CHANGELOG: replace the "TODO" placeholder with a real v5.5.1 initial
public release entry.

Doxyfile: rewrite the PROJECT_NUMBER injection example to use
`git describe` instead of the deleted VERSION file.

VERSION: removed. It was bumped by tools/tag_version.sh +
tools/build_version.sh (both deleted in c89c636); build_local.sh injects
WII5_SOFTWARE_VERSION from `git log -1 --pretty=%h` at compile time, so
nothing load-bearing depends on the file.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-05-14 11:06:27 +10:00

5.5 KiB

WII5 Buoy Firmware

Firmware for an autonomous wave-measurement buoy. Reads wave motion from a Sparton AHRS, samples GPS and battery state, and reports back over Iridium SBD satellite telemetry. Targets the ATmega2560 on a custom WII5 v2 board.

"WII5 = WII3 WDT + WII1 Buoy Combined" — the firmware merges the older WII3 watchdog/maths-CPU lineage with the WII1 buoy I/O lineage. Design notes and lineage live in doc/.

First written in 2011 and first deployed in Antarctica with NIWA in 2012; data collected was published in Nature.

Overview

The buoy runs in one of several modes:

  • Capture — IMU/wave-motion data capture and SD logging
  • Position — periodic GPS position + Iridium telemetry only (low power)
  • Sleep — long sleeps between wake-ups, Maths CPU off
  • Manual Test — operator-driven hardware exercise via console
  • Self Test — automated boot-time hardware checks
  • Low Battery — degraded operation when batteries are low

Mode is selected from EEPROM defaults, then can be overridden by Iridium commands, the local console, or battery-management state. See doc/MODES.txt and WII5Controller.cpp::calculateCurrentMode().

Hardware

  • Main board: WII5 v2 (custom AVR carrier)
  • MCU: ATmega2560 @ 11.0592 MHz, 256 KB flash, 8 KB RAM, 4 KB EEPROM
  • IMU / wave sensor: Sparton AHRS-M1 or AHRS-M2 (NorthTek-programmable)
  • Sat radio: Iridium 9602 / 9603 SBD
  • GPS: u-blox NEO-6M / NEO-7M (NMEA, parsed via TinyGPS++)
  • Storage: dual SD cards (one active, one reserve)
  • Sensors: Dallas DS18B20 temperature, battery voltage analog inputs

External vendor documentation is not redistributed in this repo; see doc/EXTERNAL_REFERENCES.md for links.

Build & flash

This is an Arduino-IDE / arduino-cli project, not PlatformIO.

# Verify the sketch compiles
arduino-cli compile \
    -b WII:avr:wii5_v2_2560_3V:cpu=atmega25603V3_11MHz230400 \
    app/wii5_buoy/wii5_buoy.ino

# Or use the parameterized helper script
WII5_BUILD_DIR=~/Arduino/build \
WII5_AVRDUDE_CONF=~/.arduino15/.../avrdude.conf \
WII5_SERIAL=/dev/ttyUSB0 \
WII5_FULL_HEX=~/Arduino/build/wii5_buoy.ino.hex \
    tools/build_local.sh

The tools/ scripts are all parameterized via env vars — read each script's preamble for the variables it expects. Copy any of them to *.local.sh (gitignored) if you want to set defaults locally.

Library dependencies (install via Arduino Library Manager or arduino-cli lib install): TimeLib, RTClib, elapsedMillis, TinyGPSPlus, AvgStd, IridiumSBD, OneWire, DallasTemperature, SDBlock, CRC32, PushButton, MemoryFree, LowPower, EEPROMEx, RadioHead.

RadioHead is dual-licensed GPLv2 / commercial. The default ATmega2560 build does not link RadioHead; only LoRa-enabled builds (-DWII5_RADIO_LORA) do, and binaries distributed from such builds inherit GPLv2 terms.

Architecture

Each subsystem is a class deriving from WII5 (base) or WII5Power (power-managed peripherals). Singleton instances hang off the global namespace (wii5Controller, wii5Iridium, wii5Sparton, etc.) and are called from WII5Controller::loop() according to the active mode.

Top-level entry points:

  • app/wii5_buoy/wii5_buoy.inosetup() / loop()
  • WII5Setup.cpp — initial hardware bring-up
  • WII5Controller.cpp — main loop, mode dispatch, watchdog
  • WII5Commands.cpp — text-protocol command handler (console + Iridium)

LED status codes

LEDs are the field-diagnostic language; preserve their meanings.

Mode / state LED 1 Notes
Capture (default after 5 min) LED_SHORT
Capture, waiting LED_SLOW
Capture, error LED_FAST
Capture, just started LED_TRIPPLE reverts to LED_SHORT after 5 min
Sleep LED_DOUBLE
Low Battery LED_TRIPPLE_GAP
Position LED_SHORT (same as Capture default — disambiguate by mode)
Off / asleep / broken LED_OFF not a "safe" indicator
On (no blink) LED_ON not safe — may have crashed
Idle / good LED_SLOW

Field deployments

A running log of notable real-world deployments lives in DEPLOYMENTS.md.

Repository layout

app/wii5_buoy/        Arduino sketch entry point
WII5*.{h,cpp}         Firmware source (board root, see Architecture)
WII5_board_v2.h       Pin/peripheral map for the WII5 v2 board
doc/                  Design notes, command reference, generated API docs
test/                 Smaller per-subsystem test sketches
tools/                Build, flash, and size-profile helper scripts
                      (env-var driven; copy to *.local.sh to set local
                      defaults)

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. Please also read CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md and SECURITY.md before opening issues or PRs.

Repository

The canonical source is hosted on Gitea:

A read-only mirror is published on GitHub for community issues and pull requests:

Open issues and PRs against the GitHub mirror; changes are reviewed there and merged back through the Gitea canonical.

Contact

License

Apache License 2.0 — see LICENSE and NOTICE.

Copyright 2012-2024 Scott Penrose scottp@dd.com.au and WII5 Buoy contributors.