Arduino Projects For Your Boat

[sailboatmike]

I'm buying off Ebay and paying through PayPal, that way I have a money back guarantee if they go missing or are the wrong parts etc.

I find Ebay is much cheaper than AlliExpress (no middle man) as you say and I have found that delivery is as good as any.

Im planning just using the cheap compass that came with my kit for a starter HMC5883L (data sheet https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/datasheet ... ass_IC.pdf ) they cost about $5 on Ebay and its tripple axis so might not be all bad

I did lessons 4 and 5 last night, no real need for the kit to do these it about using strings and getting a input from the user, so mainly theoretical, Im thinking taking input from the compass every 5 seconds would be about right so the unit isn't constantly hunting when on the water

[Neo]

You can get money back on Ali too but I agree that PayPal is by far the best. I have never had a delivery from Chain quicker via ebay than via Ali .... but I am talking about only Free Delivery options.

I'm thinking taking input from the compass every 5 seconds would be about right so the unit isn't constantly hunting when on the water

Hmmm. I was thinking that a frequent update with averaging prior to any action. That way the odd false reading (due to things like pitch and roll) would be smoothed out. Sampling and averaging setting would need to be played with on the water .... Maybe some preset buttons for "rough seas" settings and "calm water" setting
I have been in a 26M with a Raymarine EV100 where it kept over steering and then over correcting (over and over again) in mildly choppy conditions.... So I know getting this to work right is going to take some doing

[sailboatmike]

Yes my old sport pilot had a low, medium and high gain setting which was user selected depending on the particular characteristics of the boat and the sea state.

If it was set wrong the path was like a zig zag stitch or like a large curve

[sailboatmike]

Here is something I found that might wet the appetite, controlling a stepper motor with a joystick and using limit switches

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQuTgngoFPQ

[Highlander]

One of my neighbors had something similar on his 32ft cruiser electric steering with a joy stick for his 15hp out board he uses for trolling when fishing he said it was really hard to use on windy days as u do not have any feel as to how far u r steering in any direction untill u realize u have gone to far
So he switched it out for a rear steering 15" wheel consul with hydraulic steering & says it works a lot better
So u got me thinking I should ask him if he still has it & how much he wants for it as I,m thinking I could use it on my for my 6Hp kicker it was a cabled remote joy stick not a cordless one so might get a good deal on it something for me to ponder on Mmm that is if he still has it & how much he is asking
it might work ok on our smaller & lighter boats and or could just have it as a back up steering system for the big motor for coming into tight area,s if the main steering system failed
J

[sailboatmike]

I was looking at it as a building block, add a compass module on and tell it what compass heading you want and the boat should head in that general direction

[DaveC426913]

I've considered lashing a trawling motor to my pulpit for tight maneuvering.

I abandoned the idea after envisioning the other sailors in my marina dragging me out behind the tool shed, stomping on my glasses and giving me an atomic wedgie.

[Neo]

I was looking at it as a building block, add a compass module on and tell it what compass heading you want and the boat should head in that general direction

I have my project kit now and I'm hoping to start back on the lessons soon .... But would also like to sail sometime soon too

Today I've tried to get more information on an Arduino Autopilot (and investigated Ardupilot / ArduBoat projects) - but nothing seems clear or very informative .... Anyway I have come across this... "The HMC6343 is a fully integrated high end electronic compass module that can compute and give you heading direction that’s accurate within a couple degrees. It is tilt compensated and is calibrated to handle magnetic distortions" ...This looks great but the price is OFF THE PLANET!! is this the only shield that has tilt compensation and high accuracy?

I've considered lashing a trawling motor to my pulpit for tight maneuvering.

I'm lost whats a trawling motor got to do with an Arduino Project?

[sailboatmike]

Here is a guy that used a separate accelerometer and compass, he even has made a library for it

Update
I have now made a tilt compensated compass with two very cheap modules, the HMC5883 and the MMA7660. I have used my own two libraries for these, and this is the code to use the data to create the tilt compensated heading. So this the code for compass tilt compensation using arduino in cpp.
http://www.timzaman.com/2011/04/heading ... d-compass/

Of course you could just use a GPS shield to give direction, that may not need tilt compensation, however I may be wrong (and often am, but thats how we learn new stuff). While a GPS isnt going to give high directional accuracy it may do the job

[sailboatmike]

Just as a update, the project hasn't been forgotten, just put on the back burner a bit as I get things ready for winter here.

Once those cold dark winter nights set in I will be back at it

I have some great ideas and am working things, I pulled apart my dysfunctional SportPilot Plus and have looked how that manages the drive, its massively over engineered for something that a mere 6 or 7 years later you couldn't buy parts for. Still struggling to see the point of building mechanics that will last for 50 years if they stop selling spares a few years later.

Mine was purchased in 1996 and reading through the forums as early as 2002 Raymarine were advising that parts were not available and people should buy a new unit if they had issues.

[Neo]

I'm still here too Mike lol!... but since getting my kit progress has been non-existent.... Far too many distractions.

It's funny I thought of the Autopilot only yesterday... I towed my Mac 70Klm to Lake Macquarie because I wanted to spend a few days on the water with the Admiral. Got her (the Mac) in the water, started the OB, casted off from the jetty and then discovered the wheel would not turn because the steering was seized!!! .... And with my dual helmbox system both OB and rudders were locked dead straight!... In desperation I disconnected the OB steering rod and reversed back to the jetty by turning the OB with my hands.... With the wind offset and against me it was a real challenge!
Anyway the OB steering cable (as it passed through the OB tilt tube) had seized .... that's my fault because I neglected the grease it properly when I installed it originally.

But the whole situation got me thinking that in case of seized (or stiff) steering system the Autopilot controller should (at some point) give up trying to steer the boat and sound an alert.... Whats your thoughts on this?

[sailboatmike]

But the whole situation got me thinking that in case of seized (or stiff) steering system the Autopilot controller should (at some point) give up trying to steer the boat and sound an alert.... Whats your thoughts on this?

I think the way Raymarine do it is have a time limit to change positions, this could be monitored by a rudder position sensor (read rotary encoder), Raymarine charge you about $400 for the privilege of supplying you this encoder. It really isnt brain surgery as far as I can see.

Was thinking about doing a flow diagram to figure out the logic that needs to be programmed in

[Sumner]

....But the whole situation got me thinking that in case of seized (or stiff) steering system the Autopilot controller should (at some point) give up trying to steer the boat and sound an alert.... Whats your thoughts on this?

I've run with the autopilot on the Mac a lot and we used the one on the Endeavour this last trip. I love them but I'm still there paying attention to what is going on. I might go below for a minute or use them to drop the sails or raise them but the rest of the time I'm still at the helm paying attention to what is going on. I don't really see a need for an alarm personally. If you can get the whole thing working I'd take that as a major accomplishment. Then think about add-ons if you think they are still needed. It is an interesting project and hope you guys keep us posted during the development of it,

Sumner

============================
1300 miles to the Bahamas and back -- 2015

The MacGregor 26-S

The Endeavour 37

Trips to Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[BOAT]

The EV100 tiller pilot I use will sound a course alarm if the boat is off course and it cannot correct the situation. The only time I have ever had that happen was because the wind went to ZERO and stayed there for like 20 minutes one hot summer morning out in the Pacific. I drifted to a complete stop. The pilot was fine with that until the swells started to turn the boat and there was not enough forward movement for the rudders to do anything (I was wallowing) – the pilot started moving the rudders back and forth doing everything it could to stay pointing in the right direction and I remember looking at the AP head and saying “Ha! Welcome to my world!” – a few seconds after that the pilot sounded an alarm and went into standby mode asking for my help. I said: “Hey, don’t feel so bad – it happens to me too” so I disconnected the pilot from the steering linkage and started sculling the rudder to get the boat back in position to catch the wind which finally came back up a few minutes later.

There are several alarm mode on the EV100 – they are all very useful and work well. I can describe them here if your interested.

[K9Kampers]

How are y'alls Arduino projects coming along? I never carried my curiosity beyond this thread...