DIY boat electronics, starting from scratch, what would you use?

[GILow]

A quick update on this one.

I have been looking at the M5Stack suggested by conachair and I have to say, it looks practically perfect for my needs.

Mainly because each of my projects needed a simple LCD display, which is often the fiddliest bit to get right, and each project needed some simple control buttons, which are a PITA to wire up, and this system has them all there ready to go in the box.

I have not yet crunched the final numbers but it actually looks like this approach might even be CHEAPER because I do not need to source those extra components, such as LCD displays and buttons.

The documentation does look a little patchy, but the community support forums are up and running and seem to have bridged that gap.

[OldGreyB]

In your shoes for autopilot, probably head to pypilot as the hard work has been done and there is an active forum as noted already in this thread by boat_alexandra. https://pypilot.org/

However an Interesting thread here: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...-216728-2.html

I am an Arduino fan all the way. Like others I buy both clone and original hardware. All the clones have always worked and the very low cost means I can have several projects on the go on my workbench at once. You can then load code to an original hardware for a long term solution.

Heaps of library's of codes, ideas and forums via the www. For your heater and even wind generator control, google Arduino PID controller. Basically one can clip and modify existing code to code to what ever you want at very low time and cost. Hardening for outdoor and marine use includes spraying with polyurethane and / or silicon encapsulation.

Huge range of end devices available at many vendors and price points. I buy sensors / displays / actuators / interface modules in bulk, as postage can be the major cost, so may as well bulk up!

Some links to arduino device shopping:
• https://hobbyking.com/en_us/catalogs...ult/?q=arduino
• https://www.robotshop.com/en/catalog...vance&dir=desc
• https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-arduino.html

[RaymondR]

I went and had a look at the thread Old GreyB suggested and found this gem,

"For what it is worth -- here is my humble opinion. I purchased Raspberry Pi 3B+ and thought it would work exactly as you think. Oops, this little board does not have much memory, only 1 GB. It is not particularly fast as well. Really, it is not enough for a capable systerm."

My first computer back in 1983 was a Dick Smith Super 80 kit with all of 16k of ram and an old single track tape for storage and an old 10" B&W TV for a monitor.

The technology might be making rapid progress but human nature doesn't appear to be going any where at a rapid pace.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by OldGreyB

In your shoes for autopilot, probably head to pypilot as the hard work has been done ...

...

Heaps of library's of codes, ideas and forums via the www. For your heater and even wind generator control, google Arduino PID controller. Basically one can clip and modify existing code to code to what ever you want at very low time and cost. ...[/URL]

Yeah, nah! (Australian for no, but you'd know that.) I really don't like using other people's code. Some logical, some illogical and some emotional reasons behind this feeling.

Logical: I don't want to be debugging some other idiot's thinking in a crisis.
Illogical: I will do a better job than them anyway.
Emotional: I get far more satisfaction out of doing it myself from scratch than cutting an pasting something someone else wrote. The joy is in the journey of learning.

So yeah, I know about those projects, but I will stick with the code I have written already. It works a treat for me, and it is has about 1/100 th of the number of lines in that pypilot project.

As for Raspberry vs Arduino etc... at the moment quasi Arduino in the form of M5Stack is kinda winning me over.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

I went and had a look at the thread Old GreyB suggested and found this gem,

"For what it is worth -- here is my humble opinion. I purchased Raspberry Pi 3B+ and thought it would work exactly as you think. Oops, this little board does not have much memory, only 1 GB. It is not particularly fast as well. Really, it is not enough for a capable systerm."

Yeah, and my previous systems were all running on picaxe. I just checked the specs, 2048 bytes of memory on the one that was running the wind generator and heater, and 4096 bytes for the autopilot. 32 MHz clock speed on each.

Different strokes for different folks hey?

[conachair]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

"For what it is worth -- here is my humble opinion. I purchased Raspberry Pi 3B+ and thought it would work exactly as you think. Oops, this little board does not have much memory, only 1 GB. It is not particularly fast as well. Really, it is not enough for a capable systerm.".

With the graphics accelerator turned on the Pi3 is actually plenty fast enough. Even with it turned off it's fine. Amazing just how much it can do for so little cost and power

[conachair]

Originally Posted by GILow

As for Raspberry vs Arduino etc... at the moment quasi Arduino in the form of M5Stack is kinda winning me over.

They are very different beasts so a comparison isn't that easy really... Though adding a Pi doesn't cost much and opens so many doors for doing useful things with all that lovely boat data
Or if you are running a laptop underway loading signalk and a database can do lots as well though with bigger power consumption.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by conachair

They are very different beasts so a comparison isn't that easy really... Though adding a Pi doesn't cost much and opens so many doors for doing useful things with all that lovely boat data

Or if you are running a laptop underway loading signalk and a database can do lots as well though with bigger power consumption.

You see, the thing is, I spent the last 30 years working with databases for a living. So the LAST thing I want on the boat is another database.

It was a real wrestle for me just to use Excel to track boat maintenance instead of a paper journal.

[Lake-Effect]

My basis for choice is whether I just need a well-defined, specific functionality - for which i would use a microcontroller or an Arduino... or whether i need a dedicated little "computer" running a small Linux OS which will be performing a bunch of related tasks - for which I would select a raspberry Pi or similar single-board computer.

[sailorchic34]

I made my own DIY autopilot last year. Using a Pi3 ($35), a 13amp H bridge driver card ($13) for the 12v motor, 12v to 5v dc converter ($7), a small display ($4) and a heading sensor ($10). I'm now adding a GUI to use remotely in a headless config.. Added waterproof case, bulkhead connectors and waterproof buttons and a wired remote for a hair over $100.



A Pi zero would be plenty for a standalone autopilot. I used the Pi3 as it was easier to develop on in linux. A autopilot is not computationally heavy.



The Pypilot is pretty nice. I however wanted the enjoyment of making my own from scratch. It's not too hard really. Heck my next may be a black box version with using a tablet headless for a control head. The tablet would also run OpenCPN in a separate window.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by GILow

You see, the thing is, I spent the last 30 years working with databases for a living. So the LAST thing I want on the boat is another database.

It was a real wrestle for me just to use Excel to track boat maintenance instead of a paper journal.

Except you do....... cos it's so immensely useful and takes ten minutes to set up then forget about it, signalk does all the work for you. .... Until you want to see what the barometer did overnight or how the battery voltage is doing while charging compared to a few few weeks ago..
Just install the sigk app and influxdb database and chronograf web based viewer. Very powerful resource to have and so simple to implement, no tables to set up, sigK and influxdb take care of all that in the background.

Takes a little longer to set up on Windows as it's actually easier to install linux first.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by conachair

Except you do....... cos it's so immensely useful and takes ten minutes to set up then forget about it, signalk does all the work for you. .... Until you want to see what the barometer did overnight or how the battery voltage is doing while charging compared to a few few weeks ago..
Just install the sigk app and influxdb database and chronograf web based viewer. Very powerful resource to have and so simple to implement, no tables to set up, sigK and influxdb take care of all that in the background.

Takes a little longer to set up on Windows as it's actually easier to install linux first.

I actually felt the urge to jump overboard then.

Maybe when I've been away from the desk for a few years I will see the light. I am not denying the elegance and usefulness of what you are suggesting... it's just... it feels a LOT like work to me.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

My basis for choice is whether I just need a well-defined, specific functionality - for which i would use a microcontroller or an Arduino... or whether i need a dedicated little "computer" running a small Linux OS which will be performing a bunch of related tasks - for which I would select a raspberry Pi or similar single-board computer.

Yep, pretty good summary I reckon.

I am firmly in the former camp for now, with all due regard to the good points made by conachair.

Maybe when I've been cruising around long enough to be bored enough to start playing with some serious programming I will ramp up the processing power and move on to the Pi or something similar.

But for now, I just want the hot water and heating to work, the wind generator to stop fighting the solar charge controllers and the autopilot to stop having senile dementia moments.

The M5Stack looks like it will get me where I need to go with a minimum of fuss.

Thank you all for the great advice, I figured Cruisers Forum was the place to go to find out which hardware platforms worked on boats, I just hadn't figured on the amazing things people are doing with this stuff.

Matt

[conachair]

Originally Posted by GILow

... it's just... it feels a LOT like work to me.

It's so simple to set up then you can forget it........

[conachair]

Originally Posted by GILow

Maybe when I've been cruising around long enough to be bored enough to start playing with some serious programming I will ramp up the processing power and move on to the Pi or something similar.

I keep banging the drum ........ No serious programming required for a Pi (unless you really want to just for the sake of writing code) , copy image onto a SD card, turn on....
Pi/esp combination works so well, a you need to to is send the data as signalk, a few extra lines of code on an esp.

void sendSigK(String sigKey, float data)
{

  if (sendSig_Flag == 1)
  {
    DynamicJsonBuffer jsonBuffer;
    String deltaText;

    //  build delta message
    JsonObject &delta = jsonBuffer.createObject();

    //updated array
    JsonArray &updatesArr = delta.createNestedArray("updates");
    JsonObject &thisUpdate = updatesArr.createNestedObject();   //Json Object nested inside delta [...
    JsonArray &values = thisUpdate.createNestedArray("values"); // Values array nested in delta[ values....
    JsonObject &thisValue = values.createNestedObject();
    thisValue["path"] = sigKey;
    thisValue["value"] = data;

    thisUpdate["Source"] = "ESP32";

    // Send UDP packet
    Udp.beginPacket(remoteIp, remotePort);
    delta.printTo(Udp);
    Udp.println();
    Udp.endPacket();
    delta.printTo(Serial);
    Serial.println();
  }