Pypilot

[catsketcher]

Just had my first offshore sail with my new Pypilot autopilot. Really impressed. I made the drive unit with a 70 watt worm drive motor that drives a toothed belt connected to the steering. My son did the electronics, pairing the Pypilot with motor controller. I used a garage door remote for control , but can use any Bluetooth item.
I used the phone to play around with gains.
The pilot is pretty incredible. In a sloppy seaway it kept a lovely course, the boat loved it and was gliding like on rails. Even though the motor is 70 watts it only used 2.5 AH over about 2 hours offshore. It steered about as well as a good helm. Way, way better than the Raymarine X5. It's still there as a backup.
Early days yet but I am very happy. I will keep testing but we seem to have obtained a fabulous autopilot that is strides better than the wheel mounted autopilot for about $300 all up.
Search Sean Depaigner and visit the Pypilot site to learn more. I will post pics later.
Cheers Phil

[catsketcher]

Pics attached. Setup is new and unpainted. The alloy arm swings aft with purchase to engage. Works well.

[sv_isara]

Hey I know this is a kinda older thread but I had the exact same experience. I had a 700 mile downwind sail, and it was like being on rails. Truly impressive.

Documentation is bad. I had to do a figure 8 to calibrate the thing when first used which I hadn't read anywhere either. But the thing is engineered very well. It's been outside for over a year now without issues as well.