MintBox Mini and OpenCPN

[conachair]

Originally Posted by 42Krogen

Is there any major reason to go openplotter on rpi versus one of those dedicated devices? Like digital yatch or nemo?

AC

Maybe not one major reason but lots of slightly less ...
verkerkbr covered a lot, openplotter hasn't reached full speed but already is extremely powerful. its easy to set up as a wifi repeater. I think to get the most out of a Pi it would help if you were a little bit of a electronics tinkerer, but it's not hard at all. A few dollars on ebay and you have a comprehensive engine temperature monitoring system, monitor battery voltages and tweet or email if you're off the boat and turn itself off should the volts get low. record wind speed, barometer. Loads of choice.
I've a current sensor linked up at the moment and with the monitor and external wifi dongle off it's pulling about 250mA at 5v, so whats that, about 100mA at 12.5v.
That's a big reason Have a digital yacht system as well if you want, ain't gonna break the bank adding a Pi

[petter5]

Originally Posted by verkerkbr

And a watertight Tablet to be used outside via VLC.

I assume 'And a watertight Tablet to be used outside via VNC'

Also, it seems that most raspbian / RPI installations will gain a significant performance improvement by let the system run from a USB thumbdrive and thereby only use the Micro SD card for the linux 'boot" partition. This can be configured after you have installed the system, or it can be done during install if using 'Berryboot' BerryBoot v2.0 - bootloader / universal operating system installer

[verkerkbr]

Originally Posted by petter5

[COLOR=#212121][FONT=monospace]
I assume 'And a watertight Tablet to be used outside via VNC'

Also, it seems that most raspbian / RPI installations will gain a significant performance improvement by let the system run from a USB thumbdrive and thereby only use the Micro SD card for the linux 'boot" partition. This can be configured after you have installed the system, or it can be done during install if using 'Berryboot' BerryBoot v2.0 - bootloader / universal operating system installer

Yes, VNC of course.

Running the Raspian Pixel version with the OpenGL VC4 driver has allready a very good performance. Except the problem with zooming-out in OpenCPN.

The just released Linux kernel 4.8 has support for the Raspberry Pi 3 BCM2837 SoC Chipset.

Anyone tried this allready ?? What are the implications on the graphic performance ?

Bram

[verkerkbr]

Originally Posted by 42Krogen

Interesting, can you explain your setup a bit more? How does the rpi "feed" the tablet.
I had alterior motives with a bigger box (running a plex media center as well to Rokus in each stateroom and salon) but I like the simplicity of the setup you describe.

The important point is the power consumption.

But if this is not a problem all the tasks can also be done in the Mint software, but you have to install the extra items like Zygrib, Kplex, Wifi access point, SignalK etc. yourself.

The combination of the Pi with other systems also works very well.

The Pi acts as a stand alone server for multiplexing etc etc. with the GPS/AIS data wireless or via ethernet available on the Mint box. Or using the VNC client on the Mint for the remote Raspberry Desktop.

Using computers for navigation gives much more options then dedicated gear. Most of these are also tied to certain Charts formats. Enc is the standard for marine use and with S63 plugin you can "lease" Charts worldwide.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by 42Krogen

Sorry I'm still confused about what your point is.
Yes I agree it *could* get wet and of course anything can happen but mounted under the dash 6feet from any window with drip stoppers on every cable it seems like I have other far more likely things to go wrong, such as the drivetrain, autopilot pump, etc.
Agree the Sony is a step forward if waterproof is your primary concern, although it failed many home tests so nothing is perfect.

Let me know if you have a specific point of piece of advice as I genuinely want to learn from the experience of this group, otherwise I'll leave the theoretical worrying to you and replace an iPad, phone or even mintbox if and when I must.

I had my nav computer wiped out and destroyed by a breaking wave which threw some spray down the companionway.

It was not my only system -- besides the PC, I have two B&G Zeus plotters.

But it was a royal PITA and really detracted from the rest of the cruise until I could replace it. Also greatly disrupted my work since I was using that computer for my work.

A waterproof or at least water-resistant ship's computer would be a really good thing. I agree with comments that marine electronics should be at least water resistant, as splashes and spills happen a lot.

I use water resistant Sony Xperia phones and tablets and love them. They may not be truly submersible, but being at least resistant to splashes saves them in 90% of the cases which destroy normal phones and tablets with regularity on board. This quality didn't stop me from smashing the screen on my tablet when heeling, however

[verkerkbr]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I had my nav computer wiped out and destroyed by a breaking wave which threw some spray down the companionway.

It was not my only system -- besides the PC, I have two B&G Zeus plotters.

But it was a royal PITA and really detracted from the rest of the cruise until I could replace it. Also greatly disrupted my work since I was using that computer for my work.

A waterproof or at least water-resistant ship's computer would be a really good thing. I agree with comments that marine electronics should be at least water resistant, as splashes and spills happen a lot.

I use water resistant Sony Xperia phones and tablets and love them. They may not be truly submersible, but being at least resistant to splashes saves them in 90% of the cases which destroy normal phones and tablets with regularity on board. This quality didn't stop me from smashing the screen on my tablet when heeling, however

Waterproof Touchscreen Monitors and Tablets are available. The small computer itself can be mounted in safe location not in the companionway area. And for the Raspberry you can take a spare one on board in a steel tin box to project the system for (induction) Lightning damage.

You can receive the NMEA data wireless on your watertight Smartphone or Tablet.

I have seen lightning damage via the Seatalk cables on all the instruments connected.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

But it was a royal PITA and really detracted from the rest of the cruise until I could replace it.

Another bonus for something like a Pi. They're so cheap buy 2 and have a backup of the micro SD card as well.

Mines mounted way underneath the chart table out of the way so hopefully will be safe in there.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by conachair

Another bonus for something like a Pi. They're so cheap buy 2 and have a backup of the micro SD card as well.

Mines mounted way underneath the chart table out of the way so hopefully will be safe in there.

Looks very cool indeed. Maybe I'll buy one and play with it.

I also have an old Sony laptop with one of the first SSD drives, retired from service some years ago but still in decent shape. I might take the screen off of that and install it below the nav table with bluetooth keyboard and mouse.

Could also work.

Hmmm.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Looks very cool indeed. Maybe I'll buy one and play with it.

I also have an old Sony laptop with one of the first SSD drives, retired from service some years ago but still in decent shape. I might take the screen off of that and install it below the nav table with bluetooth keyboard and mouse.

Could also work.

Hmmm.

Having AIS in the cockpit on an Xperia is great for us less than loaded skinflints I wrote a little macro so the Xperia backs up the opencpn navfiles and downloads the same from the Pi so routes/marks etc are always synced between the 2 machines. Opencpn for android is a bit quicker than VPN into the Pi, but having both available is handy as well. As is the Pi working as a wifi repeater. And openplotter isn't even past beta yet
Also, I installed RRD Tools so once I get it properly set up the Pi will record every piece of data once a minute.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by conachair

Having AIS in the cockpit on an Xperia is great for us less than loaded skinflints I wrote a little macro so the Xperia backs up the opencpn navfiles and downloads the same from the Pi so routes/marks etc are always synced between the 2 machines. Opencpn for android is a bit quicker than VPN into the Pi, but having both available is handy as well. As is the Pi working as a wifi repeater. And openplotter isn't even past beta yet
Also, I installed RRD Tools so once I get it properly set up the Pi will record every piece of data once a minute.

Even with plenty of other electronics in the cockpit, OpenCPN has such a superior AIS implementation that it's always great to have it at hand.

In really hairy collision avoidance situations (Dover Straits, Elbe Approaches, etc.), I like to do collision avoidance at the nav table using OpenCPN on the big nav table monitor for AIS, and with the nav table Zeus set to display radar. This works great.

The big screen and the brilliant OpenCPN AIS display, which allows you to choose which targets to display the CPA lines for, makes a night and day difference.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Even with plenty of other electronics in the cockpit, OpenCPN has such a superior AIS implementation that it's always great to have it at hand.

In really hairy collision avoidance situations (Dover Straits, Elbe Approaches, etc.), I like to do collision avoidance at the nav table using OpenCPN on the big nav table monitor for AIS, and with the nav table Zeus set to display radar. This works great.

The big screen and the brilliant OpenCPN AIS display, which allows you to choose which targets to display the CPA lines for, makes a night and day difference.

Exactly.

AIS on OpenCPN is stellar.

We have it on our cockpit tablet tethered to our AIS router.

b.

[barrymac]

I'm using an Odroid Xu3 currently , it has low energy consumption and I'm able to run OpenCPN in docker containers, so that I can keep a stable platform that can be very easily replicated while pushing forward the latest version of everything (including OS) without jeopardising the currently working setup.

This one looks more attractive due to it's 12v input (one less transformer), fanless cooling (reliability), and large RAM load.

The power consumption of the Odroid XU3 stays below 5w but it's only 2Gb Ram.

I'm curious what the total system power consumption would be of this system.

If you go for it maybe you can let us know ?

[barrymac]

Reply from manufacturer:

MintBox Mini Pro approx. 6W to 13W
MintBox 2 approx. 8W to 25W