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Old 16-09-2018, 08:22   #1
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The completely open plotter

OK. I have hinted at this elsewhere, ie to build a completely open plotter, hardware and software, suitable for use on a sailboat where power is limited. Attached are pictures of the current prototype, which draws under 300mA, including GPS module.

It is a daylight-viewable 7" touch-screen from NewHaven, connected to a Raspberry Pi 2, through an Adafruit TFTFriend and using an Adafruit touch controller (AR1100).

The TFTFriend has a maximum backlight current of 125mA and the display wants 180mA for maximum brightness. My idea is to create a PCB that plugs into the GPIO and has connectors for screen and touch as well as an USB keyboard emulator for frequently used fuctions. The PCB will have a backlight driver (FAN 5333x) capable of 180mA, with ambient light sensing, reducing the current to approx half in low-light conditions.

Sadly, there is quite a glare on the screen. Wonder if it is the resistive touch? It might also be a good idea to increase the contrast, possibly in software.
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Old 16-09-2018, 12:39   #2
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Re: The completely open plotter

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Originally Posted by AndersG View Post
Sadly, there is quite a glare on the screen. Wonder if it is the resistive touch? It might also be a good idea to increase the contrast, possibly in software.
You might like to look at camera field monitors. I am using a non touch screen 7inch Eyoyo in the cockpit. It is very bright and easily viewable.

For touch screens you could look at SmallHD. These are high end field and production monitors, with HDMI,sdi and wireless interfaces.

https://www.smallhd.com

excellent project btw.
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Old 16-09-2018, 15:39   #3
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Re: The completely open plotter

It would be awesome if a kindle paperwhite screen could be used. Prehaps with a local website via wifi. Black and white and a slow refresh rate, but super easy to read in daylight, portable and very low power consumption.

The same website could also be accessed with any mobile device, a tablet, phone etc.
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Old 16-09-2018, 21:15   #4
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Re: The completely open plotter

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It would be awesome if a kindle paperwhite screen could be used. Prehaps with a local website via wifi. Black and white and a slow refresh rate, but super easy to read in daylight, portable and very low power consumption.

The same website could also be accessed with any mobile device, a tablet, phone etc.
There is no reason why this can't be done. The Pi can be run headless and it's screen shared via any RDP (Remote desktop) software. I'm not sure if a kindle paperwhite can run any remote viewer or not. There are paperwhite screens available but not easy to implement; I looked at them when I was building MK 1 of my pi based plotter. The guys in the R class skiffs here in NZ use a custom race computer with a paperwhite screen (only 3 or 4" though). I ended up using the official pi 7" touch screen (which ironically does not work properly with a the latest Pi versions).

In general, I do not like touch screens in the cockpit. They work 95% of the time but have a habit of not working when you need them to! Better to use a waterproof keyboard and a trackball.

My MK1 was just an exercise to see how cheaply I could reproduce the functionality of the off the shelf plotters. End result was that it cost $340 NZD for a 7" touch screen plotter with NMEA 0182 interface, temperature probes (water, engine exhaust etc), external GPS antenna (steel boat), visual and audible alarms with cancel button, waterproof USB interface, WiFI and a hardware MOB button. Forgot to mention that the whole thing was IP67 waterproof too (I didn't test it in a lab but in theory, it was/in and it took water over it without ill effects when the Pacific got a bit lively at times).

My next incarnation will be a pi below decks with a decent sized (12 to 15") sunlight viewable industrial monitor (non-touch) installed under the dodger.
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Old 16-09-2018, 21:59   #5
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Re: The completely open plotter

Thing is that I am trying to keep it simple to conserve power and increase reliability. I see little or no need for a really big screen that would offset the increased power consumption. Ideally would I not go above the approx 6W that the old Garmin uses. Right now, the prototype draws 300mA at 12V.
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Old 16-09-2018, 23:55   #6
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Re: The completely open plotter

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Originally Posted by AndersG View Post
Thing is that I am trying to keep it simple to conserve power and increase reliability. I see little or no need for a really big screen that would offset the increased power consumption. Ideally would I not go above the approx 6W that the old Garmin uses. Right now, the prototype draws 300mA at 12V.
I see where you are coming from. But I find small screens just too small for navigation. OK in the ocean, but coastal, and inshore, by the time you zoom in to get large scale charts up on the screen you lose all the surrounding area and your situational awareness.

If you are playing with dashboards and number boxes (speed, depth, VMG, virtual analogue instruments, etc.) you want them big enough to comfortably watch while steering.

The Pi would be operating essentially headless anyway so it is no problem to turn the screen off and view on a smaller device. I am a power miser but I also hate fiddly. If a device is fiddly or awkward to use it won't be used.. and then there is no point having it. And by fiddly I mean not just small but difficult to use with wet hands in a tropical downpour or frozen fingers in sub-zero temperatures.

Anyway the rest of the design brief is identical, the only difference being screen size, and input method, so it's a moot argument and everybody can choose the size/method they require without the basics changing.
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Old 17-09-2018, 00:58   #7
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Re: The completely open plotter

Exactly the opposite for me I use paper charts for planning and situational awareness and there is always a paper chart beside the helmsman, unless we are in very familiar waters.

In my experience, a large screen is only useful if it is extremely large, say 19" and up. Mind you, we have had the Garmin with a 4.5" screen for 10 years.

I agree completely with your view on "fiddly", that is why there will be real buttons for frequently used tasks and a minimum of clutter on-screen. I have removed most of the buttons in the toolbar and trimmed the dashboard to a minimum, position, SOG and depth.
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Old 17-09-2018, 03:35   #8
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Re: The completely open plotter

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Exactly the opposite for me I use paper charts for planning and situational awareness and there is always a paper chart beside the helmsman, unless we are in very familiar waters.

In my experience, a large screen is only useful if it is extremely large, say 19" and up. Mind you, we have had the Garmin with a 4.5" screen for 10 years.

I agree completely with your view on "fiddly", that is why there will be real buttons for frequently used tasks and a minimum of clutter on-screen. I have removed most of the buttons in the toolbar and trimmed the dashboard to a minimum, position, SOG and depth.
Well we'll have to disagree then I don't know where you sail or in what conditions but I like to be prepared for when it is not nice outside.

When the **** hits the fan it is impossible to use a paper chart in the cockpit but a decent sized screen under the dodger that the helmsman can see can pay dividends. Paper charts are for the chart table in all but benign conditions.

If you want to run radar overlay (and many want to, some do with Ocpn on the Pi) a bigger screen is essential.

My 7" screen worked, and has proven to be useful meandering through reefs and fiords but I'm fed up with it. Too much info and not enough area, too much re-focusing of the eyes.

Of course if you have a wheel steering boat with an instrument pod within arms length, where you normally read a book, then a 7" screen may be adequate. But, like many, I prefer my instruments far enough away from my face that my eyes can focus on the instruments and the horizon at the same time (one of the reasons that racing yachts have the instruments on the mast and traditionally, instruments were above the companionway) and that distance dictates to some extent the size of the presentation that is useful.
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Old 17-09-2018, 04:00   #9
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Re: The completely open plotter

All have different needs/opinions. I am just hoping that the stuff I build, including the electronics that I will put in the public domain will be useful to someone. In this case a small PCB that will plug into the raspberry and allow you to connect just about any 40-pin TFT with touch and also accomodate several NMEA inputs as well as real buttons.
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Old 17-09-2018, 07:30   #10
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Re: The completely open plotter

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Originally Posted by AndersG View Post
All have different needs/opinions. I am just hoping that the stuff I build, including the electronics that I will put in the public domain will be useful to someone. In this case a small PCB that will plug into the raspberry and allow you to connect just about any 40-pin TFT with touch and also accomodate several NMEA inputs as well as real buttons.
Is there any reason why you are not using standard HDMI interface? The added complication of building a monitor/video interface for a monitor, however power hungry, that is normally switched off seems to be reinventing the wheel. This is relevant for sunlight viewable because by their very nature draw more power.

Not that it suits your application but I use a 22in OLED (max 17 watts) as my nav station monitor and an 7 in Eyoyo (max 12 watts) in the cockpit. The bigger monitor uses proportionally less power although because they are usually off this is not a big issue in overall power consumption.

Having a NMEA interface is excellent.

Peter
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Old 17-09-2018, 07:42   #11
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Re: The completely open plotter

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Originally Posted by Moo View Post
There is no reason why this can't be done. The Pi can be run headless and it's screen shared via any RDP (Remote desktop) software. I'm not sure if a kindle paperwhite can run any remote viewer or not. There are paperwhite screens available but not easy to implement; I looked at them when I was building MK 1 of my pi based plotter. The guys in the R class skiffs here in NZ use a custom race computer with a paperwhite screen (only 3 or 4" though). I ended up using the official pi 7" touch screen (which ironically does not work properly with a the latest Pi versions).

In general, I do not like touch screens in the cockpit. They work 95% of the time but have a habit of not working when you need them to! Better to use a waterproof keyboard and a trackball.

My MK1 was just an exercise to see how cheaply I could reproduce the functionality of the off the shelf plotters. End result was that it cost $340 NZD for a 7" touch screen plotter with NMEA 0182 interface, temperature probes (water, engine exhaust etc), external GPS antenna (steel boat), visual and audible alarms with cancel button, waterproof USB interface, WiFI and a hardware MOB button. Forgot to mention that the whole thing was IP67 waterproof too (I didn't test it in a lab but in theory, it was/in and it took water over it without ill effects when the Pacific got a bit lively at times).

My next incarnation will be a pi below decks with a decent sized (12 to 15") sunlight viewable industrial monitor (non-touch) installed under the dodger.
Have you looked at small high resolution monitors used in over the road vehicles and aircraft? I used a Xenarc as a remote for my Simrad. Not much choice when I did it but now weather proof versions are available.
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Old 17-09-2018, 08:58   #12
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Re: The completely open plotter

If you're designing a PCB it would be handy to have breakouts for a few I2C & 1wire devices to make it easy to add sensors. One of the big pluses for openplotter & the ever more powerful signalk. Maybe add a header for a BMP280 barometer, ds18b20 & MPU-9250 compass then you've made it simple for someone to add pressure, thermometers and compass for not many pennies.
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Old 17-09-2018, 09:17   #13
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Re: The completely open plotter

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If you're designing a PCB it would be handy to have breakouts for a few I2C & 1wire
Excellent idea!

Quote:
Is there any reason why you are not using standard HDMI interface? The added complication of building a monitor/video interface for a monitor, however power hungry, that is normally switched off seems to be reinventing the wheel.
But I am not building an interface. The Raspberry has the capability to drive a parallell display directly. You just route the relevant GPIO pins to the right pins on the display. This removes an extra (possibly powerhungry) chip from the equation. Ie for the display part the PCB will be just traces from the 40-pin connector to the GPIO header.

This display will be the primary display. On at all times.

Quote:
Have you looked at small high resolution monitors used in over the road vehicles and aircraft?
I did, briefly, but I want to build a self-contained unit.
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Old 17-09-2018, 10:51   #14
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Re: The completely open plotter

That looks promising. Have you considered using OpenPlotter as your base software?


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Old 17-09-2018, 11:06   #15
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Re: The completely open plotter

I AM using OpenPlotter as base, but I will probably remove stuff that I do not need in my boat to keep it simple. Would have updated the top post, but it is not possible.

Prototype is running the latest and greatest OpenPlotter.

Do not get me wrong. OpenPlotter is great, absolutely! I do not have any need for Wifi and will probably multiplex input signals in hardware instead. Ie have one USB plug that acts both as a HID for the keys/buttons and a CDC for serial, aggregating a number of serial signals as a combined NMEA stream.
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