Weather Routing Plug In - Does it Actually Work

[stelian]

Found it !

The problem is in the file contours/!?!home!?!stelian!?!.opencpn!?!plugins!?!weather_r outing!?!boat_dufour31.csv.contours

This file seems to be updated when you click on "save boat", but not when you only change the polar and click on "save" in the "spreadsheet" dialog.

So here are the content of the previous file which was causing the routing to fail:
52.000000, 20.003906, 52.000000, 0.003906, 150.000000, 0.003906, 150.003906, 19.875000,;

If I click on "save boat", the new 50 kts column in the polar gets taken into account, and the file contents becomes:
52.000000, 39.996094, 51.996094, 0.125000, 150.000000, 0.003906, 150.003906, 39.750000,;

And now the route calculation is OK.

I think a bug fix is needed:
- either the polar is not saved by the "spreadsheet" dialog, and it gets saved only when clicking "save boat" in the previous dialog
- or the "contours" file should be regenerated as soon as the "save" is clicked in the "spreadsheet" dialog.

I don't know what exactly the numbers in the contours file mean, so maybe this can cause other bugs except the one I've seen.

[kubek]

Originally Posted by rramsey

As far as I can tell, the polar will fail if the wind in the Grib is stronger than the strongest wind in the polar. The supplied polars go up to 20kts so if winds are stronger it fails. Add lines for stronger winds.

A polar is made with a .pol text file table. By clicking "save boat" (which doesn't always seem to work) a .XML is created that points to the .pol file. A bit iffy though.

Also sometimes a configuration seems broken and cannot be made to work again. Delete it and start with a fresh configuration, works for me. This specifically if the computation succeeds but the route is totally weird.

Lastly I have discovered that "export" converts the weather route into a track. Convert the track into a route and all is great - waypoints and all. So kudos to the developer there - real easy to use. I export it to .gpx, airdrop it to my iPad where iNavx automatically picked it up and displays it. Cool!

Thanks for help! :-)

I have added a column with 25 & 30 kt and it helps.

Kubek

[seandepagnier]

Hi,

Sorry for the obscure bug.

The contours complicate things a lot but they are needed to support multiple polars for different sail plans. This is very useful as you can see sail changes as well.


I will work on keeping the contours syncronized, if a polar file timestamp is newer than the contour file (cached calculations because it takes a while to compute with many polars) then it must be regenerated.

[stelian]

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

I will work on keeping the contours syncronized, if a polar file timestamp is newer than the contour file (cached calculations because it takes a while to compute with many polars) then it must be regenerated.

This looks like a good solution indeed.

Something completly different : I noticed that the French translation needs some serious update (some strings are missing, in at least one place upwind / downwind are swaped etc). Before updating the texts, could you please regenerate the pot and the po files ?

(I tried to do it using 'make weather_routing-pot-update', then 'make weather_routing-po-update' but for some reason the french .po file I obtain does not contain the file references anymore (like #: src/StatisticsDialog.cpp:62), only the msdid/msgstr are present in the resulting file, in alphabetical order.)

[Lambay]

Originally Posted by rramsey

Lastly I have discovered that "export" converts the weather route into a track. Convert the track into a route and all is great - waypoints and all. So kudos to the developer there - real easy to use. I export it to .gpx, airdrop it to my iPad where iNavx automatically picked it up and displays it. Cool!

This reminder me to submit this issue bug.

The Export works perfectly on my Linux machine but not on my MAC with MacOS where OpenCPN crashes with no warning. Currently running 4.6.1 on Sierra 10.12.4 but the problem was present also with OpenCPN 4.4.

Anyone has the same problem?

Regs

[rramsey]

I had the same and got a solution from the developer that solves the problem:

Rob,

If you want to test the fix you can find an OSX version here:
https://github.com/ptulp/weather_rou...es/tag/v1.10.4

Peter

It then works like a charm.

[ptulp]

Originally Posted by Lambay

This reminder me to submit this issue bug.

The Export works perfectly on my Linux machine but not on my MAC with MacOS where OpenCPN crashes with no warning. Currently running 4.6.1 on Sierra 10.12.4 but the problem was present also with OpenCPN 4.4.

Anyone has the same problem?

Regs

The problem was posted here:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ng-183707.html

The problem is fixed in the source, but until a new release is issued you can test the fix here:
https://github.com/ptulp/weather_rou...es/tag/v1.10.4

Peter

[titaantje]

Hi,

I am not trying to hijack this thread, but I think my issue fits in this thread.

Last year I used the WR plugin with success. I did not have a polar diagram for my boat, because there aren't any.
But there was a way to get around this by filling in different kinds of characteristics and measures of the boat. Perhaps this was not very accurate, but it worked for me.

In the recent WR plugin this possibility seems to have gone. You got to have a polar diagram.
I tried to create a polar diagram in OCPN with the Polar-plugin, but it is not complete yet.
Is there still a way to use the WR plugin without a polar diagram?

Peter

[titaantje]

Eventually I found the answer to my question myself.

[mdelatte]

About creating a nearly accurate polar for your boat, there are existing solution for free or to be paid a bit

1. With Squid desktop, you receive some polar files for more than 50 boats ... may be yours in the list => Squid - The Best Weather Data Provider

2. There is a mobile app that can produce a polar based on your boat spec : iPolar .... This module is integrated into Adrena

3. look in forums and google about a polar file for your sailboat.


Anyway, do not underestimate the added value of an accurate polar for your boat as it is one of the essential point of success of weather routing

fair winds

[registry]

Originally Posted by miyagimoon

Having played with it on and off for the last few days. I would say that WR does not work. Not unless it is designed for a one off route. The only way I can get it to work is to completely un-install it after each use. If I try to plot another route without un-installing it will fail. It comes with pre programmed Polars which only go to 20 knots which is not good enough and requires additional programming by the user.

I am not a computer boffin and want something that is simple to use , does not require additional programming and does not require un-installing after each use.

So to me OpenCPN Weather Route does not work!

Unfortunately i can second it.



I dont have my own boat, but charter allways different. Hence have no special polar files.
But i would expect that at least one "test" boat has full polar (even if not real one), so one has a starting point.





I have HEAD/master of git repo https://github.com/seandepagnier/weather_routing_pi



I try to play with different boats from the collections, but non of them seem to work. Currently it complains, that Grib data is bogus, altough grib plugin starts and wind on time of start is only 14kt reaching. So, should be no problem with "too-much-wind-too-little-wind". If i enable climatology plugin -> No data error.



End error messages are not verbose at all. I wish i would have slightly idea why it doesnt work.
:-/

[stelian]

Originally Posted by registry

But i would expect that at least one "test" boat has full polar (even if not real one), so one has a starting point.

There is a "test" boat and even a test routing which is available by default for new WR users. (if you want to force the dialog prompt on WR launch, edit opencpn.ini and remove ConfigVersion tag in the [PlugIns/WeatherRouting] section).

Originally Posted by registry

I try to play with different boats from the collections, but non of them seem to work. Currently it complains, that Grib data is bogus, altough grib plugin starts and wind on time of start is only 14kt reaching. So, should be no problem with "too-much-wind-too-little-wind". If i enable climatology plugin -> No data error.

End error messages are not verbose at all. I wish i would have slightly idea why it doesnt work.
:-/

If you post here (or make available somewhere) your configuration files (boat, polar, WeatherRoutingConfiguration.xml, grib file), I'm sure someone will be able to help.


Stelian.

[registry]

Originally Posted by stelian

There is a "test" boat and even a test routing which is available by default for new WR users. (if you want to force the dialog prompt on WR launch, edit opencpn.ini and remove ConfigVersion tag in the [PlugIns/WeatherRouting] section).





If you post here (or make available somewhere) your configuration files (boat, polar, WeatherRoutingConfiguration.xml, grib file), I'm sure someone will be able to help.


Stelian.

I tried this and that, removed .opencpn completly, reinstalled new, didn't touch settings... nothing helped. It complains that it has "No Data: Fail" (if climatology is on) or "Grib:Fail" if Climatology is off.



See attach (Configuration, polars, boat, grib file, screenshots)

[registry]

How do i attach tar.gz file ?

[stelian]

Originally Posted by registry

How do i attach tar.gz file ?

Rename the .tar.gz to .doc... Yes, it's awkward.


Or put the files on some other hosting site and post the links here.