IoT Meets Classic Cruisers (Ideas?)

[_LifeInTheWild_]

I am a software engineer. I have a love/hate relationship with technology. Outside of the really important stuff like a vhf radio, I love the idea of doing things the old way. This is good for when things go to hell. There is a part of me that loves the idea of tinkering with tech. An example would be building a systems dashboard that can be monitored from a phone or a screen at the nav station using raspberry pi, arduino, or other microcontrollers.

I am curious to hear about what others have done, or ideas that you think would be neat.

[Sparx]

How about an app that builds a boat polar diagram using boat speed along with wind speed and direction. Then compare performance in the moment to this historical diagram.

[thomm225]

Some of us use our Raspberry Pi's to display proper AIS Targets rather than look at the tiny displays on our VHF / AIS Radios.

Others run autopilots from them.

I'm sending this from anchor. It seems my Rpi picks up the hotspot from my phone lots faster than my Lenovo Thinkpad with Windows 10 Pro. (and then connects to websites faster also)

[barnakiel]

There is an endless field to do something. Just why do it when in fact we all benefit from fewer gadgets.


This much said ...


I have built our own AIS app and our own nmea net (based on a plain home adsl router). I could buy both but it was fun to do something and learn new things.


I have also built a new AP brain while learning Python. Our own onboard piece of AI ;-))))


etc. always building something


If you like to tinker onboard, take a few Raspberry boards, a few Arduino boards and plenty of components - sensors, motors, actuators, etc. You will never be bored. A good soldering tool is a must too.


Cheers,

b.

[_LifeInTheWild_]

Originally Posted by Sparx

How about an app that builds a boat polar diagram using boat speed along with wind speed and direction. Then compare performance in the moment to this historical diagram.

Including the sail plan in this would be really interesting. I wonder if there are APIs available for wind and speed instruments.

[Smokeys Kitchen]

Originally Posted by Sparx

How about an app that builds a boat polar diagram using boat speed along with wind speed and direction. Then compare performance in the moment to this historical diagram.

Already there - iPolar in the app store

[Lake-Effect]

Stick an ESP8266 in anything and it becomes an IoT thing.

Seriously, I think the "killer app" here is an inexpensive boat monitor that uses marina/club wifi to report boat status while you're away. Most obvious status - battery charge! Who wouldn't want to know ahead of time whether your batteries are charged or flat before heading down? The further you have to travel, the more valuable this info would be.

I've rolled a few simple monitors using $5 ESP8266 boards, and FloatHub is a complete commercial system using the same device.

[moseriw]

IoT is not a problem of the software anymore but always a problem of sensors. And they are nothing but cheap.

Polar - Diagrams? NMEA - Bus to OpenCPN - thats it.

[Pdemajo]

Www.iotsolutions.com.mt
I started this project a few years back and commercialized it. Its cheap and does the job....
If anyone has ant thoughts on how i can improve it please contact me!!!

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Pdemajo

Www.iotsolutions.com.mt
I started this project a few years back and commercialized it. Its cheap and does the job....
If anyone has ant thoughts on how i can improve it please contact me!!!

PM sent.


barnakiel

[_LifeInTheWild_]

I had a thought of rigging up a solar panel with some servos to track the sun and keep the solar panels pointed at it to maximize charging.

There is so much that a person could do, but I wonder how the controllers, sensors, and displays hold up in a salty environment. The nice thing is you know your day systems and maybe be easy to fix or replace.

[bergius]

Also an IoT engineer. Here's the setup on our boat: https://bergie.iki.fi/blog/signalk-boat-iot/

There are lots of plugins available in the Signal K ecosystem, including the polar stuff somebody mentioned in the thread.