OpenPlotter project

[Sailoog]

Originally Posted by Saqqara

One thing I'd like to see is more of the configuration settings ready to go out of the box. For example, turn on the dashboard plugin in OpenCPN and preconfigure dashboard(s) to display any of the things for which OpenPlotter specifically crafts NMEA sentences for with a modest hardware budget. It's easier for a user to remove from the dashboard the things that he might not have connected to his pi yet, than to trial and error all of the possible displays.

good point

Originally Posted by Saqqara

I can't make any sense of the SignalK panel. I'm eager for some really sexy onscreen instruments! I wonder if the SignalK guys could be helpful in providing gauges that just look super at first launch. The best I've gotten are tiny little thumbnails.

You are right, I think Signal k developers are really busy trying to release the first stable version and panel instruments and gauges still need a lot of work. I suppose we need to be patient.

[Sailoog]

Originally Posted by conachair

How does the Zero cope with opencpn, have you got your hands on one yet to test drive?

Nav computer for 5 dollars, very

Not me directly but a contributor from Uruguay has tested it in deep and he has found the expected OpenCPN and some Signal K issues.

With all the OpenPlotter features on, the processor is always 100%

I think the RPI Zero will be useful for related and standalone projects like autopilots, wind sensors, voltage/current monitoring...

[exkma367]

Thanks for your response. No need to spend any of your time checking your notes. It is no problem for me to get the proper hardware. The only problem for me is getting myself to stop tinkering with it and get some work done. Thanks again for your efforts......

[conachair]

Sailoog - I've just got back to the boat and installed the latest beta3 - fantastic! It really is a shiny piece of work , very , congratulations.

The alarms and email/twitter facility are very interesting, a few questions...

- Is there an online wish list anywhere, like the OpenCPN flyspray? Or what's the best way to discuss requests/bugs etc with you guys?

- Any plans to extend the monitoring/alarm trigger menus? I would love to get battery voltage in there, shame the Pi has no ADC's built in like arduino's. One way might be to have a trigger/monitor for a specific $OPXDR device name and get an arduino the measure the voltage and write a NMEA sentence. Then OpenPlotter could Tweet your battery voltage and email if it gets low.

- Is more than 1 ds18 thermometer possible? I have one on the engine head and one on the exhaust(With plans for more on the alternator & stuffing box), interesting what really goes on





Again, well done, how's the cubietruck version going....

[Sailoog]

Originally Posted by conachair

The alarms and email/twitter facility are very interesting...

Now we are testing cheap GSM dongles to add SMS.

Originally Posted by conachair

- Is there an online wish list anywhere, like the OpenCPN flyspray? Or what's the best way to discuss requests/bugs etc with you guys?

Instead of creating a forum and bring people to it, we chose to go where people are and there are several sites that we often check, here is the list for the different languages. This post is one of them. For code issues and contributions github is the option. Be patient with our English

Originally Posted by conachair

- Any plans to extend the monitoring/alarm trigger menus? I would love to get battery voltage in there, shame the Pi has no ADC's built in like arduino's. One way might be to have a trigger/monitor for a specific $OPXDR device name and get an arduino the measure the voltage and write a NMEA sentence. Then OpenPlotter could Tweet your battery voltage and email if it gets low.

Sure, the new trigger/action system is really flexible and is easy to add new triggers and actions. Battery monitoring is a priority here. As you say, since it must be an external device, we are looking for the best way to go (arduino, a simpler circuit...). There is a guy testing A/D converter chips and we are listening to proposals. And yes, $OPXDR should be the way.

Originally Posted by conachair

- Is more than 1 ds18 thermometer possible? I have one on the engine head and one on the exhaust(With plans for more on the alternator & stuffing box), interesting what really goes on

I think it was you who proposed that and I have it in the TO DO list because you are right, having not only engine but exhaust, fridge, sea... data inside the trigger/actions system just connecting these cheap and rugged sensors in parallel to the same pin will be great. I do not know if this feature will be implemented on the next release but it will be for sure.

Originally Posted by conachair

Nice graphs! How do you make it?

One last thing...

Today I am going to upload to the github repository a lot of changes fixing bugs of the beta. I will post here the way to download and update the code to the last image so you can play this weekend

Thanks for your feedback!

[NahanniV]

Besides more temperature sensors on the OneWire bus, how about supporting other sensors/devices as well, like switches.

There would be a bunch of advantages to doing this:

• It's cross platform
• OneWire Sensors are cheap
• Most Important functions are available: Temp, ADC, PIO...
• Easy to Wire, no mess of wires running to the computer
• It Electrically protects the computer from the sensors

The GPIO switch interface on the Rpi is easy and no extra cost, but other than that has none of the above advantages.

Cheers,
JM.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Sailoog

Now we are testing cheap GSM dongles to add SMS.

Now that sounds very cool.

Sure, the new trigger/action system is really flexible and is easy to add new triggers and actions. Battery monitoring is a priority here. As you say, since it must be an external device, we are looking for the best way to go (arduino, a simpler circuit...). There is a guy testing A/D converter chips and we are listening to proposals. And yes, $OPXDR should be the way.

One thought, what about a timer as a trigger? Recently i read a thread about someone using a Pi as a boat monitoring system when the boat was unoccupied, he had an external timer to switch on the Pi then it would switch off again after recording some data and sending a text - a timer might be useful for something like that.

Nice graphs! How do you make it?

Graphs came via Plotly - https://plot.ly/

Today I am going to upload to the github repository a lot of changes fixing bugs of the beta. I will post here the way to download and update the code to the last image so you can play this weekend

Look forward to it, thanks. Should have a MPU-9250 and BMP180 turning up soon from amazon to have a play with as well.

If I can help in any way by testing or whatever, please ask.

And wonderful arduinos- they can make NMEA sentences easily, here's a very simply play around with a mega creating position data I did just to see if the check sum worked and how quick OpenCPN could suck up the data. Fastest my boat has ever been, and seriously ran aground

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8BjxopbJEs

[Harry Brown]

I have a Wireless-N USB Adapter with Realtek RTL8192CU chipset.
I cannot for the life of me work out how to install this or the drivers to the Pi 2, I am using a powered USB Hub.
I have openplotter working no problems.
Could someone please point me in the right direction?

Many thanks.

[Saqqara]

Originally Posted by Harry Brown

I have a Wireless-N USB Adapter with Realtek RTL8192CU chipset.
I cannot for the life of me work out how to install this or the drivers to the Pi 2, I am using a powered USB Hub.
I have openplotter working no problems.
Could someone please point me in the right direction?

Many thanks.

OK, this is for the RTL8192EU so it may be a different driver, but this thread made all the difference for me getting MY wifi working, https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/v...24509&p=835863

It seems this Engman guy compiles Realtek drivers and keeps them in a private repository.

After installing the appropriate driver, I can't remember if I just followed some other generic recipe for getting a wifi adapter working on raspian, or if OpenPlotter just saw it.

[Sailoog]

Originally Posted by NahanniV

Besides more temperature sensors on the OneWire bus, how about supporting other sensors/devices as well, like switches.

There would be a bunch of advantages to doing this:

• It's cross platform
• OneWire Sensors are cheap
• Most Important functions are available: Temp, ADC, PIO...
• Easy to Wire, no mess of wires running to the computer
• It Electrically protects the computer from the sensors

The GPIO switch interface on the Rpi is easy and no extra cost, but other than that has none of the above advantages.

Cheers,
JM.

Sounds good, do you have any example of sensor and code different than temp?

[Sailoog]

Originally Posted by conachair

Now that sounds very cool.
One thought, what about a timer as a trigger? Recently i read a thread about someone using a Pi as a boat monitoring system when the boat was unoccupied, he had an external timer to switch on the Pi then it would switch off again after recording some data and sending a text - a timer might be useful for something like that.

Actually now you can do something similar. I have added a trigger called "none (always true)" for actions that should be always executed (periodically or not) without conditions. But it might be another way... we have Date and Time as triggers and we have comparison operators and a field to introduce values. I should define a pattern for Date an Time to be introduced in value field in order to openplotter can understand. I am going to write down this in the TO DO list too

[Sailoog]

Originally Posted by Harry Brown

I have a Wireless-N USB Adapter with Realtek RTL8192CU chipset.
I cannot for the life of me work out how to install this or the drivers to the Pi 2, I am using a powered USB Hub.
I have openplotter working no problems.
Could someone please point me in the right direction?

Many thanks.

If your dongle is a real RTL8192CU you do not need anything else. Drivers are in core on linux and openplotter detects him and loads the right hostapd file to work as an access point.

Open a terminal and type lsusb and paste here what you see.

[Sailoog]

I have updated the github repository with lots of changes and bug fixes. If you want to test, run the last beta image, connect openplotter to internet, open a terminal and type:

cd
cd .config
rm -rf openplotter/
git clone https://github.com/sailoog/openplotter.git

that will delete the old files and update the new ones including conf files.

Thanks for testing!

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Sailoog

I have updated the github repository with lots of changes and bug fixes. If you want to test, run the last beta image, connect openplotter to internet, open a terminal and type:

cd
cd .config
rm -rf openplotter/
git clone https://github.com/sailoog/openplotter.git

that will delete the old files and update the new ones including conf files.

Thanks for testing!

Done, up and running. That was quick, mention a timer and within a few hours there is one

So is the idea that the wait action triggers twitter/gmail sending? I'll have a play with that next, maybe with a spare ds18b20.

Thanks, great stuff.

[Saqqara]

I haven't done any pi or arduino projects that made it beyond the benchtop. Is this what I probably need to get from jumper wires and alligator clips to a more permanent prototype I can sail with?



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