Raspberry Pi or NUC

[jim1711]

I'm getting up to speed with Opencpn and Signalk and like what I see.

My conerns is connections, humidiy, shock etc to the electronics using a pi or NUC.

What do you do to ruggedized the pi or NUC type computers?

Ideas - electronic epoxy on boards and sealant for connections inside a enclosure, but heat issues.

Be great to see what others have done.

Thanks
Jim
S/V Risng Star

[thomm225]

I used Raspberry Pi computers for a few years with OpenCPN and did nothing extra to them.

Now I have my old Laptop onboard loaded with OpenCPN as a Chart Plotter as it is more portable than the Raspberry Pi with all the wires etc.

Laptop is also connected to my Victron MPPT at times.

Again I didn't do anything to it just because it stays on the boat.

My old 400 watt inverter has been onboard for 10 years without problems.

[verkerkbr]

Originally Posted by thomm225

I used Raspberry Pi computers for a few years with OpenCPN and did nothing extra to them.

Now I have my old Laptop onboard loaded with OpenCPN as a Chart Plotter as it is more portable than the Raspberry Pi with all the wires etc.

Laptop is also connected to my Victron MPPT at times.

Again I didn't do anything to it just because it stays on the boat.

My old 400 watt inverter has been onboard for 10 years without problems.

With the Pi4 you get some more wires. But it is a modulair system running here on USB3.1 flashdrive (usb stick). If it does not work you can simply put a backup-copy in the RPI. You cannot do this with with a fixed HD. If it crashes it is the end of your navigation system.

There is also the risk of a thunderstrom wiping out the navigation.

For a small amount you can take a spare RPI4 and GPS mouse in a tin case to have a spare set isolated from an induction flash.

OpenCPN and the SignalK server are running here on: Debian 12, Ubuntu Lunar, Fedora Rawhide and Debian Bullseye with OpenPlotter. All 64 bits.


Bram

[CSYChip]

Having killed 2 Pis over 7 or 8 years, I installed a NUC when supply issues made the Pi unavailable. One of the Pis died due to overheating in spite of having a fan, The other appears to have fed back voltage through the HDMI port. The NUC appears have more robust hardware. It also pulls less amperage most of the time. I think that is mostly less draw from the fan. I find that using the same Linux on the NUC that I use on my other computers is a huge advantage. As for concerns about system crashes, Linux can be booted live from a USB and can save an image of the NUCs hard drive making it similar to restoring a Pi's SD card but with faster run time response. I find that the most important thing for an embedded system is NOT updating it once it is working. With both the Pi and NUC I have had system updates that crashed OpenCPN and the drivers for my instruments that took some time to fix.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by verkerkbr

With the Pi4 you get some more wires. But it is a modulair system running here on USB3.1 flashdrive (usb stick). If it does not work you can simply put a backup-copy in the RPI. You cannot do this with with a fixed HD. If it crashes it is the end of your navigation system.

There is also the risk of a thunderstrom wiping out the navigation.

For a small amount you can take a spare RPI4 and GPS mouse in a tin case to have a spare set isolated from an induction flash.

OpenCPN and the SignalK server are running here on: Debian 12, Ubuntu Lunar, Fedora Rawhide and Debian Bullseye with OpenPlotter. All 64 bits.


Bram

Besides the Laptop, I have my two RPI 4's both loaded with OpenCPN as well for backup.

I have replaced the HD on my Toshiba Satellite Laptop once in about 15 years so pretty reliable.

[bcn]

We are running a NUC as our navigation system since more than three years now. Sailing the Med and Atlantic (Iberian Peninsula). OS Debian. OpenPlotter for fun. Radar overlay on a 15.6" IP65 touch display.
12V input from the DC-DC.
The steering stand is inside, the system integrated into the main steering console - dry and not too hot. BT keyboard and MX Ergo trackball.

Be aware that Intel will phase out the NUCs. There will be Taiwanese sources for the NUC successors.

[mgrouch]

There are good pi4 options based on industrial pi (cm4)


M5stack cm4

https://shop.m5stack.com/products/m5...-kit-cm4104032


And another one with 10” touch monitor
reTerminal DM

https://www.seeedstudio.com/reTerminal-DM-p-5616.html