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Course keeper for boat

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(@rsalvarez)
Member
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 2
Topic starter  

Hi,i just login to the forum after 4 hours of looking the videos on youtube, i came with a project ,,a few years ago i bought on ebay a course keeper  from 1980, the unit is a magnetic compass, with an optical sensor on the circumference, the  control unit moves a 12V dc motor, the control is a rheostat on a 360 degree  dial, to select the course ,  modern autopilots are based on hydraulic units,  with this as reference, and based on the actual components, i think that i can use a magnetic compass unit to control a stepper motor or an electric motor, even a drill, attached with a chain or belt to the steering wheel,   

i will need the  arduino  board, a magnetometer GY-272, the dc motor controller BTS 6970B,  a kind of dashboard to show the magnetic course and select it,  my boat is powered by a v8 motor , i will be interested in have the analog information from the gauges ( oil pressure, temperature,voltmeter,water pressure )

they work on 12 volts, will need another circuit to reduce the voltage,  

and to finish an autopilot based on the rc vehicles that work with ardupilot,  based on the videos, this can be build ,  when i learn to program computers in 1984 in my sierra computer using basic, i start with a flow diagram, thinking in the problem as a black box,  with the input and output

i need learn some new tools.

 


   
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(@pugwash)
Sorcerers' Apprentice
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 923
 

I used to have a Raymarine Autopilot on my 34-foot sailing boat. This unit was independent of the GPS, and I believe used some type of internal magnetic compass.

The most important thing you need to know is the COG (course over ground) and HDG (heading). I would adjust the HDG on the Autopilot until my GPS was showing the correct COG and then activate the Autopilot. There was the possibility of connecting the GPS directly to the Autopilot but I never got around to it (but would highly recommend it).

they work on 12 volts, will need another circuit to reduce the voltage

This is not necessarily true as the Arduino Uno has a built-in voltage regulator, a Nano or smaller may need a Buck converter to step down the voltage.

My suggestion would be to use GPS (they are cheap enough to buy) instead of magnetic sensors, for the simple reason that depending on where you live, magnetic North may not be where you are expecting it to be. We all assume that the Earth's magnetic field is directly North-South, far from it, there are regions of the world where magnetic flux flows almost from East to West. These are mostly in the tropics, but these flux maps can be found on the internet.


   
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