3 Responses to “Open source autopilot”

1. PETER 51 on September 18th, 2008 2:31 am

   HI MIKE.
   MY NAME IS PETER VOUSSEM. I LIVE IN AUSTRALIA AND I WAS VERY INTERESTED TO READ YOUR ARTICLE RE MOD OF PAPARAZZI AUTO PILOT TO A MARINE ENVIROMENT. MY PROFESION IS ELECTRONIC TECH WITH A SMALL MAUNFACTURER HER IS AUSTRALIA. DONT KNOW WHAT CONTRIBUTION I CAN MAKE, BUT PLS LET ME KNOW IF THS PROJECT HAS LIFTED OFF AT ALL AND AT WHAT STAGE IT IS.
   THE REASON FOR MY INTEREST IS THAT I AM BUILDING A MOTOR SAILOR. RECENTLY I BOUGHT A CMAP CARTPLOTTER /MAPS FOR TO USE ON A LAPTOP/PC. BY STRINGING A NEMA TALKER AND LOGGER TO THIS PROGRAMM I COULD ESTABLISH THAT IT ACTUALY OUTPUTS VALID NEMA SENTENCES FOR AUTOPILOTS. SO WAHAT I LOOK FOR IS SOFTWARE THAT DECODES NEMA, STRIPS THE “OFF COURSE” DATA OUT OF IT AND SENDS OUT CONTROL SIGNALS TO A DRIVEMOTOR AND RECOGNISES FEEDBACK FROM RUDDER. THE PAPARAZZI BOARD TWOGV1 SEEM TO BE A VERY SUITABLE BASE FOR THIS PROJECT THOUGH I DONT KNOW WHERE TO BUY IT AND HOW MUCH IT IS.
   LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR REPLY
   WITH KIND REGARDS PETER VOUSSEM

2. PETER 51 on September 23rd, 2008 4:23 am

   hi mike ,
   me again, peter voussem.
   in the meantime a colleauge and i have found some other projects that concern themselves with auto pilots (a.p.)
   so i would reconsider my opinion about paparatzi. perhaps it would be a good idea to implement the a.p. as a virtual device that resides as a tsr application in the computer. i had some thoughts regarding some principles of the design:

   2 modes:
   1.stand alone- with i/p from gps reciever and a course selection.
   a feedback from rudder(pot)or steeringwheel (pulses). an output to a drive with directional info. the unit should recieve gps sentences, containing course + speed. validate the gps senstence, calc if on or off course, and take appropriate action: left or right rudder. the reaction should be proportional to the deviation .

   2. slave-
   autopilot with chartplotter eg cmap.
   this device will recieve data from chartplotter in the form of autopilot nema senctences. recieve nema sentence, validate, determine error, output action through printerport or other.
   have feedback from rudder(pot) or pulses from steeringwheel.
   o/p to motor with indication of direction (left or right rudder)
   in the back ground menue there should be a strenghth adjustment for rudderaction and feedback and a cal function for rudderresponse.
   both a.p.’s must display “ok” (status)function, maybe time and position independently of map plotter application( somewhere in the corner or so)

   mike,
   if you are interessted at all, pls make contact with me on my web address
   pmvoussm@hotmail.com otherwise it was as the name said: just a tease.
   hope to hear from you soon. hope i did not appear to be overbearing. but i am just very interested.
   with best wishes, peter voussem

3. mslinn on July 20th, 2009 3:07 pm

   Peter,

   I am glad to hear from you.

   I’m looking at starting the project by writing a unified driver for NMEA 2000 and NMEA 0183 that extends the Linux /proc pseudo file system. NEMA talker only works with NEMA 0183. Most autopilots only understand NMEA 0183, however NMEA 2000 is a more modern h/w and s/w protocol. Gotta support both these days.

   I’m committed to Linux, and am considering the Moblin distribution. You mentioned ‘TSR’, which makes me think of DOS. I shudder at the thought that a mission-critical system runs on a Microsoft O/S.

   Sounds like your concept is simple and direct. It should work well. I am considering a more comprehensive system, and it is likely to take a lot longer to put together than what you discuss.

   Mike

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