raspberry pi yacht computer

This Raspberry Pi Boat Computer Is for Sailors

An open-source Raspberry Pi project with a marine twist.

Ready to hit the water? This Raspberry Pi boating project was created by a developer known on Reddit as bearthesailor . Bareboat Necessities is a DIY Pi-powered computer designed with all of your boating needs in mind.

This project houses a Raspberry Pi 4 below deck, so waterproofing your Pi isn't necessary. The Bareboat Necessities has a panel of interfaces on the front and back with a wide selection of features. You'll find USB ports, voltage meters and power switches for different components. There are even RF connectors to use with antennas.

The maker has the Pi running the Pi's Raspbian operating system, along with OpenPlotter 2.0, an open-source sailing platform. Because the project uses a Raspberry Pi 4, you can use Wi-Fi to set up the software remotely and even access the boat computer using a smartphone or tablet.

Bearthesailor provided a big list of recommended software on the project Github page. You can find applications to display weather predictions, a compass, plus temperature and barometric readings. There are even marine-specific applications, like SailGuage to help monitor things such as speed over ground, course over ground and depth below transducer. 

Tuktuk Chart Plotter and KIP Dashboard interface with Signal K—an open-source self-described universal marine data exchange. And, of course, you can add a music player because boats absolutely need kicking tunes. 

Visit the official Bareboat Necessities Github page for an intricate breakdown of the project and how to create one yourself.

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Ash Hill is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware with a wealth of experience in the hobby electronics, 3D printing and PCs. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting while also finding the best coupons and deals on all tech.

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admin said: This Raspberry Pi Boat Computer is for Sailors

robotboy321 said: A boat computer for sailors? Are they sure it's not intended for those who travel by horse?

• derekullo You could power a Raspberry Pi and a Wifi adapter to send an email from a horse. Horse powered email FTW. Reply
• Darkbreeze The "E" in that E-mail, must stand for Equestrian. Reply
• bit_user I would not trust a Pi for anything mission-critical. Get a proper industrial or marine PC. The one positive about this project would be if it's cheap enough that you could easily get two. However, there could be some batch failure that makes them both unreliable. However, I hear that mariners are wise to such issues, and often get backup systems that are an entirely different brand than their primary. Reply

bit_user said: I would not trust a Pi for anything mission-critical. Get a proper industrial or marine PC. The one positive about this project would be if it's cheap enough that you could easily get two. However, there could be some batch failure that makes them both unreliable. However, I hear that mariners are wise to such issues, and often get backup systems that are an entirely different brand than their primary.

GeoffreyMH said: Having twice been struck by lightning (once mid-Atlantic, once at anchor in Belize) I notice that nature isn't picky about what brand or make of electronics equipment it destroys. Both times it destroyed both our Raymarine autopilots (yes, so much for backups!). Now I rely on my windvane (Monitor) self steering.

GeoffreyMH said: I certainly wouldn't bother with a "marine computer" - a Pi 4 in an Argon 1 case will do everything you want. And it is tiny enough to fit in your oven or a small cake tin when there is lightning about. Loads of open-source software on the web for chartplotting, autopilots, etc (eg Open CPN, pypilot and so on) and LibreOffice leaves Microsoft Office for dead.

bit_user said: Thanks for the reply. It's great to hear from someone with actual experience, which I clearly lack. I gather the point about having a backup of a different brand was in case there's a bug or internal defect in the device. As you point out, it's not going to protect you from lightning. My concern about using Pi hardware is that it was built primarily to hit a low price point, and not to prioritize robustness or reliability. The first thing you want to look for is ECC memory, but industrial boards will also use higher quality components, PCBs, etc. In conclusion, I'll just say that if it were my ass on the line, I would go the industrial PC route and not rely on a Pi. Also, beware that flash drives and SSDs have data retention issues , if you leave them unplugged for too long. So, I would chose my storage wisely. Some filesystems, like BTRFS, even have a checksum. So, you can simply check it before launching, to verify that your data is 100% intact.

GeoffreyMH said: The Raspberry Pi was not built to hit a low price point

GeoffreyMH said: but to educate peope to use computers and electronics-driven equipment.

GeoffreyMH said: There is now a vast knowledge base on the Pi to support anyone who wants to learn.

GeoffreyMH said: And then there is the cost. The key sensors of an autopilot (gyroscope, accelerometer and magnetometer) are packaged in the Raspberry Pi Sense Hat for £30 from Amazon.

bit_user said: ...

GeoffreyMH said: ...

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Rebuilding a yacht’s navigation system using Raspberry Pi

• February 15, 2023

When David Bishop bought a 30-year-old boat, the batteries were dying and the wiring was a mess. He decided to rebuild the nav system using several Raspberry Pis

Back in May 2021, my wife Lydia and I purchased our first boat, a 1994 Dehler 34 called Troppo Bella , and spent the summer exploring the beautiful waters around Conwy. Planning to venture further afield the following year, I decided it was time to rebuild the somewhat vintage navigation station.

With much of the wiring 30 years old and a scant complement of switches, the navigation station hadn’t kept pace with the numerous navigational devices, lights and living comforts that had been added over the years. Unfortunately, half of these additions had since been decommissioned due to faults, including the Navtex receiver, SSB weather fax receiver and autopilot. Sat at anchor using camping lights in the saloon to preserve our fading batteries, it was also clear we had to be able to control power consumption if we wanted to spend more than a night away.

We set a couple of aims for the revamp. Firstly, we wanted to make full use of the existing equipment that was still functional. This included the Furuno GP32 Navigator GPS at the navigation station and the Raymarine C80 multi-function display that was mounted on the binnacle. These devices are robust, waterproof and adventure-ready. Budget was also limited so upcycling what we had, rather than installing the latest navigational tech, was essential.

Secondly, we wanted to use the navigation station to plan and plot a route on screen, push it to the GPS, chartplotter and Navionics on our tablet, and be able to view our progress while sailing. While a laptop could do this job, space at the chart table was tight, plus recharging a laptop would be a hefty draw on house batteries during extended trips. We’d need something small and low power for the job.

Lydia at the old and very cluttered nav station.

But before any of this could be achieved I had to take out the moulded switch panel and instrument board and remove all of the old switch wiring. I was then left with a simple set of power and data wires coming in from instruments around the boat, which I carefully labelled. Realising I had now effectively made the boat unusable, the project suddenly felt epic: there would be no sailing until this project was complete!

The original layout had 10 switches and I calculated that I would ideally like around 30 to give complete control of our power usage. There was no room for ready-made switch panels, so I opted for a collection of individual Blue Sea Systems Contura switches that I could group and mount easily as space allowed.

Having decided we wanted an integrated computer for route plotting, the next step was to decide which one to use, how to fit it into the small space available and where to mount the display.

Two of the Raspberry Pis hidden in the old Navtex box

Raspberry ripple

My daughters and I had already been tinkering with Raspberry Pis, a cheap computer no bigger than a pack of cards, designed to encourage children to learn about technology. These computers are easy to set up and well documented with many free books available from the Raspberry Pi Foundation .

Since their invention, Raspberry Pis have been used by sailors in boat computers for a range of purposes including navigation and autopilot systems, to monitor engines, bilges and tank levels, as well as manage solar power generation. This miniature computer was ideally suited to power our new navigation solution.

To plot a course, display our position on a digital chart and see AIS Targets, I wanted to use OpenCPN chartplotting software with licensed charts from o-charts.org and was delighted to discover OpenPlotter to get me started. This software bundle provided everything I needed, including the Raspberry Pi operating system, OpenCPN and Signal K. This last bit of software can be used to connect up the boat’s instruments (wind, speed, depth, GPS, routing, AIS) and make the data available over WiFi and so was going to be vital in pushing information to our Raspberry Pi-powered chartplotter and Navionics.

I realised that the decommissioned Navtex box would make the perfect, protected place to hide two little Raspberry Pis; I would use one of the mini computers for getting the instruments to talk to each other via Signal K and another to power my OpenCPN chartplotter.

David at work at the new nav station using the inbuilt computers and touch-screen display

Like a couple of hermit crabs they were soon installed in their new home. Moving things around on the instrument board I was also able to find a space for a 7-inch LCD touchscreen which could be used for our route plotting as well as reviewing weather information or as an instrument panel.

I hadn’t fully realised how much extra wiring three times the number of switches would create but, armed with many cable ties, I managed to fit it all in and the system was ready for its first sea trial in May 2022 when we set off for the Isle of Man.

The OpenCPN chartplotter and screen proved an immediate hit and we settled into a routine of creating the route on OpenCPN and then loading it via a GPX file into Navionics. In this way all our devices followed the same route and displayed the same data.

Updating the logbook became a quick and easy task, plus both helm and navigator had a real-time view of our progress. We were also really pleased to have the Raymarine C80 we’d inherited fully integrated into our navigation. While we like the portability of the iPad and the clarity of Navionics charts when on deck, in bad weather or when the helm wants to view a simple feed of boat data, the C80 comes into its own. So far so good!

The new nav station, complete with a red night light and three times as many switches

Power savers

Our onboard power consumption was also back under control thanks to the additional switches I had fitted and we could now keep the depth and wind instruments on while at anchor without the drain of other electronic devices hanging off the same wires.

This switch-per-device approach which was one of the main objectives of the upgrade has had some other unexpected benefits too – if AIS targets stop being received, for example, being able to reboot the AIS receiver without turning everything off and on is a real plus.

I’ve a few more plans for the navigation system, mainly to improve our access to weather forecasts when at sea or in anchorages off the Welsh coast that 4G can’t penetrate. Top of this list is to use it to receive and display in-depth weather information via WeatherFax and Navtex. I think I could squeeze another Raspberry Pi in there somewhere if I needed to!

Lessons learned

Reduce the drain

Managing power consumption is key. Modern tablets and phones use a lot more power than you think, especially compared to older purpose-built marine technology. Removing your dependency on them for long trips will give you greater sailing range.

Legacy backup

Make intelligent use of your navigation aids. In a storm, tablets and smart phones are not reliable and you may be unable to escape the helm to consult paper charts. Legacy marine navigational equipment was designed for the sea so make sure you have loaded your route in case the weather takes a turn for the worse.

Know your electrics

Most sailors know how to bleed their engine, but few have a working knowledge of the boat electrics. However, depth and wind speed/direction are vital for sailing. Gaining a basic understanding of your boat’s electrics and boat data is a sensible skill for modern seamanship.

Prepare for frustration

Rebuilding my navigation station was a hugely rewarding and exciting project. However, I had never tinkered with boat electrics or boat data before and the process required a lot of learning, dead-ends and frustration along the way as I tried to get devices to talk to each other.

Add extra time

Don’t underestimate the effort and time required to rebuild or rewire your switch panels. This project was only just completed in an off-season and it took many hours of effort.

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BAREBOAT NECESSITIES

Custom open source marine Linux OS for your boat computer

Waterproof marine touch screen HDMI display

GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo) receiver

Sensors for orientation (gyroscope, accelerometer, compass via IMU)

Environment temperature, barometric pressure, humidity sensors

Connections to the boat instruments such as wind, depth, speed, AIS via NMEA 0183 serial ports

Boat LTE / 4G Gateway, network storage

Boat WiFi hotspot and a router with WiFi extender and a long range waterproof WiFi antenna

Optional autopilot integration, rudder angle sensor

Other NMEA devices, engine/battery status, bilge pump monitoring, etc

Optional air mouse with a wireless keyboard and a touchpad

Lightning EMI sensor and alarm

RTL-SDR for weather fax, NavTex, satellite weather, AIS, RTL 433, morse code decoder, etc

Boat IoT Integration via MQTT

Music Player

Can be used with Iridium Satellite Modems

Can be used for processing transmissions received from SSB radio via audio interface

Variety of options of using wireless handheld devices such as smart phones and tablets to connect to boat systems via WiFi and bluetooth. There are many marine applications available for smart phones and tablets.

Please ensure that JavaScript is enabled in your browser to view this page.

Sailor Jim Offers a Tour of a Raspberry Pi-Powered Boat, Driven by the Bareboat Necessities OS

Built atop lysmarine, the bbn os offers a one-download solution to turning a raspberry pi into a boat-puter..

Semi-pseudonymous YouTuber and sailor "jimdinthed" has showcased a Raspberry Pi-powered boat-board computer designed to offer navigation and autopilot functionality — running a custom Linux-based operating system dubbed Bareboat Necessities OS.

"[I use] a Raspberry Pi computer on a sailboat," Jim explains in the introduction to the walkthrough video, "which gives me a free chart plotter with powerful navigation capabilities. [I also use] Pypilot Auto Pilot software and hardware, which does an amazing job of steering the boat."

The use of a Raspberry Pi or similar single-board computer aboard boats, whether for navigation, piloting, communications, or simple entertainment, is nothing new. Typically, however, it relies on roll-your-own software, meaning plenty of trial and error and no two solutions ever being quite the same — making troubleshooting and community solution sharing a challenge.

Jim's variant is different, thanks to a project designed to take the guesswork out of deploying a Raspberry Pi on a boat: Bareboat Necessities OS. "Bareboat Necessities Operating System […] bundles all [the] needed software and so much more into a single package you can download for free to an SD card," Jim explains.

More properly termed BBN Marine Linux OS for Raspberry Pi 4 the operating system, which started life as a fork of Frederic Guilbault's LysMarine, is designed specifically for the requirements of a boat computer — complete with built-in support for a range of marine radios, sensor integration, a touchscreen-friendly user interface, and more.

"With BBN OS you can build a central boat computer meeting your needs," project maintainer Mikhail Grushinskiy explains. "All on [the] low power consuming Raspberry Pi with [the] flexibility of adding countless choices of sensors to talk to all boat systems, Internet, local Wi-Fi, cameras, NMEA network, and a system able to decode marine radio protocols. BBN OS is free and open source. It is based on commonly used community supported open source projects such as SignalK, PyPilot, OpenCPN, and others."

Jim's full walkthrough of his own BBN OS computer is now available on YouTube ; BBN Os itself is available to download from the official website as a 2.8GB compressed SD card image; its installation scripts are published to GitHub under the reciprocal GNU General Public License 3.

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An Open Source Shipboard Computer System

We’re not sure how many of you out there own a boat large enough to get its own integrated computer network, but it doesn’t really matter. Even if you can’t use this project personally, it’s impossible not to be impressed with the work [mgrouch] has put into the “Bareboat Necessities” project . From the construction of the hardware to the phenomenal documentation, there’s plenty that even landlubbers can learn from this project.

In its fully realized form, the onboard computer system includes several components that work together to provide a wealth of valuable information to the operator.

What [mgrouch] calls the “Boat Computer” contains a Raspberry Pi 4, a dAISy AIS receiver, an RTL-SDR, a GPS receiver, serial adapters, and the myriad of wires required to get them all talking to each other inside a weatherproof enclosure. As you might expect, this involves running all the connections through watertight panel mounts.

Combined with a suite of open source software tools, the “Boat Computer” is capable of interfacing with NMEA sensors and hardware, receive weather information directly from NOAA satellites, track ships, and of course plot your current position on a digital chart. The computer itself is designed to stay safely below deck, while the operator interacts with it through an Argonaut M7 waterproofed HDMI touch screen located in the cockpit.

For some people, that might be enough. But for those who want to do big, [mgrouch] further details the “Boat Gateway” device. This unit contains an LTE-equipped WiFi router running OpenWrt and all the external antennas required to turn the boat into a floating hotspot. Of course it also has RJ45 jacks to connect up to the other components of the onboard system, and it even includes an M5Stack Core with LAN module so it can display a select subset of sensor readings and navigational data.

If you’d like to do something similar on a  slightly smaller scale, we’ve seen sailing computers that pushed all the data to a wearable display or even a repurposed eReader .

21 thoughts on “ An Open Source Shipboard Computer System ”

What kind of boat is too small for computer networks? This is HaD we’re talking about!

I would say Benchy is the benchmark for too small, maybe

Now I want to make an RC benchy!

RJ45 connectors!

After a couple of months all the pins will be numbered pin 5 if you read their color code.

That and sitting in the sun will surely degrade the vinyl jacket to powder. I bought a bunch of old boating stuff cheap from a store shutting down–radars, nav computers, sensors, antennas, battery chargers, you name it. All a $1 an item, but most of it was well beaten. The one thing I noticed was the wiring they used was like a really heavy vinyl material. All of it seemed to be perfect. However, some cheap computer speakers were in the lot and the jacket over the wire was falling apart like it was made of sandstone. UV and salt really wreck things. I’m not too certain those RJ45 jacks or wiring bundles will survive if any part of it gets exposure to the sun and air.

On most proper marine electronics I’ve seen that had RJ-45 connectors, the specified cables had heavy-duty jackets and molded boots that covered and “locked’ the RJ45 connector in place. Hopefully protecting against the deterioration from UV and saltwater.

Does anyone else miss the days when the plural was antennae?

Seriously cool project – if I ever build my retro steam launch, this is going in it!

I’ve always understood that when talking about an insect’s sensing organs, one would pluralize antenna to antennae. When referring to bits of aluminum and steel stuck in the air to transmit and receive radio waves with, one would pluralize those to antennas.

Of course, I could be wrong. Also, this could be a regional thing. Around here (New England), almost all the hams I’ve spoken to use “antennas”, but I already had this use in my vocabulary before becoming a ham 12 years ago, so it’s possible I learned it in school back in the dawn of time.

Not to be that guy, but Amercans are known to manhandle English quite badly, and Ham’s especially.

They call theit mast’s “towers” and their towers “mast”

They also give each other “best 73’s”..

Atleast I can blame it on English not being my native language

In America we do not speak English, we speak Americanized English. There are lots of subtle differences but the main thing is it’s not too hard to figure out what the other is saying. 😀

What do you mean?

I don’t understand.

I speak Australian English.

Rob, still easy to understand than Jamaican English for a non-native English speaker like me :P

I highly doubt the enclosure is weatherproof. The rating of it is ip54. Also the fuse holder and switched are ip22 by the looks.

According the original post only th monitor is weatherproof.

i would love to see some DIY side scan mapping projects, with wifi fish finders as cheap as chips these days a, sure someone can come up with the math to combine two or more for sonar mapping.

Thats a nicely documented project, though it looks like its going to draw quite a chunk of power. Ok on a motor boat, but difficult when sailing when the 12V house batteries need to last for many hours, sometimes even days with minimal charging opportunities when racing for example. I’ve got most of these bits in various forms on a sailing boat, they are all good projects and its nice to see themn brought together, but the biggest challenge is a cockpit weather-proof screen that can be read in sunlight, thats not too bright at night, and sips minute amounts of power. I guess theres a reason why commercial marine instruments cost a packet.

Yes, I’ve been looking for a small sailboat with a weekend cuddy cabin. Figured out it needs quite a big battery to keep a VHF radio going, and even then you can’t be gabby on it. (Transmit eats the watts) Can only probably get 40W of solar on something small. Trying to figure out if I want to put a CB in as well, but that might just be a battery hog. Thanks to being in the LED age, cabin and marker lights are not so much of a problem now. For smarts though, I’m thinking of just going with an Acer Iconia tablet I’ve got and has a waterproof case available, it goes bright enough and dim enough, GPS built in, and will run all day.

I have seen a few boaters erect a wind turbine. They run around $400 and will produce 500 watts. You are on the water, and your boats preferential movement energy is wind…so use some of that wind to charge your batteries.

We have a group 24 deep-cycle battery on our 19′ microcruiser sailboat. We can usually go 3+ days on a fully-charged battery, with our fishfinder for depth, a handheld GPS powered/recharged from the battery, LED lights in and out, USB outlets for charging stuff, and normal VHF usage (always on when underway, transmitting when necessary), AM-FM radio occasionally in the evening.

if you’re killing your battery with VHF transmitting, you’re way too chatty. ;-) Use the low power setting.

CBs are uncool on boats.

Is he depending on an RTL-SDR for safety alerts?

I like my RTL-SDR too, as a toy. It never seems to receive as many signals as any of my old-school analog radios that are lying around. Also, even with IQ-balancing turned on signals are often mirrored across the center.

I always assumed that was just because these dongles are cheap, not necessarily an SDR problem. Maybe mine is worse than his? I don’t know.

RTL-SDR.com posted an article recently that demonstrated the noise figure on common SDR platforms. Despite the fact that it can’t transmit, it’s noise floor is actually fairly good. Also, software has advanced quite a bit to where it’s very possible to reject most garbage. Performance should be adequate once you are out on the water, far from the FM Radio and city generated RF noise.

Built this but trying to work out if I can spare the extra 3.3v 1a to run Pi-hole to cut out all the ads on 300Mhz marine baud radio?

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The Raspberry Pi is ideally suited to serve as the basis for a low-cost navigation system. OpenCPN software and a GPS receiver are all you need to add.

The previous article in this series [1] described using the Raspberry Pi as a multimedia center for a boat. In this article, I discuss turning the nanocomputer into a low-cost maritime navigation system. It is also possible to expand this project and deliver GPS data to all parts of the boat. Because the Rasp Pi consumes minimal amounts of power, it is ideally suited for use on private boats and in RVs.

Maritime navigation with electronics is not a new idea. Large ships have been using GPS devices for a long time to determine location and plan routes. These devices are also available for purchase for smaller boats. The hitch is that a GPS device costs a lot of money and map updates add to the financial outlay. These costs often scare boaters away. Other commercially available navigation devices typically are well outfitted with street and highway mappings, but waterways appear to have been added as an afterthought. As a result, the more economical choice of using printed nautical maps is still the preferred method.

This is where the Rasp Pi offers itself as a solid foundation for a DIY navigation device. All you need to do is add a GPS receiver, the navigation software OpenCPN, and corresponding inland waterway maps. In this article, I describe how to outfit the Rasp Pi with the necessary software and a suitable choice of hardware, and I talk about where maps may be procured. As a bonus, I provide an overview of how the setup can be used for other instruments on board a boat.

The aforementioned multimedia Rasp Pi runs OpenELEC with a single remote control, which is ideal for media tasks, but not for navigation; therefore, I decided to add a second Rasp Pi for this project. The navigation software requires a genuine Linux distribution that will permit installation of additional packages.

A keyboard and mouse are mandatory; however, the space available on board a small boat is not big enough for these to be practical, especially not a normal-sized mouse. Logitech offers an alternative in the form of the K400 Plus [2] . Originally designed for use in the living room, this is a combined keyboard and touchpad. It does not take up much space, has no loose pieces, and is relatively inexpensive.

The Rasp Pi needs a GPS receiver and accessories to function as a navigational device. Specialty boating stores carry many different types of GPS antennae that can be assembled for use outside of the boat cabin. However, a Linux-compatible indoor GPS antenna suits my purposes just fine. This antenna can be fastened to a cabin window with two sided tape or with Velcro. Ultimately, the GPS antenna only needs an unobstructed line of sight with an adequate number of satellites.

The Navilock NL-402U [3] USB receiver ( Figure 1 ) works with Linux without any problems. If this is not available in your area, a reading of the specs will give you an idea of what you should look for. This unit was less expensive than the cheapest of the outdoor antenna models.

A Raspbian Foundation

I have worked for 12 years on Debian development efforts; consequently, Raspbian was the only distribution I was willing to consider. A welcome side benefit of this bias is that OpenCPN packages are already available online for this distribution.

Prepared operating system images are available on the Raspbian project website [4] . They can be installed easily on a new SD card under Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. Because Rasp Pi hardware is identical for all versions of the Pi, you don't have to worry about time-consuming hardware configuration. Once Raspbian is installed, the hardware configuration is practically perfect and the system is ready for use.

As described in the first part of this series, Raspbian has an overlay warning, so it is entirely possible that it produces an image signal with a blurry picture on the monitor. In this case, it is a good idea to avoid using the overlay display on the television. The remote control for the Grundig model used on my boat has a button for turning it off.

The image display should be set for 720p instead of 1080p when using OpenCPN (even though it is theoretically possible to use the 1080p), which means you can use OpenCPN maps without massive zoom-ins. The setting also protects the Rasp Pi GPU, which is not very powerful.

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Thanks to the avNav free software, the Raspberry Pi becomes a control center for electronics on a yacht.

It is rumored that Thomas Edison tested thousands of filaments for an incandescent lamp before he produced the first commercially viable electric light bulb, and I imagine his is not a unique experience. Building mock-ups and working models exposes the weaknesses and strengths of a design, which prepares you to make a better version, then a better version, until you have found the right combination of materials, components, configuration, and cost.

Due to its diminutive size and minimal power needs, the Raspberry Pi works well as a multimedia center on boats or in RVs.

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How can I use the Raspberry Pi microcomputer on a yacht?

A pair of straight arms works wonders! The yachtsman re-equipped the entire navigation system of the yacht with the help of a Raspberry Pi microcomputer - we tell how it was done!

One used boat and two pairs of straight arms

Yachtsman David Bishop recently bought a used Dehler 34. The yacht was launched in 1994, but has survived to this day in relatively good condition. Dehler 34 was the first boat for David and his wife Lydia. Together they managed to spend the summer on board the boat. However, after some time, a number of problems with electronics were revealed.

David's next cruise should be an order of magnitude longer and more difficult, so the yachtsman decided to repair the wiring and re-equip the electronics on board. The main problem was outdated navigation equipment, some of which can no longer work properly. The Navtex receiver, SSB fax and the old autopilot went to the scrap. 

After some brainstorming, Bishop decided that the ideal option would be to completely redesign the system using a Raspberry PI microcomputer, new hardware, and some old but working electronics.

First important step

As David says, in the beginning, the couple set several main goals for themselves. To begin with, they planned to go through all the electrical equipment and determine what else can be used and what should be irrevocably disposed of. Among the serviceable devices were a Furuno GP32 Navigator GPS navigator, as well as a Raymarine C80 display. David notes that these devices are waterproof and reliable - they could be used without any problems.

Next, the couple wanted to transform the navigation system, update it and improve it (the photo above shows the old version of the chart table). The goal was to create a full-fledged modernized navigation station. David wanted to be able to plot a route, feed it to GPS, chartplotter and Navionics on a tablet, and track swim progress in real time.

From the very beginning, David wanted to use a laptop as such a station. The idea was abandoned due to the fact that the chart table could not also accommodate a laptop, and charging the device would consume too much precious electricity. The search began for a small, compact device that would not consume a lot of electricity.

Working with wiring

Before starting to search for the "brain" for the navigation system, David decided to deal with the wiring. First, he removed the switch panel and dashboard. All the old wiring had to be dismantled.

New wires, given the upcoming work on installing a navigation system, David prudently marked. At some point, the yachtsman realized that the project was gaining momentum - because now the boat is temporarily unseaworthy. At that moment, there was no turning back and David was obliged to finish the work he had begun.

About 30 switches were required to fully control the electricity. Since the original panels couldn't accommodate that many switches, David purchased a set of Blue Sea Systems Contura switches. 

With the wiring updated and the switches installed, it was time to select an integrated computer to control the boat's entire navigation system. There was also the question of the place of installation of the computer itself and the display to it.

Raspberry Pi - a universal solution for the yachtsman

David said that he has already worked with Raspberry Pi when he was doing small projects with his daughters. For the uninitiated, the Raspberry Pi is a microcomputer the size of a deck of cards. 

It is a full-fledged low-power computer that can be used for a very wide range of tasks: a yacht autopilot can operate on its basis, you can make an automated plant care system, create a full-fledged smart home - the capabilities of the Raspberry Pi are practically unlimited and it all depends on your imagination. .

The advantage of the Raspberry Pi over other microcomputers is ease of learning, extensive tools for work, compatibility with a large number of electronics and a lot of various free and available documentation.

Almost from the moment the Raspberry Pi was released, the microcomputer has been actively used by yachtsmen for various purposes. In addition to the already mentioned autopilot, Raspberry Pi can be used to monitor engines, liquid levels in tanks, control solar panels, etc.

David wanted to use the OpenCPN program with licensed charts from o-charts.org. Also, David was going to use the OpenPlotter program, which is compatible with the Raspberry Pi operating system. As a result, he found all the necessary software for free on the Internet. A separate item was the Signal K program, which is used to synchronize and connect the boat's instruments with each other using a WiFi network.

As a result, David needed two Raspberry Pis. One connected all the devices together so that they could transmit data to each other. The second one was used as a base for OpenCPN.

Installing and configuring the system

Both Raspberry Pis were installed in place of the Navtex receiver. A 7-inch touch screen for controlling microcomputers was installed above the chart table. 

The new wiring took up an order of magnitude more space than the old one. But, as David says, a dozen or two cable ties solve the problem. Soon David and Lydia went on sea trials.

OpenCPN did a great job in routing. Also, routes laid in OpenCPN are loaded without problems via a GPX file in Navionics. As a result, all parts of the updated navigation system worked stably.

Thanks to the Raspberry Pi, it was possible to simplify and speed up the maintenance of the ship's log, as well as the ability to track the progress of the cruise in real time.

Lessons David Learned

David draws attention to what needs to be monitored and, if possible, reduce electricity consumption. Modern tablets, phones and monitors use more power than before. Reduce power consumption in order not to be in a situation with a dead battery in the middle of the sea.

It's also worth having a few spare devices for storing routes, weather forecasts, etc. Anything can happen at sea, and electronics, especially modern ones, do not always work flawlessly. 

As a separate point, David highlights the need to know the electronics of his boat. Even a basic understanding of exactly how a boat's wiring works is a necessary skill for the modern yachtsman.

Any upgrade is inevitably associated with some degree of disappointment. Somewhere more, somewhere less - but with a high probability in the process of improving the yacht you will come across the fact that you don’t know something or need to learn something. The result of seemingly hard work can also leave much to be desired. But even in this case, you should not fall into despair. Remember that experience does not come by itself, it takes time.

And speaking of time, David says the most dangerous thing to do is to underestimate the time and effort it takes to improve the boat. Such projects may require a lot of effort and time, but the experience gained will be invaluable.

Source: yachtingmontly.com

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Raspberry Pi Boat Monitoring

• Thread starter Davidasailor26
• Start date Jul 23, 2022
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Davidasailor26

GitHub - davidasailor/PiForBoat

• Bilge pump monitoring
• Sensors to read things like battery voltages, battery current, cabin and engine temperatures, engine RPM’s, cabin VOC’s and heel angle
• Logging all NMEA and sensor data for later review
• Making all of the data available in dashboards to view from anywhere
• Sending email alerts if parameters go out of tolerances
• Making the sensor data available on the boat’s NMEA network for display on the chartplotter

Over my head. but I know just enough to be impressed! I am curious about the sample rate you are doing for the current measurement. I have a now more than 10 year old battery monitor and Im pretty sure it samples current from a shunt considerably faster than 1Khz, maybe at least 10Khz.  

Fantastic! I was planning to make a similar system for our new boat, but perhaps I'll just leverage yours? What's involved in tying into the NMEA bus? [Ah, I see it's basically an implementation of CANbus. So, connecting is similar to connecting to a CANbus network?]  

walt said: I am curious about the sample rate you are doing for the current measurement. I have a now more than 10 year old battery monitor and Im pretty sure it samples current from a shunt considerably faster than 1Khz, maybe at least 10Khz. Click to expand

Tedd said: What's involved in tying into the NMEA bus? Click to expand

Thanks, @Davidasailor26 ! I have a little bit of experience working with CANbus networks that I hope will help in learning NMEA.  

Tedd said: Thanks, @Davidasailor26 ! I have a little bit of experience working with CANbus networks that I hope will help in learning NMEA. Click to expand

Victron Smart Shunt. Click to expand

Bareboat Necessities OS Documentation

mgrouch said: You can give a try to BBN Marine OS. There are more options for monitoring dashboards. Via NodeRed, SignalK, Grafana, or HomeAssistant. Bareboat Necessities OS Documentation BBN Marine OS is a free open source Linux for Raspberry Pi on boats. With BBN OS you can build a chartplotter, marine data computer including OpenCPN, SignalK, NMEA similar to openplotter bareboat-necessities.github.io There are plenty of articles on integrating Victron with HomeAssistant Thanks Click to expand

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• Adding a NMEA 2000 powered Raspberry Pi to your boat

Easy to install Raspberry Pi computer that gets its power from the NMEA 2000 bus — Great for SignalK, OpenCPN, and OpenPlotter.

Running a Raspberry Pi aboard a boat has been a popular thing to do for a number of years. I’ve had them on every boat since the Pi first came out. Connecting them to a NMEA 2000 network, and powering them off a DC battery bank has required a bit more work up until now.

There are many reasons to have a Raspberry Pi connected to your boat network that I can think of. My main reason is to run a  Signal K  server on it, have it connected to my NMEA 2000 network, and leverage the hundreds of plugins and pieces of software that you can install to create dashboards, gather data, set alarms and alerts, and so much more.

In addition, you can run  OpenCPN  or  OpenPlotter  and have a fully functioning boat control, autopilot, chart, etc. system that has features just like the big vendors.

On sailboats in particular, I loved having a Pi on board because I could have an always-on computer that didn’t take a ton of power, had a decent amount of CPU power, and use it to monitor things while I was away.

The old way…

The first step in connecting a Pi to the boat was to find a proper power supply. Raspberry Pi’s run off of USB power which is 5V, and not generally available on the boat in a permanent way. I always wanted mine to run off of the 12v DC battery bank without any connection to an AC outlet, inverter, or USB converter that isn’t hard wired. I have had good luck with  this 12v-5v converter from Tobsun , and I particularly like it because it has four screw down terminals on it, making it easy to connect cabling.

Once the power problem is solved, connecting the Pi to the boat network involved either an  Actisense NGT-1 USB adapter  ($) or a  canable.io  adapter to get it on the NMEA 2000 network. Both have pros and cons and require connecting to a USB port on the Pi, plus some configuration.

An easier way….

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Signal K + OpenCPN + Digital Yacht

The following article explains how to use Signal K on a Windows PC to interface Digital Yacht’s iKonvert (wired) or NavLink2 (wireless) NMEA 2000 gateways to the popular OpenCPN navigation software. Both gateways are NMEA 2000 certified, galvanically isolated and support full Signal K functionality.

Until recently, Signal K had been mostly associated with the Raspberry Pi, providing boaters with the necessary technical expertise, with a cost effective way to read and display NMEA data. The reality is, that Signal K is an Open Marine Data standard that can, in theory, be run on any hardware or operating system.

Last year, OpenCPN the most widely used “open source” marine navigation software, released an important update that supported the Signal K data format. This update allowed OpenCPN users to take all the data they needed from a Signal K server (running on a Raspberry Pi or similar low cost hardware) that in turn was connected to the NMEA 0183 and NMEA 2000 equipment on the boat.

Purchasing, installing and configuring a Raspberry Pi has got a lot easier of late, but it is still not for everyone and so it was really exciting to learn that the Signal K has recently been ported to Microsoft Windows. Now you can easily download and install the free Signal K Server software on any Windows PC, still the most popular platform for OpenCPN users. If you click on the link above, you will see that the process is well documented and was very straight forward.

Once installed, you will have a couple of new shortcuts on your Windows’ desktop; one to Start the Signal K server and the other to open a browser and display the Signal K server’s web interface.

I also created a third one to Stop the Signal K Service, by making a copy of the Start Signal K Service and then changing the Properties to run the Stop Signal K Service program.

Now whenever you want to run the Signal K Service, just click on the Start Signal K Service shortcut and the server will start running in the background. The following terminal window will be briefly displayed.

After about 10-20 seconds, you should be able to click on the “SignalK-GUI” shortcut and Windows should open a web browser and display the Signal K Server’s web interface (Dashboard).

The next step is to setup whichever Digital Yacht gateway product that you have bought to connect to the NMEA 2000 network; iKonvert (see below) or NavLink2 (skip down to next section).

iKonvert wired (USB) NMEA 2000 gateway

The following procedure takes you through the setup of your iKonvert as a Signal K Data Connection….

• Install the USB drivers which you can download from here .
• Open the iKonvert box and set the four DIP switches inside to the “ON” (Up) position.
• Power cycle the NMEA 2000 network, so that the iKonvert starts in its “RAW” NMEA 2000 mode.
• Plug the iKonvert’s USB cable in to the PC and check in the Windows Device Manager what serial COM Port number the iKonvert has been allocated.
• Start or Restart, if already running, the Signal K Service so that it sees the new COM port
• After logging in to the Signal K server, go to Server>Data Connections and click the “Add” button.
• Select NMEA 2000 as the “Data Type”, enter a meaningful name in the “ID” field and then select iKonvert (canboatjs) in the “NMEA 2000 Source” drop down list.
• You should then select the Serial Port COM number that you found in the Device Manager and make sure you set the Baud Rate to 230400.
• Once everything is setup as shown below, scroll down and click the “Apply” button.

Now Restart the Signal K server and you should see a new Data Connection, called iKonvert or whatever ID you gave it, in the top right corner of the Dashboard. Your setup of the iKonvert USB is now complete and you can skip down to the Setting Up OpenCPN section.

NavLink2 wireless NMEA 2000 Gateway

The following procedure takes you through the setup of your NavLink2 as a Signal K Data Connection….

• Turn on the NMEA 2000 network and ensure the NavLink2 is powered up.
• Scan for wireless networks and either connect to the NavLink2’s Access Point or if you are using it in Station mode, connect to the same wireless network that the NavLink2 is connected to.
• Select NMEA 2000 as the “Data Type”, enter a meaningful name in the “ID” field and then select NavLink2 (canboatjs) in the “NMEA 2000 Source” drop down list.
• You should then enter the IP address of the NavLink2 in to the Host field and set the Port to 2000.

Now Restart the Signal K server and you should see a new Data Connection, called NavLink2 or whatever ID you gave it, in the top right corner of the Dashboard. Your setup of the NavLink2 is now complete and you can proceed to the Setting Up OpenCPN section.

Setting Up OpenCPN

Once the Signal K Server is setup and receiving NMEA 2000 data via one of our gateways, the last step is to setup OpenCPN to use the Signal K server as one of its data connections. Basically, the Signal K server will send data through a special Localhost “Loopback” connection, which is a neat and efficient way for one application to send data to another application both running on the same PC. Localhost connections use a 127.0.0.1 IP address which is not on a physical network, but just an internal “virtual” network on the PC.

To setup OpenCPN to use the Signal K service, go to Settings>Connections in OpenCPN and add a new Network connection.

Enter the Address of your PC and port 3000, which is the default for the Signal K Server and give the connection a meaningful name in the User Comment box. You can also tick the Automatic server discovery and click the “Discover now” button. You should see the message “Signal K server available” appear.

Once setup click “Apply” and you should see the new connection appear in the connection list.

Finally click the “OK” button and you should start to see the NMEA 2000 data being used by OpenCPN. Currently, there is not much additional data that OpenCPN makes use of from the NMEA 2000 network, compared to NMEA 0183, but this will hopefully change in the future.

In the meantime, you can use the very flexible “ Instrument Panel ” web app that is included with the Signal K Server, to add extra displays to supplement those already supported by OpenCPN. The screen shot below, shows a normal OpenCPN display, with the Gauges populated with data from the NMEA 2000 network, plus some extra Instrument Panels below the OpenCPN window, showing the status of a Vetus E-Line 10KW 48v Electric Engine .

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Ikonvert ais converter, ais transponder on heavy lifting barge, which ais transponder from digital yacht do i need.

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Yacht-computer

olewsaa/Yacht-computer

Folders and files.

Repository files navigation

Yacht-computer project, yacht-server background.

Every yacht need to have a server (or servers) on board. There are many need to be fulfilled, of which OpenPlotter cover a significant fraction, OpenCPN and SignalK are prime examples. There are still gaps to be filled. Monitoring of equipment like engine, tank levels, temperatures, voltage and current etc etc. The list is long. In addition comes the need to a server to handle the comunication and a file server on board. A central place to dump all pictures and video from cameras and modiles and to stock up these with audiobooks and videos.

The Raspberry Pi or similar types are ideal suited for this purpose, very small and affordable which mean that severel servers can be deployed without high cost og power cunsumption.

The goal is to replace as much as possible of the yacht instruments with servers (Raspberry Pi etc) and laptops, pads and mobile phones. This part her focuses on interfacing sensors and such with the Rasperry Pi. I keep a web page about this project .

OpenPlotter and OpenCPN

The server part is running OpenPlotter which takes care of almost all the server related functions and services. The server hosts SignalK which provide web server that allow display of data on web pages both local and for any client that want to connect.

The server also run OpenCPN as a chart plotter on board. The OpenCPN accept various signals from OpenPlotter and display GPS positions to update the boats position and accept AIS NMEA signals again to be plotted. All of this is nicely run on a Raspberry Pi.

HF/SSB radio control

The pat directory contain software used to control the HF/SSB radio, including winlink email which uses the pat software.

Wifi gateway - wifi2wifi

This project is to use a Pi as a gateway to the internet. A high gain wifi antenna that usually connect using USB connect to a remote access point. Then the gateway provieds a local network onboard to which all client on board can connect to.

Communication server

Another Raspberry Pi is set up to handle communication as this might prove to much for the one runnng both Openplotter and OpenCPN. This is a separate project . I have taken some ideas from the famous RedBox, which can do very much more than my litte project.

File server

A little file server with Bluetooth interface ta facilitate easy transfer of pictures and video from the mobiles, teenagers are happy to dump selected files onto a file server, but refuse to let a cable enter their phones. In addtion the file server can host autobooks, music and films. A large USB attached SSD is a good way to get high storage capacity.

Server and IoT sensors

Files and documents related to the Yacht computer project. This git repository contain only the actual files used, the project is described here and for the versions installed or in process of being installed here .

The Internet of Things directory contains files for the IoT approach to the project. Which has become the major part of this project.

Development of data systems and IoT sensors

Some of this might find its way into the Openploter project (but already it provides a platform for collection of information from the networked(wifi) sensors on board, SignalK server end associated web server. Some are demo files showing how to use a type of sensor or other feature. However, this project it basically to show how you instrument the boat with simple and cost effective solutions.

Personally I have opted for a Internet of Things on Board (ioToB) where the sensors are autonomous units that sends off the data to the central server over wifi (SignalK server that comes with the OpenPlotter distro).

Learning to use chips and sensors

Some subproject underway with inital testing include:

• PCF8574 is a digital input output chip. Used to measure water in tanks.
• MCP3008 is a 10 bit Analog to Digital Converter (ADC). Has many uses like voltage and current.
• ADS1115 is a 16 bit ADC, a high precision ADC for usage where more than 10 bit is needed.
• DS18B20 is a one wire temperature device, a nice device for monitoring temperatures.
• ESP-8622 is the IoToB chip/board of choice. Small, simple, almost costless.
• ESP-32 is one step up, far more connections and still small and very cost effective.
• Python 30.0%

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• Raspberry Pi could be set for FTSE 250 status less than three months after London IPO

By Mike Sheen

Updated: 09:15 EDT, 30 August 2024

View comments

 Analysts have tipped Raspberry Pi to achieve FTSE 250 status in the latest shake-up of London markets, less than three months after the computer maker went public. 

The Cambridge-based group's initial public offering in June created a frenzy of investor interest , with buyers of all sizes eager to capitalise of Raspberry Pi's growth potential.

And Raspberry Pi could already face promotion to London's mid-cap index in a looming shake-up, which will be based on closing prices on 3 September and take effect on 23 September.

Growth potential: Raspberry Pi makes products used by enthusiasts to build computer servers or retro games consoles

Founded in 2012, Raspberry Pi makes products used by enthusiasts to build computer servers or retro games consoles.

Raspberry Pi's IPO was highlighted by some as a rare victory for the London markets after a sustained period of struggling to attract new businesses, and suffering defections to foreign stock exchanges and private ownership.

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Shares soared again a few days later when retail investors were given the opportunity to get behind the firm .

Raspberry Pi shares are currently trading at 401p, marking an increase of more than 40 per cent from their 280p IPO price.

Analysts at Panmure Liberum, Joachim Klement and Susana Cruz, think the firm, which now has a market capitalisation of £782.2million, will be promoted to the FTSE 250 next month.

They predict £397million market cap Puretech Health will be relegated out of the index, but the pair noted that 'no stock in the FTSE Small Cap currently qualifies for automatic promotion into the FTSE 250'.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: 'The company's initial aim was to provide IT that was affordable for young people to own and explore with confidence, giving them the chance to discover computing.

Peel Hunt boss says 'switch has been flicked' on City gloom after bumper Raspberry Pi float

'Customers are now using its single-board computers in a variety of applications across a broad range of markets, and the computers are more efficient to manufacture than legacy desktop and embedded PCs, consuming 90 per cent less electricity.

'Raspberry Pi now manufactures computer modules for industrial clients, involved in the 'internet of things' sector - creating devices with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data over the internet.

'There is now much excitement about the technology's potential as so called "edge computing" takes off when data is processed closer to where its created making things work more quickly.

'However, with plenty of pretenders to its tiny throne, Raspberry Pi will have to work hard to stay near the front of the race.'

Raspberry Pi will issue a performance report for the first time on 24 September, when the group publishes its first-half results.

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