2018-09-13, 03:59 PM
(2018-09-11, 04:13 PM)kalle Wrote: I could test pypilot and so far it is working very well. I am still struggling with fine tuning of the gains.
In wind mode I do not like the 0 to 360° display. Wind mode I usually use when going upwind. I think it would be nicer to have 0 - 180° positive to stb and negative to port to avoid calculating the angle when wind is from port after a tack. Also the course setting should be according the direction the boat shall move.
Are you using the opencpn plugin? I agree that 0-360 is confusing for wind. I should as you say, change it for 0-180, but what is the best way to show which tack? Different color? Text? Dial?
As for the course settings. Are you referring to the direction reversing in wind mode? I corrected this in the latest pypilot plugin in git.
Quote:One feature I am missing is a tack function. As I am sailing single handed very often I liked the tack button with adjustable delay of my old autopilot. Just push the button and time for handling the jib sheet.
Regards,
Kalle
I am already automatically tacking. From the config you can add buttons for any degree you want. I put 110 degree buttons and it works for tacking if the feed forward gain is correct, the PR gain high, and small amount of P gain.
Now, I agree that some specialized tacking logic would be nice. Tacking on autopilot is limited by the rate the driver can move the rudder, so it won't tack as quickly as a human or always prevent overshooting as well, and with enough waves it can get confused. Some boats cannot tack properly with the limited rudder range of the autopilot, and you need to backwind the headsail to tack under autopilot. This results in a tack which nearly stops the boat.
For different conditions, tacking can be really different, so it is difficult to get the autopilot to tack well. I would like to add specialized logic to improve this, but then it becomes like the gains... difficult for users to tune.
How did the adjustable delay work? Did it go hard-over, wait a certain time, then move back? This may work, but again it will likely overshoot, and is not going to always make perfect tacks.