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Pypilot for Dummies -The Uninitiated - Printable Version

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Pypilot for Dummies -The Uninitiated - merlin26860 - 2021-08-01

Hi All, being very new to this, please forgive my ignorance in this post.

I have just purchased a Pypilot from Sean and hopefully should see this in the near future.
My question is this?
Where to find a basic Users Manual for installing and using the Pypilot. Not sure what documentation will be shipped with the Pypilot?

My application is rather simple. My existing Tillerpilot is kaput and rather spending A$1300 on a new unit, I believe this is a cost effective alternative. The drive work fine, but the brains are scrambled, hence its use is no more than an electric stick. My sailing consists of bay/ costal cruising, single handed, hence a tillerpilot can be quite useful.

Eventually will possible interface to OpenCPN etc, but at this stage, it will only be controlling the "Electric Stick".

A comprehensive list of functionality would help for the basic installation.

I see we can connect external inputs to the GPIO, but are these sink or source ie Above 1.8V=High or below -1.8V=high. Perhaps a little schematic would do. Personally, I'm not a fan of using the IR Controller, or the Web App, due to a number of reasons but much prefer to use the existing buttons on the Tillerpilot. I understand this would require a rework of the board or install new P/Buttons, but it is in a convenient location and already a weatherproof enclosure. 

I notice there has been a bit of discussion on the Tack function, but still not sure what the outcome is?

I'm guessing there would be others with a similar application to myself and this may help clarify answers they have. Prefer if these units was purchased through Sean to reward him for all the hard work he has put in. 

Anyway, if there is such a document for stand alone installations, would be grateful if you could provide a link. Congratulations Sean on what you have achieved.
Cheers[Image: shy.png]


RE: Pypilot for Dummies -The Uninitiated - PaddyB - 2021-08-01

A great source of info is here >>
https://github.com/pypilot/workbook/wiki

Great work from Ironman!
https://forum.openmarine.net/showthread.php?tid=3322


RE: Pypilot for Dummies -The Uninitiated - seandepagnier - 2021-08-01

(2021-08-01, 07:05 AM)merlin26860 Wrote: Hi All, being very new to this, please forgive my ignorance in this post.

I have just purchased a Pypilot from Sean and hopefully should see this in the near future.
My question is this?
Where to find a basic Users Manual for installing and using the Pypilot. Not sure what documentation will be shipped with the Pypilot?

My application is rather simple. My existing Tillerpilot is kaput and rather spending A$1300 on a new unit, I believe this is a cost effective alternative. The drive work fine, but the brains are scrambled, hence its use is no more than an electric stick. My sailing consists of bay/ costal cruising, single handed, hence a tillerpilot can be quite useful.

Eventually will possible interface to OpenCPN etc, but at this stage, it will only be controlling the "Electric Stick".

A comprehensive list of functionality would help for the basic installation.

I see we can connect external inputs to the GPIO, but are these sink or source ie Above 1.8V=High or below -1.8V=high. Perhaps a little schematic would do. Personally, I'm not a fan of using the IR Controller, or the Web App, due to a number of reasons but much prefer to use the existing buttons on the Tillerpilot. I understand this would require a rework of the board or install new P/Buttons, but it is in a convenient location and already a weatherproof enclosure. 

I notice there has been a bit of discussion on the Tack function, but still not sure what the outcome is?

I'm guessing there would be others with a similar application to myself and this may help clarify answers they have. Prefer if these units was purchased through Sean to reward him for all the hard work he has put in. 

Anyway, if there is such a document for stand alone installations, would be grateful if you could provide a link. Congratulations Sean on what you have achieved.
Cheers[Image: shy.png]

The gpio pins are wired with internal pullup resistors so shorting to gnd activates.   There is never -1.8V or any negative voltage below ground.
https://pypilot.org/schematics/pypilot_tinypilot.pdf


In many cases these buttons are inconvenient especially on a tiller pilot.   Many tiller pilots fail because water gets in through the buttons.   it is better to mount the electronics away from this, but this require a wire for each button..   This may not be too bad using something like ethernet cable which has 8 wires.   The alternative to running long wires I would recommend to support those buttons would be to use a 433mhz rf remote which would wirelessly transmit the buttons back to the tinypilot computer.    


The tack function will be supported in the next release which is possible by software upgrade to even the oldest hardware versions


RE: Pypilot for Dummies -The Uninitiated - SVHM - 2021-09-08

I have a question about Step 5, The Hat Interface. I have an earlier version of the pypilot hat that I purchased last summer. When attached to the GPIO header, the backlight comes on and I have IMU functionality. However, the display doesn't show anything. I am going out on a limb here but I am thinking that I need the hat interface working. I just loaded the latest version of Openplotter and it does not seem to have the pypilot_hat.service file to enable. Has this service been incorporated into a different file? If I am on the wrong track, can anyone tell me how to get it displaying properly?

The Workbook has been a good resource and I hope to see it grow in the future.


RE: Pypilot for Dummies -The Uninitiated - seandepagnier - 2021-09-09

Does the hat display if you type "pypilot_hat" on the command line?


RE: Pypilot for Dummies -The Uninitiated - SVHM - 2021-09-09

(2021-09-09, 12:37 AM)seandepagnier Wrote: Does the hat display if you type "pypilot_hat" on the command line?

I get a GUI that displays what would be displayed on the LCD screen.


RE: Pypilot for Dummies -The Uninitiated - seandepagnier - 2021-09-09

hmm.. try running
pypilot_hat nokia5110
or
pypilot_hat jlx12864

depending on which display you have, most likely it is nokia


RE: Pypilot for Dummies -The Uninitiated - SVHM - 2021-09-09

(2021-09-09, 02:52 AM)seandepagnier Wrote: hmm.. try running
pypilot_hat nokia5110
or
pypilot_hat jlx12864

depending on which display you have, most likely it is nokia

Here is what shows:

pi@openplotter:~ $ pypilot_hat nokia5110
have gpio for raspberry pi
no lirc available
have gpio for raspberry pi
failed to load /proc/device-tree/hat/custom_0 : [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/proc/device-tree/hat/custom_0'
assuming original 26 pin tinypilot
loading config file: /home/pi/.pypilot/hat.conf
config failed: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/home/pi/.pypilot/hat.conf'
Using driver nokia5110
failed to open spi device


pi@openplotter:~ $ pypilot_hat jlx12864
have gpio for raspberry pi
no lirc available
have gpio for raspberry pi
failed to load /proc/device-tree/hat/custom_0 : [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/proc/device-tree/hat/custom_0'
assuming original 26 pin tinypilot
loading config file: /home/pi/.pypilot/hat.conf
config failed: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/home/pi/.pypilot/hat.conf'
Using driver jlx12864
failed to open spi devicepi@openplotter:~ $ ^C
pi@openplotter:~ $



RE: Pypilot for Dummies -The Uninitiated - seandepagnier - 2021-09-09

sudo pypilot_hat nokia5110

or give permissions to /dev/spidevX.X


RE: Pypilot for Dummies -The Uninitiated - SVHM - 2021-09-09

This is what I get with the first command:

pi@openplotter:~ $ sudo pypilot_hat nokia5110
have gpio for raspberry pi
no lirc available
have gpio for raspberry pi
failed to load /proc/device-tree/hat/custom_0 : [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/proc/device-tree/hat/custom_0'
assuming original 26 pin tinypilot
loading config file: /root/.pypilot/hat.conf
config failed: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/root/.pypilot/hat.conf'
Using driver nokia5110
failed to open spi devicepi@openplotter:~ $

I can't find spideX.X or spide anything in /dev.

Thanks for the help.