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+--- Thread: Openplotter build and cockpit display (/showthread.php?tid=6395)
Openplotter build and cockpit display - nedsbeds - 2025-08-12
I've recently deployed my Openplotter build on my Beneteau First 29
The hardware is built around a Raspberry pi 5 running with
- MacArthur HAT (with power module)
- Adafruit ICM-20948
- Pimoroni NVME Base
- Kingston 1TB M.2 NVME SSD
- B&G wind sensor
- B&G Triton 2
Also in/attached to the head unit
- USB powered hub
- Custom NMEA2000 Bus
- Generic USB GPS Puck
- RTL-SDR USB
- I have a tiller pilot that accepts headings over NMEA 0183 so will wire that in shortly
The Display is a 3D Printed case with 7" HDMI touchscreen unit from Riverdi
It's optically bonded and plenty bright enough for outdoor use in full sun. (Pictures were taken on a very sunny day but IRL it was very usable)
The screen cover has my and my partner's initials in the B&G font
Also there but not pictured is a D-Link DWM-312W WiFi 4 3G/4G LTE Cat 4 Router for internet, although I have noticed some lorawan connections in the harbour so will probably add Lora for remote monitoring.
Boot times are great with the NVME SSD
The USB hub is powered directly from the main power switch @12V, and I have cut the power lines in the USB cable to prevent backfeeding which was stopping the PI from switching off.
The PI case has a solid cover fitted normally and temps are fine so far during UK Summer.
I was struggling with sealing cables between the head unit and display but settled on these cool 3D printed splittable cable glands that seal nicely and allow room for USB and HDMI cables to pass through. https://www.printables.com/model/608533-cable-gland-split-able-customizable
All prints are PETG-CF printed on a Bambu x1 Carbon
Software wise I settled on OpenCPN for charting and Ocharts for the charts themselves (I'm in the UK)
I am a Grafana Labs Employee so obviously I am also using Grafana for visualisation
I would be really keen to see what others are doing with Grafana too. We have a slack channel full of dashboards in the wild.
LMK if anyone wants STLs or further details!
RE: Openplotter build and cockpit display - Adrian - 2025-08-12
That's a nice setup! Thanks for sharing.
Two questions:
What did you use the prototyping-board with the screw terminals for?
Is the blue circuit board below the Pi a USB hub without enclosure?
RE: Openplotter build and cockpit display - nedsbeds - 2025-08-12
Thanks Adrian,
And thanks for all your work on MacArthur hat!
The proto board is for NMEA2K. I'm powering the bus, breaking out 4 connections and have an selectable terminator on there. I have a mini c connector that goes to the rest of the network, bus power (switched from the enclosure) and the connection to MAhat. Very basic, just rails for connecting together nmea devices conveniently
The blue board is indeed a decased usb hub. It was back feeding the pi and messing up power management so it is also powered from the enclosure 12v switch and has power lines cut on the usb cable.