2019-11-09, 05:30 PM
Hi all, Chris here from Bowling Green, Ky. Restoring a Rhodes 28' sailboat (tiller) and plan to singlehand a lot. I'm primarily an electronics guy, but have a small home machine shop.
I've been talked out of the tiller pilots and similar, hearing serious reliability issues. I have a 5/8" stainless leadscrew, and a bronze bearing. I'm wondering if anyone has driven this kind of thing with a nema 23 size stepper using a commercial stepper driver? Would I need an additional arduino to glue the driver to the autopilot's output? A stepper may not be ideal, but I'm not sure I like a standard brushed motor with gearbox in a marine environment ...
I've been talked out of the tiller pilots and similar, hearing serious reliability issues. I have a 5/8" stainless leadscrew, and a bronze bearing. I'm wondering if anyone has driven this kind of thing with a nema 23 size stepper using a commercial stepper driver? Would I need an additional arduino to glue the driver to the autopilot's output? A stepper may not be ideal, but I'm not sure I like a standard brushed motor with gearbox in a marine environment ...