2021-04-16, 09:02 PM
(This post was last modified: 2021-04-16, 09:04 PM by seandepagnier.)
Thanks for the feedback.
Yes, some rams are really bad with overcurrent only since they can get stuck. That's why pypilot increases the max_current past what you set it too for the other direction to hopefully "unstuck" the ram when it is in this fault state. Of course end of travel switches or rudder feedback completely avoids this issue. You could also maybe put springs or padding to help soften the end stops which may or may not help.
As for the 'I' gain, yes I realize it's not very effective. It doesn't reset the integrator when making course changes, and it probably should. The current potential of the I gain is limited to what it is because it will be all wound up after you tack. The real purpose of this gain for example, if you are following a route, but the track ends up parallel to the route rather than on top of it, the I gain corrects for this.
As for audible alarm at waypoint changes. I generally do this from opencpn rather than the autopilot. The autopilot route plugin is meant to also support confirming waypoints. Also this plugin supports "route position bearing" mode which is a big improvement over the xte (nested control loops) which is inherently less accurate especially if the route has a significant turn at a waypoint, say 60 degrees or more.
Yes, some rams are really bad with overcurrent only since they can get stuck. That's why pypilot increases the max_current past what you set it too for the other direction to hopefully "unstuck" the ram when it is in this fault state. Of course end of travel switches or rudder feedback completely avoids this issue. You could also maybe put springs or padding to help soften the end stops which may or may not help.
As for the 'I' gain, yes I realize it's not very effective. It doesn't reset the integrator when making course changes, and it probably should. The current potential of the I gain is limited to what it is because it will be all wound up after you tack. The real purpose of this gain for example, if you are following a route, but the track ends up parallel to the route rather than on top of it, the I gain corrects for this.
As for audible alarm at waypoint changes. I generally do this from opencpn rather than the autopilot. The autopilot route plugin is meant to also support confirming waypoints. Also this plugin supports "route position bearing" mode which is a big improvement over the xte (nested control loops) which is inherently less accurate especially if the route has a significant turn at a waypoint, say 60 degrees or more.