Collecting Depth Data

[SCarns]

I was wondering if OpenPlotter has, or if not could have, the possibility to collect depth data from the boat's depth sounder like the Navionics SonarChart live feature to create free charts for all OpenPlotter users.

I checked the Open Seamap project, where they are collecting user data with data loggers, but it seems not to be very active lately. Also, the data loggers are not available anymore.

And since OpenPlotter has the possibility to connect GPS and depth data on the map that would be a great solution.

Also, I am building an RC boat with an Arduino depth sounder/data logger to map shallow areas of water where I don't want to go with my boat. If possible I would also like to include that data into the chart somehow.

Interesting idea, don't think there's anything available at the moment to do that but openplotter can write all data  to an influxdb database so it should be possible to write some python to take the lat/long/depth data and create a gpx file with waypoint indicating depth. Could be very useful checking out new anchorages from the dinghy though nmea portable transducers seem a bit pricey & not many available.

I think this is being discussed over on Slack as a SignalK plugin. I believe there is some sort of user-sourced collection over on OpenSeaMap, and that might be the direction of the SignalK plugin. I use Grafana to track depth data at the dock, as I find the TideWatch plugin is awful at predicting tides and the Grafana graph is easy to see which way the tide is flowing based on my location (when I'm not moving, that is).