Has the Idea of an Open-Source Chartplotter Hardware Appliance Been Discussed Before?

[cpelon]

Hello OpenPlotter Community,

My name is Chris, and I have been exploring the idea of developing an open-source chartplotter hardware appliance that leverages OpenPlotter. Before diving into this project, I wanted to reach out to the community to see if this idea has been discussed previously.

My Initial Questions:

1. Previous Discussions: Has there been any past discussion or attempt to create a dedicated hardware appliance for chartplotting using OpenPlotter?
   
2. Current Status: If so, where was the project left off? Are there any existing resources, prototypes, or documentation available?
   
3. Community Interest: Is there ongoing interest or recent activity related to this concept within the community?
   

I am aware of the MacArthur HAT and Raspberry Pi solution, which shows the potential for a DIY approach. However, I am interested in exploring the possibility of developing a more integrated and user-friendly appliance that could offer a viable alternative to commercial products like Garmin, Raymarine, and B&G.

The aim is to create a device that is customizable, affordable, and robust, capable of rivaling commercial products. By utilizing OpenPlotter, we can ensure the device remains flexible and community-driven.

I'm eager to hear your thoughts, learn about any previous efforts, and see if there are opportunities to collaborate on bringing this idea to life. Any guidance, resources, or pointers to relevant discussions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you, and I look forward to engaging with the community!

-Chris

[tkurki]

https://open--boat--projects-org.transla...x_tr_hl=de

[Sailoog]

There have been many attempts since the beginning of OpenPlotter but none have been particularly successful. IMHO this has been due to the fact that none of them have managed to convince several of the different user profiles at the same time.

Some of them were proprietary and closed hardware trying to play in the big leagues using open software and trying to attract regular open source users and failure was assured. But other open hardware projects have had a good chance of success and in the end they have not managed to find the balance between ready to go and customizable equipment at the same time.

After a few years we have accumulated a lot of feedback, some instructive failures and have some interesting data to contribute to this discussion. We also have a plan to follow regarding hardware design and the MacArthur HAT is just one element of this ecosystem. At the moment we are trying to avoid adjectives such as integral, integrated, compact... and we are opting for modularity, optional, multifunction...

OpenPlotter will always support any serious open hardware initiative and will never again support any closed, proprietary initiative.

[seandepagnier]

I dont use facebook but my friend was on the raspberry pi for boats group and there is apparently someone in germany attempting something like this.

Basically using a raspberry pi compute module with a waterproof enclosure and daylight visible LCD.

A few issues:

1) the competing chart plotters mostly use touch screens.   This does not work well wet, but they have tried to improve it over regular touch screens in a few ways.   If it is very wet this would be an issue.  Regardless it is something to think about, because although I would personally say touch screens are not very useful it might be a requirement to produce considerable quantities.

2) waterproof,   making a waterproof enclosure is somewhat tricky.   It can be 3d printed but I have just now figured out how to do it.  In any case it is not low cost in low quantities to make waterproof enclosures.

3)  daylight visible   making it really visible in daylight is very hard and also cooling the leds becomes an issue.   It is finally possible to get low-cost lcds with high brightness, but they still need to dissipate so many watts.     Making it usable in bright sun as long as the screen is in the shade is more reasonable.

4)   charts  the cm93 charts are out of date although useful.   Other charts are available, and certainly possible for all areas in the world, however making them free is something to be desired (for safety of all boaters regardless of economic status)

5)  buttons/joystick  -  the waterproof membrane buttons are easy to design, but the typical waterproof joystick is more difficult and expensive.

6)  cost - the overall cost is going to run > 100 and < 200 in $ or euro. to make just a 10 inch unit.   Is this viable?   Is it worthwhile?  Daylight visible tablets that are more  or less rainproof are cheaper and already to go.   Maybe it makes more sense to adapt them and run linux rather than android for an improved opencpn experience?

[Sailoog]

An example of what I am talking about: https://forum.openmarine.net/showthread.php?tid=3997

[EarlWer]

There are too many sailors with different requirements, budgets & existing equipment.
Solutions for a small boat (like my 27') would not be the same for a much bigger boat...
... and bigger boats usually have the budget for commercial systems.

I found OpenMarine and the MacArthur Hat incredibly easy to setup.
I wrote up most of my setup here: https://forum.openmarine.net/showthread.php?tid=5671

Trying to package everything into an 'appliance' is a big job because of the variability.

I would start with something pre-built with a limited number of options and expand from there.