hull extension in progress with pics

Status
Not open for further replies.

erikgreen

Captain
Joined
Jan 8, 2007
Messages
3,105
Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Re: hull extension in progress with picks

I actually made a CarPC for my old car a while back. (Check out www.mp3car.com for more info on Car PCs)

The major limitations you run into with a system like this is that it's very, very hard to find a readable display that you can use in a boat. It has to be hermetically sealed, very bright, with a very high contrast level to work.

Additionally, the display and computer have to operate in real-time with no lag, ideally it should boot up more or less instantly (within just a few seconds) and be very reliable.

You also have to consider the computer. It also needs to be completely sealed, yet it still has to cool itself. Usually this means either it's water cooled with an external radiator, or a very low power/low performance system, or both. That limits what you can do for a program interface since you don't have the graphics or CPU power available that you do on the desktop.

Power itself is an issue... even with the newer "green" PCs, power consumption for a bright lit screen, PC, and all those sensors adds up quickly, and remember that the boat's engine won't be running all the time like a car's engine generally would. Larger car PCs that run all the time sometimes have their own battery bank and charging system to address this.

Also, you have to interface the PC to the NMEA network, which requires special hardware and wiring, and probably a software package like Fugawi Marine ENC, which does do a nice job, however.

Last, you need space somewhere for all this stuff.

I'm not trying to say it can't be done, I'm just saying that if all you're looking for is a set of really cool gauges, then there are cheaper, easier ways to get them done :)

Erik
 

oops!

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
12,932
Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Re: hull extension in progress with picks

wow !.....lots of great ideas there...!....

ok.....ill start with where i left off and answer in order
 

redfury

Commander
Joined
Jul 16, 2006
Messages
2,655
Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Re: hull extension in progress with picks

It's been 10 minutes Ward....c'mon! :D Waiting with baited breath here! ;)
 

oops!

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
12,932
Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Re: hull extension in progress with picks

What chew talkin' 'bout Willis? I is totally confused. You want a 383 that cruises at 6000? With a redline at 9000? If so, you want those stolen engines. :eek: I knew it. Well . . . actually I said it was Gary H NC, but first I said somebody here, so that's it, I just figured it out. Two for the Scarab that was never an OB to begin with and one for you . . .

Edit: Wait, just reread. You want wot at 6000, what the flyin' flip does 9000 have to do with anything? Get a 7000 RPM tach, and then we'll talk about your plans later . . .

typical oops thinking QC...:D
BTW....did you see my responce that i found gary?. hee hee heee

ok....heres the premise.......ive been stranded on the lake too many times..broken down in high winds and waves while the rocks loomed close....slept in it...rowed back...been towed back....swam back...(over a mile) even swam with the rope over my shoulder pulling the durn thing back to shore !

relibiltiy is an absolute must !......i want a high speed motor that will devolop high spin speed.....6000k and run at that all day.....(however my fave boating is done at idle) if the motor is running at 6k....it needs to be able to handle a much higher redline.....to maintain reliability.......(peak power at 6)
if im running at 6 and the motor is running on the ragged edge....."redline" all the time......the motor wont last.

follow my thinking?
yes....any help you can give is....as allways....appreciated.

cheers
oops
 

redfury

Commander
Joined
Jul 16, 2006
Messages
2,655
Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Well, if the motor can HANDLE 9000 spins a minute, and you RUN at 6000 max, you don't need to know if the motor can HIT 9000, since you'll only hit around 6000 +/- 500rpm.

Just rework a motor from an Honda S2000 ;)
 

oops!

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
12,932
Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Well, I do need a umm, test subject and writing code for control systems is what we do. :D

Tell ya what, give me some idea of what things you would like to monitor and use the display for and let me play with it a bit to see what I come up with. I'll see what sort of hardware it needs and play around with the read outs. (We can make things look like an analog guage if you want.)

Who knows, we my just start a whole new trend.

Of course it would require customizing the dash board to fit the screen and provide a sunshade (hard to see LCDs in direct sunshine) but I get the feeling you are already needing to do the re-work anyhow.

Hey, have you decided on a name yet? I'd use it in the boot up of the display. :D

YES.....THE BOAT WAS CHRISTEND WITH THE NEW NAME.....BUT THE NAME IS THE THEME OF THE BOAT......AND IM KEEPING THAT A SECRET TILL THE BOAT IS FULLY FINISHED. I WILL BE POSTING THE FINAL PRODUCT HERE ON I BOATS JUST BEFORE THE PUBLIC UNVAILING AT THIS YEARS BOAT SHOW.....


FYI: This is the display I am currently considering is I do not go with an off the shelf (cheaper) display.
http://www.vartechsystems.com/products/All-Weather-Displays/VT150XA.asp

speaking of the LCD touch screen dash.

I am a controls systems engineer, I have been programming PLC's (programmable logic controllers) DCS's (distributive control systems) and HMI (human machine interfaces) for ages, there are numerous manufactureres, I deal with an industreal (power generation and natural gas processing).

1st, many many systems providers are out there that can fit the needs. it would be 100% unique and amazing.. and the screens you can create, you can set different alarms (temp, pressure, flow... on and on and on).. if you can dream it, it can be programmed.. when you decide what you want.. let the group know.. i am sure I can dig some stuff up as well...

for my (thus far nonexistant boat) I have a Curtis instrumets gauge cluster. full lCD, it will show MPH, RPM, Fuel, Temp look at the engageIV


http://www.curtisinstruments.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=cProducts.dspInstrumentation

this option, while not a cool as a fully customized programmed HMI screen is still more unique than just gauges..

guys....these options of instrumentation were fully on my mind when i started this sleigh ride....but were dismissed because of a lot of the reasons erikgreen mentions in a later post....sunliight.....reliability...water intrusion....a lot of factors.......

i wasnt aware that they had worked out all the bugs........
if you guys are telling me this can be a reality ....i would seriously reconsider.

i am totally re coustomising the dashboard....(fabbing one from scratch) so placement would not be a problem.........

i have a guru tech that can wire any thing and install what ever i want.
the boat will have many extra features that require gagues......so many in fact....it would make a airplane cockpit look small time.

so im really intersted in this concept.....what can you dig up?

thanks
oops
 

oops!

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
12,932
Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Re: hull extension in progress with picks

oops! what does your avatar say,,, driving me crazy,,, maybe I missed something... Looks like

NEVER
I can read the rest
:D


the avitar was created by redfury........i was allways wanting a unique one...and could never find one.....when i saw what he did.....i said...."thats it"

thanks mike ;)

NewImage.jpg
 

oops!

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
12,932
Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Yeah, the only limit is the imagination.


An even more "different" way to do it. Hey Opps, how about a Heads Up Display projected on the windshield?


imagination is a big word in my vocabulary.........i can dream up a lot..:D

watch out....or ill take you up on the guine pig idea :eek: :D


and a hud....???.....hmmmmm :D
 

oops!

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
12,932
Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Re: hull extension in progress with picks

ok.....i think i got everybody......please, just ask if i missed any questions.

but...not much progress.....it was really weird....

i had previously talked about it taking time to "get back in to it" from a layoff.

all of the work i had been doing on it was to the outside of the hull.....a far cry from interior construction.........right now...im doing some of the stuff i wanted to do before i left the last shop.....ski lockers.....beer coolers in the floor......ect......


i found my self wandering around the inside of the boat....thinking of the dash....trying to figgure out the seats....the height, angle. and legnth....walking around in there with a tape measure....scratching my head....:confused:

very little real physical work or concentrating on one peice of the puzzle....

but what i did do was lift the cap a bit.....and sand down some gellcoat drips that will make the cap not fit quite right.....i cut the overlap glass off from the extension of the cap

floatingset3004.jpg


that "ragged" edge is now gone......here is a different view

floatingset3005.jpg


i also marked out where the ski locker will go and where the bulkheads will be, as well as the beer cooler in the floor.....

im going to be fabbing the beer cooler today.....after i get the bulkheads cut and installed......

my plan is to take a plastic bag and place it "open like" between the bulkheads........then use spray foam and fill the bag.....after it expands and cures......i will have a mold to glass......ill just glass the shape with csm and some veil cloth i have from a local home store......that will give me a cooler shape to fit inside the hull under the deck...ill cut a hole in the new cooler and use a standard sink drain hole.....and run a water tube from that to the bilge so it can drain.

then ill reinforce the deck and cut out the locker areas.....

well see how much i can get done today......ill take the camera and get pics.....

cheers
oops
 

colobiker

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Sep 12, 2008
Messages
191
Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Re: hull extension in progress with picks

concerning instrumentation concepts.

the technology is there to do just about anything you want. I like to say.. if you can dream it we can do it..

as far as industreal PC's my experience with them have been less than satisfactory (not going to mention a supplier) but the use was in a truck that was used for on/off road pumping of very very volital material..:D... I have never had anyproblems with PLC"S or DCS's and most of the screens are rated water proof.. for washdowns... the curtis engage 4 that I have is made for vehicles that spend lots of time outdoors..(golf carts and the like)..

as for inputs.. all gauge type inputs.. (temp, pressure, fuel, MPH, RPM.. etc would all be analog, and we could display those numerous different ways. (gauge, bar, digital..) other things that you turn on and off are digital. so bilge pump, blower, lights, etc.. if you wanna get wild say throttle control with a slider switch on your HMI... how bout that!!!??!!! trim same thing.. analog out.. you can program certain conditions, so for skiing, you just press a button and the boat knows what to do, how to adjust the throttle and trim.

the fun is the HMI lay it out, so your screen is your dash, no buttons or switches. you key your boat on,

we can program the plc to handle different functions automatically.. like evacuating the hull before start up.. key on, blower on, and start button has an interlock so the engine cannot be cranked till the time on the blower is elapsed, you can program the bilge pump to run at certain intervals and have an override for manual operation. put a H2O sensor in the bilge, if it senses H2O the pump comes on automatically. put a photo eye, turn on lights automatically, for skiing, you could put a strain gauge in the mast, when the skier falls, the driver can be alerted via a message or light on the HMI. (could have verbal commands too).. if you did it right you could have to boat run on purely verbal commands.. that would be wild.. (boat name) engine on, (boat name) throttle 25%.. just some thoughts.. only limited by budget and imagination...
 

redfury

Commander
Joined
Jul 16, 2006
Messages
2,655
Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Man, at that point, he might as well call the Boat K.I.T.T.:D
 

SnappingTurtle

Lieutenant
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
1,251
Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Re: hull extension in progress with picks

topic streamlining
 
Last edited:

INJUN

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Apr 29, 2008
Messages
358
Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Looking reely good, opps.
Why not take some of the empty coronas and place as many a you can in the open plastic bag to insure you'll have the capasity you'd like, before casting the shape. This is a critical step;).
 

colobiker

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Sep 12, 2008
Messages
191
Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Re: hull extension in progress with picks

I like that information from Chetco Digital Instruments, pretty interesting.
I might have to dig deeper into it..

might be a hot ticket.


lots of cool options though
 

NoKlu

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Feb 23, 2008
Messages
786
Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Those gauges do look like there's a lot you can do with them but I think it's a little more than a plug and play system. Unless there was a dealer in your town to set up the gauges and calibrate everything I wouldn't touch it. It's one thing to have it installed by someone that knows the system and the programs and another thing opening up the box you got in the mail and reading the instructions. Some of you out there might be up to it but I just read the instructions and I wouldn't even think about doing the install myself.
 

fixb52s

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 14, 2004
Messages
463
Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Re: hull extension in progress with picks

You could always put in regular old school gauges to get the boat up and running, then add something like this in the future.

Great idea, but a lot of time and beer $.

The build is coming along great! Sure is a different vessel than on page one!​
 

Renny_D

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Messages
79
Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Any more progress, can't wait to here about the water trials.

Thanks
Renny
 

jcsercsa

Captain
Joined
May 21, 2007
Messages
3,401
Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Re: hull extension in progress with picks

Ok guys and gals. I just got off the phone with ward , hes been busy with a honey do and the boat !! he's been working on the ski locker and the beer cooler!! he is still in the building , and he's trying to make a deal till the end of the month !!

he said if he can he will try to get on here tomorrow night !!

AND Buddie Be carefull with that Lighter !! hahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahhahaha John
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top