Useful Technology Ideas

[Foswick]

@Tiffany recently started a thread about the "good old days" to discuss technology in sailing. This got me thinking ...

I am a (semi?) retired software engineer and general tech-nerd. I am always looking for ways to solve problems with technology or to create technology in search of a problem. I just like the process. (Admittedly, when it comes to sailing, I am pretty hypocritical. On one hand, I shun attempts to bring technology aboard. On the other hand, I spend a fair amount of energy thinking about or developing technology for exactly that purpose.)

Over the years, I have looked for a project that marries up my love of sailing with my penchant for developing hardware and software. Invariably, I find that the ideas I come up with sound like good ideas but aren't especially useful in reality. For example, one pet project is a system that allows folks to file float plans and have automated actions if a person becomes overdue. It sounds like a good idea but, in reality, few people would actually use it. Even I wouldn't.

I have another couple of projects involving man-overboard situations (MOB detection and retrieval). Again, I find that they may be useful in a very narrow context for a handful of people, most are quite happy with current solutions. (Tangentially, I think that most people are blissfully ignorant of the utter inadequacy of current MOB solutions, but it isn't in my wheelhouse to convince people of this.)

So, I thought I would put it out there to the community. What are problems that you find actually need solving?

 

[Davidasailor26]

I’ve done a lot for boat monitoring with a Raspberry Pi, Pico, and Arduino. It ties in nicely with my NMEA network and as a hobby it gives me my fix of hardware and software tinkering. It’s given the chance to work with everything from hardware sensors and microcontrollers to Python to InfluxDB and Grafana.

In case it can provide any inspiration my write-up for what I built is at GitHub - davidasailor/PiForBoat

I’ve been looking for useful ways to expand on what I did so I’m curious what others suggest for your question too.

 

[Foswick]

I’ve done a lot for boat monitoring with a Raspberry Pi, Pico, and Arduino.

Cool stuff! That is kind of related to a project I started building for our previous boat. Basically, I wanted the ability to check systems on the boat from the comfort of my living room. So, wondering if I remembered to pump out the holding tank? I could just check from my phone on the way home. The project kind of lost steam when I was working on remotely controlled cameras. It stalled because I got distracted implementing this pan/zoom solution on a remote-controlled sheep for my dog to herd (aka "Sheepbot").

Anyway, I never really got back to finishing the project. Been thinking about returning to it because I am building a custom DC panel that will allow me to remotely control all DC circuits, monitor fuses, etc., but also operate manually, completely bypassing the automation circuitry.

Honestly, one of the projects that most excites me is a wearable beacon that ties into a MOB detection system. Each person on board would wear a tiny beacon. When a beacon went out of range (about 30m), the system would set a MOB waypoint and automatically drop a MOB pole. I had a prototype built, but then I discovered that Raymarine made something very similar (LifeTags), though my solution was about 1/4 the size and, I think, probably more reliable. But, that's one of those things that sounds really cool, but almost no one would actually use it. I think it might have a limited market with parents of small children or people with dogs.