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LCD Auto Pilot Daughterboard Microcontroller

Aedificate Co. presents an autopilot control system. It's not a full autopilot system however, and will not function on its own. However, it brings a unique feature that we haven't seen on many AP systems.

The script will display general information fed through from the mainboard controller such as:
• bearing,
• ETA in hours, minutes and seconds,
• Distance from target automatically converted to kilometers,

The daughterboard has one embedded autopilot function called "heading hold." When enabled, the controller will maintain the entered heading (a value from 0-360). Please note that while the heading hold can turn the boat around, it is advised that you activate the heading hold when closest to the desired heading for the best results; activating when far from the desired heading can cause the boat to turn past the heading at first for a few seconds before correcting. The heading hold can function standalone from the mainboard as all required inputs are independent form mainboard functions.

WARNING: HEADING HOLD PID WILL TURN THE SHIP LEFT IF THE HEADING DIPS BELOW 0 TO 359- DESPITE RIGHT BEING THE CORRECT DIRECTION TO TURN. THE OPPOSITE OCCURS WHEN THE HEADING HOLD IS SET CLOSE TO 359 AND IT DIPS OVER TO 0.

The script features a fairly convenient AP Panic mode. When triggered, the system rejects mainboard AP functions and attempts to stop the vessel before colliding with an object. It will send a negative throttle value in an attempt to reverse the propulsion until the speed reaches zero. This works well with systems that can accept negative throttle such as water jet propulsion.

If your vessel uses a direct throttle to a diesel engine, we recommend disabling the reverse throttle feature via the toggle, or alternatively you can use a threshold to automatically engage a reversing gearbox (and be sure to add an absolute gate).

Designed for [4x3] Fully configurable GPS Autopilot by Tajin
Daughterboards: Autopilot Course Selector Daughterboard

Considered features:
• Heading PID failover condition where it resets the PID state when it's still at max rudder output and has reached the set heading

Known issues:
• Heading holds close to 0 or 360 will be problematic for the heading hold PID.