Third Wave will sport
a so called glass helm on the flybridge.
This work is in process right now so come back to this page over the
next couple months to see the coolness take shape. The picture above shows the found condition
of the fly bridge helm when we bought the boat.
As you can see, it’s a very basic but functional helm station using old
school mechanical controls for engines and trannies as well as analog gauges
and consumer grade fish finder. Not bad,
but we want more.Our original concept for the upgrade appears below. Dual mechanical throttle and transmission
controls are replaced by a single electronic engine control unit (#7 – already bought). A console is added that contains a 21.5”
sunlight readable IP67 touch screen monitor (#1 – already bought). The ST5000 autopilot head (#4 – already have)
is side by side with a 7” sunlight readable touchscreen monitor (#3 – already bought). #2 is a high end fish finder with side scan
sonar (make and model still under investigation but targeting a 10” LCD). #8 and #9 are flowscan 9000 units (already
bought). #10 and #11 are the same 7” touchscreen monitors as #3, but mounted in
portrait mode. They will constantly
display real time images of port and starboard engines and will also display
engine water temp, oil pressure and raw water flow rate. #12 is a VHF radio
(make and model TBD).
Note:
- The dual engine electronic controls that we went with are the Glendinning Smart Actuator II, easily the best value in brand name electronic marine engine controls on the market today. I worked with the knowledgeable staff at Go2Marine (www.gotomarine.com) to purchase this complete twin engine capable system for $3832, delivered.
- Our final choice for 21.5” sunlight readable touch screen monitor came from Amy Shinho (amy@shinhoet.com) at Shinho Electronics in Shenzhen China. People who have never worked directly with Chinese manufacturers before (find them using Alibaba) have no idea of the price advantage and flexibility available using this resource. Dealing with Amy was about as professional as you could ever want. Her emails were perfect English with zero communications barriers. Not only did I get mechanical drawings and complete specs to review, one of my requirements was for an IPS LCD. Shinho’s standard 21.5” offering did not have this. So Amy’s team went out and found a compatible IPS 1500 NIT LCD within a few days of my request and designed it into my custom product. The price delivered to my doorstep in about 45 days was $626, simply paid using PayPal. Try this kind of customization request in the USA and it will cost 2 or 3x (or they will laugh in your face). Amy gave me a price and a schedule and she met both of them on the dot. Here is the actual unit they delivered with my hand in frame to help you judge the size. It came professionally packaged for shipment and worked perfectly out of the box:
- The 7” touch screen monitors that we settled on are the Argonaut M7s. These are well designed units with nice mechanicals and 2 finger touch screens (good enough). They are designed for marine use with sunlight readability. The LCDs, however, are not IPS and the viewing angle leaves something to be desired. But I was able to purchase them for $200 each direct from Argonaut and so they represented excellent value. When I emailed Argonaut to thank them for offering such excellent value they must have decided it was too good a value so they increased the price on these by 50% only a few days later. Apologies to others for apparently giving them the idea to increase prices… Being a software engineer has its benefits, one of which is that I can write my own custom glass helm code. Below is a first prototype of one of the engine monitoring Argonauts. The real time picture of my front doorway simulates an engine cam and the gauge is my first attempt and digitially controlled gauge programming. Turns out to be pretty simple.
- The flowscan 9000 units will monitor fuel flow, GPH burn rate and, with NMEA link to my GPS, MPG. I worked with Mike Massoth (Mike@floscan.com) at Floscan to determine which of their products would best suit my needs. $1700 later we were the proud owners of two model 9C00-231-21 that are compatible with loop style fuel flow used in our Crusader 454XL TBIs.
- To fill the hole represented by #14 above we bought premade King Starboard drawers with frame. We worked with Terry McClory over at Deep Blue Marine (www.deepbluemarine.com) to purchase their model DRW-3.3 Triple Drawer/Large Bottom drawers with frame with locking latch option ($546 delivered).
- We are still considering what to use for the driver’s foot well/cowl access door. Will update the blog when we make a decision.
If this idea to remove the steering wheel sounds crazy, just consider what is more dangerous – steering going out on a twin engine boat that supports differential steering, or a glitch in throttle and transmission control that happens when maneuvering around in a marina full of mega yachts. CLEARLY the loss of rudder steering in that environment would be little more than an annoyance (as long as the captain is paying attention) while the improper operation of the throttle or transmissions has the potential for huge liability in damaging other boat and potentially injuring people. But even though this is the case the marine industry knows that electronic controls are the premium experience.
While removing the steering wheel would get rid of a
physical obstacle between the driver and his helm, the steering wheel does have
one redeeming value: it is something that the driver can hang onto while making
small course corrections in heavy seas (dodging waves, etc.) . So if we do get rid of the wheel, we will
have some mitigation plan for this, perhaps as simple as a seat belt for the
driver’s seat and a special bracket for the joystick that allows simple control
of the boat while the arm is on an armrest even in the roughest of seas likely
to be encountered.
This page is an overview of our plans for the flybridge helm. To see the low level steps in creating and integrating it, click here.
