8v92 Digital Engine Data Conversion

[rustybucket]

Hey guys, figured I'd post this as it may interest others. My goal was to get all engine data into a digital format for viewing anywhere in the boat (tv, ipad, iphone, kindle...etc). I've been wanting to do this for a while now and finally getting around to putting things together!


First up was installing digital temp sensors, but before that, I had to build the sensors!

Brass pipe plug with hole drilled through the center.





Used a good epoxy to seal and hold the sensors (note: the sensors fit the hole very snug).

 

[rustybucket]

Couple of the finished sensors with waterproof connectors installed.

 

[rustybucket]

The sensors in the pics above are

2 x Engine Coolant (the largest sensors, installed on the starboard side of the engine in the thermostat block)

2 x Engine Oil Temp - installed in the oil filter block

2 x Trans Oil Temp - installed on the trans oil filter block


Sensors to be added (not in pics) are

4 x EGT (exhaust gas temp) - installed on the exhaust side of each turbo

2 x Turbo Boost - installed in the air intake between the turbo and super chargers

Oil Pressure
Fuel Pressure
Tanks Levels
Bilge Levels
Freezer/Fridge temp
Cabin Temp
Engine Room Temp

Probably some others I can't think of right now.

 

[rustybucket]

Got the stbd and port Coolant Temp Sensors, port engine oil and port trans oil temp sensors installed. Also got the Turbo boost sensors installed (but not wired up yet).

The data from the installed sensors is now showing on the cabin tv! woot woot!! (this is just sitting at the dock, hence the low temp numbers) Crazy, the Port Coolant is higher than the others by a bit... wondering why I realize that one of the engine room lights is closer to that engine and the heat put off by it was slightly warming that side of the engine, amazing to me...

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Looks like it should work out nicely. Can you now set alarm set points, etc?

 

[krush]

What device are the sensors hooked up to?

 

[rustybucket]

Looks like it should work out nicely. Can you now set alarm set points, etc?

Yeah, I will be able to set visual and audio alarms should something reach an alarm status. Even thinking of adding in a cellular module so I could be alerted even when not on the boat via text message for things like high bilge alarm, low battery condition... etc.

 

[rustybucket]

What device are the sensors hooked up to?

Very much a prototype at the moment but the temp sensors are connected to an Arduino mega, which is connected to a RPi cpu via serial port. The setup is quite complex at this point, but I hope to have some boards printed up after the prototyping phase so it makes it a plug and play deal.

 

[rustybucket]

The RPi takes the data obtained from the sensors and distributes the data via an onboard webserver and WiFi network. So whatever device you want to use you just join the boats WiFi network and visit an IP address (the web server running on the RPi) and you can view the data in whatever format you choose.

 

[SEVEN]

Ok now you’re going to have to make them for everyone. Well done Rusty, take a snap shot of the screen and where you mounted it. Great idea.

 

[krush]

Very much a prototype at the moment but the temp sensors are connected to an Arduino mega, which is connected to a RPi cpu via serial port. The setup is quite complex at this point, but I hope to have some boards printed up after the prototyping phase so it makes it a plug and play deal.

That's cool! I thought about doing it with a cheap PLC like the click from automation direct. However, on a boat, the standard is NMEA 2000. So I'm going to go with the Chetco...this winter, I hope.

 

[rustybucket]

Ok now you’re going to have to make them for everyone. Well done Rusty, take a snap shot of the screen and where you mounted it. Great idea.

That is kinda the beauty of it, the screen can be whatever you want it to be. Right now the screen is the 43” tv in the cabin lol.I do plan on mounting two displays at the helm over the existing mechanical gauges. If something goes wrong with the digital system I’ll be able to just lift the digital screens off to view the analog gauges.Also plan on mounting a display in the engine room somewhere so I can monitor stuff while down there.

 

[rustybucket]

That's cool! I thought about doing it with a cheap PLC like the click from automation direct. However, on a boat, the standard is NMEA 2000. So I'm going to go with the Chetco...this winter, I hope.

When I first started researching for this project nmea 2k was one of my primary goals, but after digging in deeper I’ve become less and less fond of nmea2k. The spec is very dated and restrictive. In addition you have to pay a licensing fee to use the data format... In my case I don’t really think I even need the data in nmea2k... the only benefit would be that I could view the data on my Garmin.... but really why would I want to look at the data on my $6k Garmin when I am view it on an iPad, or other display. I’ll keep the Garmin free for sonar, radar and navigation duties.

Just checked out the Chetco system, seems nice but quite pricey, with lots of upsells for additional features. You are also paying a premium for the nmea licensing. I’d like to think I could retail my unit, full featured, for south of $1k, maybe closer to $500

 

[SEVEN]

Even better.

 

[krush]

I’d like to think I could retail my unit, full featured, for south of $1k, maybe closer to $500

Some PLC's that can probably do it are $80 or so. Just know what's out there. The idea of a ModBus network would be good too. NMEA2k may be more, but it's a standard that all the marine stuff uses. ModBus, fieldbus, etc are the industrial standards. There really are a lot of options out there, and yours is definitely a nice one.

 

[oceanjake]

This is awesome. When viewing on an iPad there must be an app to launch. What app? If you get to the point of selling these I would be very interested. I too would like to replace the analog gauges with a digital screen at the helm. If that system died I have engine room gauges to get home.

 

[Boatsb]

J1939 is the standard for engines these days. And the new mfd' s will accept that too.

Having a non standard solution brings up issues with support down the road especially for the next owner.

 

[rustybucket]

This is awesome. When viewing on an iPad there must be an app to launch. What app? If you get to the point of selling these I would be very interested. I too would like to replace the analog gauges with a digital screen at the helm. If that system died I have engine room gauges to get home.

No app to install, just visit a url in your web browser.

You do not have to be connected to the internet, or have any cell service, you just need to be connected to the boat's wifi network.

 

[rustybucket]

J1939 is the standard for engines these days. And the new mfd' s will accept that too.Having a non standard solution brings up issues with support down the road especially for the next owner.

Once the data is acquired and processed, I can output it in any format needed. Nmea, signalk, j1939....etc. The shortcoming of all of those standards is that all data points I need may not be available in them. What if I want to monitor the temperature of one of the cabin rooms? What if I want to monitor the freezer temperature on the refrigerator temperature? What if I wat to add engine room cams...etc...

 

[Boatsb]

I believe the pgn's for many factors are already defined. Temp is not an issue for multiple areas or devices.

I'm asking why reinvent the wheel?