Monitoring the batteries with the Raspberry PI

It turned out to be easy and inexpensive.
See the details here.
The next step will be to log all this, along with the wind speed, to see how the wind generator works with the solar panel.

Introducing live wallpaper in the Navigation Desktop

The foreground data were not very convenient, they are now replaced with a "Live Wallpaper".
And there is also an option to put the desktop in full screen.

NMEA Multiplexing, with Raspberry PI and sensors

This is a first test, but already promising... See details here. Still working on the Atmospheric Pressure for OpenCPN, trying to manage the MDA NMEA Sentence. More to come, stay tuned.

SPOT Parser in the Console

We already had one Web version of a SPOT Parser, we now have one embedded in the Navigation Console. It allows the manipulation of the SPOT bulletins even if you are far from the Internet...

It also comes with a possibility to compose your own SPOT request.
At sea, you would compose your request (possibly with the data from the GPS), paste it into your Airmail client to send it through SailMail.
Once the response is in your inbox, you paste it in the utility featured above, and you have a graphical rendering of the SPOT data.
Enjoy!

Introducing the Headless Weather Wizard

Two things:

• The Weather Wizard runs on a Raspberry PI
• It can load (and save) a default composite, and reload it on a regular base

The idea is to run the Weather Wizard in some sort of batch mode, so it generates and stores composites on its file system, as long as you let it go.
You just need to run it this way:
On Windows:

set MEM_OPTIONS=-XX:NewSize=512m -XX:MaxNewSize=512m -Xmn768m -Xms1024m -Xmx1024m 
set MEM_OPTIONS=%MEM_OPTIONS% -XX:SurvivorRatio=1 -XX:PermSize=30m -XX:+UseParallelGC
set JAVA_OPTIONS=%EXTRA_JVM_PRM% %MEM_OPTIONS% %JAVA_OPTIONS% 
::
set PRMS=-composite:./patterns/01.Favorites/01.3.00.Pacific.Sfc.500.Tropic.GRIB.ptrn
set PRMS=%PRMS% -interval:360 
set PRMS=%PRMS% "-pattern:/yyyy/MM-MMM | Auto_ | yyyy_MM_dd_HH_mm_ss_z | waz"
::
set command=java %JAVA_OPTIONS% -client -classpath "%CP%" -Dheadless=true main.splash.Splasher %PRMS%
start "Headless Weather Wizard" %command%
  

On Linux:

MEM_OPTIONS=-XX:NewSize=512m -XX:MaxNewSize=512m -Xmn768m -Xms1024m -Xmx1024m 
MEM_OPTIONS=$MEM_OPTIONS -XX:SurvivorRatio=1 -XX:PermSize=30m -XX:+UseParallelGC
JAVA_OPTIONS=$EXTRA_JVM_PRM $MEM_OPTIONS $JAVA_OPTIONS
#
PRM1=-composite:./patterns/01.Favorites/01.3.00.Pacific.Sfc.500.Tropic.GRIB.ptrn
PRM2=-interval:360 
PRM3="-pattern:/yyyy/MM-MMM | Auto_ | yyyy_MM_dd_HH_mm_ss_z | waz"
#
java $JAVA_OPTIONS -client -classpath "$CP" -Dheadless=true main.splash.Splasher $PRM1 $PRM2 "$PRM3" &
  

Notice the parameters -composite:, -interval:, and -pattern:. Same for the System variable -Dheadless=true.
This means that the pattern mentioned in -composite: will be reloaded every 360 minutes, and stored as stated in the -pattern: parameter.

Introducing Console User-Exits

There are many things to do with the NMEA Data available in the cache, and the console is just doing a little - obvious - part of them.
In order for the users to implement their own features and ideas, we now provide a "user-exit" mechanism.
The user-exits are to be written in Java, and implement a specific interface named olivsoftdesktop.DesktopUserExitInterface, and defined as foillow:

      
     1  package olivsoftdesktop;
     2  
     3  public interface DesktopUserExitInterface
     4  {
     5    public void start();
     6    public void stop();
     7    public void describe();
     8  }
      
    

It could probably not be any simpler.

A Simple User-exit implementation

To develop your own features, you would need to put - at least - into your classpath:

• desktop.jar

And probably, to access the NMEA Data Cache:

• nmeaparser.jar
• nmeareader.jar
• coreutilities
• geomutil.jar

Then, write your code, and archive it into a jar-file.
Here is a simple implementation of this interface. This one evaluates the True Wind Speed every time a sentence is received from the NMEA station, and displays a message if the TWS is above 10 knots.
See how the NMEAReaderListener is registered.

      
     1  package olivsoftdesktop.sampleue;
     2  
     3  import nmea.event.NMEAReaderListener;
     4  import nmea.server.ctx.NMEAContext;
     5  import nmea.server.ctx.NMEADataCache;
     6  import ocss.nmea.parser.Angle360;
     7  import ocss.nmea.parser.Speed;
     8  import olivsoftdesktop.DesktopUserExitInterface;
     9  
    10  public class UserExitSample
    11    implements DesktopUserExitInterface
    12  {
    13    public UserExitSample()
    14    {
    15      super();
    16    }
    17  
    18    @Override
    19    public void start()
    20    {
    21      System.out.println("User exit is starting...");
    22      NMEAContext.getInstance().addNMEAReaderListener(new NMEAReaderListener()
    23      {
    24          @Override
    25          public void manageNMEAString(String nmeaString)
    26          {
    27  //        System.out.println("     ... From user exit, got NMEA Data [" + nmeaString + "]");
    28            NMEADataCache dc = NMEAContext.getInstance().getCache();
    29            double tws = ((Speed) dc.get(NMEADataCache.TWS)).getValue();
    30            double twd = ((Angle360) dc.get(NMEADataCache.TWD)).getValue();
    31            if (tws > 10 && !Double.isInfinite(tws))
    32            {
    33              System.out.println("Wind is over 10 kts:" + tws + ", TWD:" + twd);
    34              // TODO Send an email...
    35            }
    36          }
    37      });
    38    }
    39  
    40    @Override
    41    public void stop()
    42    {
    43      System.out.println("Terminating User exit");
    44    }
    45  
    46    @Override
    47    public void describe()
    48    {
    49      System.out.println("This is a simple user-exit example that shows howto register an NMEAReaderListener from your code.");
    50    }
    51  }
      
    

User-exit runtime

To have your user-exit to be taken care if, you need to:

• Archive it in a jar-file, and put the jar (along with the ones it may depend on) in one of the following directories
  • all-user-exits (recommended)
  • all-libs
  • all-3rd-party
• Mention the name of the user-exit in the command-line parameters, like -ue:myspecial.feature.SuperUserExit. For the example above, the parameter would be -ue:olivsoftdesktop.sampleue.UserExitSample.

And that's it. This works from the console, as well as from the headless one.

A more complex sample

Here is the scenario:
You have an internet connection on the boat, it is docked or anchored in the harbor.
From wherever you are, you want to know what the wind is like where the boat is.
This user-exit monitors the True Wind Speed (TWS), and send an email when it is above a given threshold. It looks at the wind speed every X minutes, the X comes from a configuration file (email.properties) that can be edited.

      
     1  package olivsoftdesktopuserexits;
     2  
     3  import java.io.FileInputStream;
     4  import java.text.DecimalFormat;
     5  import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
     6  import java.util.Calendar;
     7  import java.util.Date;
     8  import java.util.Properties;
     9  import java.util.TimeZone;
    10  import nmea.server.ctx.NMEAContext;
    11  import nmea.server.ctx.NMEADataCache;
    12  import ocss.nmea.parser.Angle360;
    13  import ocss.nmea.parser.GeoPos;
    14  import ocss.nmea.parser.Speed;
    15  import ocss.nmea.parser.UTCDate;
    16  import olivsoftdesktop.DesktopUserExitInterface;
    17  import olivsoftdesktopuserexits.emailutil.EmailSender;
    18  
    19  public class DesktopEmailSender
    20    implements DesktopUserExitInterface
    21  {
    22    private final static SimpleDateFormat SDF = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MMM-dd HH:mm:ss");
    23    private final static DecimalFormat DF22   = new DecimalFormat("##0.00 'kts'");
    24    private final static DecimalFormat DF30   = new DecimalFormat("##0'\272'");
    25    private static String SEND_PROVIDER = "google";
    26    private Thread watcher = null;
    27    private boolean keepWatching = true;
    28    private EmailSender sender = null;
    29  
    30    private double windThreshold = -1;
    31    private long betweenLoops = 600 * 1000L; // 10 minutes default
    32  
    33    public DesktopEmailSender()
    34    {
    35      super();
    36    }
    37  
    38    @Override
    39    public void start()
    40    {
    41      System.out.println("Method 'start':" + this.getClass().getName() + " User exit is starting...");
    42      Properties props = new Properties();
    43      String propFile = "email.properties";
    44      try
    45      {
    46        FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream(propFile);
    47        props.load(fis);
    48      }
    49      catch (Exception e)
    50      {
    51        System.err.println("email.properies file problem..., from " + System.getProperty("user.dir"));
    52        throw new RuntimeException("File not found:email.properies");
    53      }
    54      SEND_PROVIDER = props.getProperty("ue.preferred.provider", SEND_PROVIDER);
    55      sender = new EmailSender(SEND_PROVIDER);
    56      try
    57      {
    58        windThreshold = Double.parseDouble(props.getProperty("ue.wind.threshold"));
    59        System.out.println("Will send emails when the wind is above [" + windThreshold + "]");
    60      }
    61      catch (NumberFormatException nfe)
    62      {
    63        throw new RuntimeException("Bad wind threshold:" + props.getProperty("ue.wind.threshold"));
    64      }
    65      try
    66      {
    67        betweenLoops = Long.parseLong(props.getProperty("ue.between.loops.in.minute"));
    68      }
    69      catch (NumberFormatException nfe)
    70      {
    71        throw new RuntimeException("Bad Loop interval:" + props.getProperty("ue.between.loops.in.minute"));
    72      }
    73      final long _betweenLoops = betweenLoops;
    74      watcher = new Thread()
    75        {
    76          private boolean started = false;
    77          private final long BETWEEN_LOOPS = _betweenLoops * 60 * 1000;
    78          private final long TEN_SECONDS   =  10000L;
    79          private long waitTime = BETWEEN_LOOPS;
    80          public void run()
    81          {
    82            while (keepWatching)
    83            {
    84              waitTime = BETWEEN_LOOPS;
    85              NMEADataCache dc = NMEAContext.getInstance().getCache();
    86              try
    87              {
    88                double tws = ((Speed) dc.get(NMEADataCache.TWS)).getValue();
    89                double twd = ((Angle360) dc.get(NMEADataCache.TWD)).getValue();
    90                String date = "";
    91                UTCDate utcDate = (UTCDate)NMEAContext.getInstance().getCache().get(NMEADataCache.GPS_DATE_TIME);
    92                if (utcDate != null && utcDate.getValue() != null)
    93                {
    94                  Date d = utcDate.getValue();
    95                  Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
    96                  cal.setTime(d);
    97                  cal.setTimeZone(TimeZone.getTimeZone("Etc/UTC"));
    98                  date = SDF.format(cal.getTime());
    99                }
   100                String pos = "";
   101                try { pos = ((GeoPos)dc.get(NMEADataCache.POSITION)).toString(); } catch (Exception ex) {}
   102                if (!started)
   103                {
   104                  started = true;
   105                  System.out.println(" -- User exit started for good.");
   106                }
   107                if (tws > windThreshold && !Double.isInfinite(tws))
   108                {
   109                  String alertMessage =
   110                    (date.trim().length() > 0 ? "Date:" + date + "\n": "") +
   111                    (pos.trim().length() > 0 ? "Pos:" + pos + "\n" : "") +
   112                    "Wind is over " + DF22.format(windThreshold) + ":" + DF22.format(tws) + ", TWD:" + DF30.format(twd);
   113                  System.out.println(alertMessage);
   114                  // Send an email...
   115                  try
   116                  {
   117                    sender.send(alertMessage);
   118                    System.out.println("Email sent.");
   119                  }
   120                  catch (Exception ex)
   121                  {
   122                    System.err.println("Sending email failed through [" + SEND_PROVIDER + "]");
   123                    ex.printStackTrace();
   124                  }
   125                }
   126              }
   127              catch (NullPointerException npe)
   128              {
   129                // Just wait til next time...
   130                System.out.println("Cache not initialized (yet)");
   131                waitTime = TEN_SECONDS;
   132              }
   133              synchronized (this)
   134              {
   135                System.out.println("  ...User exit going to wait, at " + new Date().toString() + " (will wait for " + (waitTime / 1000) + " s)");
   136                try { wait(waitTime); }
   137                catch (InterruptedException ie)
   138                {
   139                  System.out.println("Told to stop!");
   140                  keepWatching = false;
   141                }
   142              }
   143            }
   144            System.out.println("Stop waiting.");
   145          }
   146        };
   147      keepWatching = true;
   148      watcher.start();
   149    }
   150  
   151    @Override
   152    public void stop()
   153    {
   154      System.out.println(this.getClass().getName() + " is terminating");
   155      keepWatching = false;
   156      synchronized (watcher)
   157      {
   158        watcher.notify();
   159      }
   160    }
   161  
   162    @Override
   163    public void describe()
   164    {
   165      System.out.println("Polls the NMEA Cache on a regular base, and sends an email if the TWS is above a given threshold.");
   166      System.out.println("Driven by a properties file named email.properties, in the all-scripts directory.");
   167    }
   168  }      
      

All the sources of this example.

Possibilities are endless. The limit is your imagination.
Combining the two examples above, you can as well gather all the data into a single document (XML, json, etc), and send it through email on a regular base, so it can be rendered by the receipient.
Etc, etc...

How to do it for yourself, step by step

1. Download all the sources, in the zip mentionned above
2. Extract it is a new clean directory
3. Make sure the jar mail.jar is in your all-3rd-party directory
4. Make sure you have installed a JDK in your environment
5. In a system console, navigate to the directory where you unzipped the sources
6. If it does not exist, create a classes directory. Make sure it is empty
7. Compile the code:
   On Windows

    Prompt> set OLIV_HOME=D:\OlivSoft
    Prompt> set CP=%OLIV_HOME%\all-3rd-party\mail.jar
    Prompt> set CP=%CP%;%OLIV_HOME%\all-libs\nmeaparser.jar
    Prompt> set CP=%CP%;%OLIV_HOME%\all-libs\nmeareader.jar
    Prompt> set CP=%CP%;%OLIV_HOME%\all-libs\desktop.jar
    Prompt> set CP=%CP%;%OLIV_HOME%\all-libs\geomutil.jar
    Prompt> javac -d classes -sourcepath src -cp %CP% src\olivsoftdesktopuserexits\*.java
           

   On Linux

    
    Prompt> bash
    Prompt> OLIV_HOME=/usr/OlivSoft
    Prompt> CP=$OLIV_HOME/all-3rd-party/mail.jar
    Prompt> CP=$CP:$OLIV_HOME/all-libs/nmeaparser.jar
    Prompt> CP=$CP:$OLIV_HOME/all-libs/nmeareader.jar
    Prompt> CP=$CP:$OLIV_HOME/all-libs/desktop.jar
    Prompt> CP=$CP:$OLIV_HOME/all-libs/geomutil.jar
    Prompt> javac -d classes -sourcepath src -cp $CP src/olivsoftdesktopuserexits/*.java
           

   Make sure you do not see any error.
8. Archive the generated classes:
   On Windows

    
    Prompt> cd classes
    Prompt> jar -cvf ..\emailUserExit.jar *
           

   On Linux

    
    Prompt> cd classes
    Prompt> jar -cvf ../emailUserExit.jar *
           

9. Copy the archive in the all-user-exits directory
   On Windows

    
    Prompt> cd ..
    Prompt> copy *.jar %OLIV_HOME%\all-user-exits
           

   On Linux

    
    Prompt> cd ..
    Prompt> cp *.jar $OLIV_HOME/all-user-exits
           

   Copy email.properties in the all-scripts directory
   On Windows

    
    Prompt> copy email.properties %OLIV_HOME%\all-scripts
           

   On Linux

    
    Prompt> cp email.properties $OLIV_HOME/all-scripts
           

   You are almost done...
10. Modify the line that starts the console, so it takes your work in account:
    On Windows

     
    set COMMAND=java %JAVA_OPTIONS% -classpath %CP% olivsoftdesktop.OlivSoftDesktop %HEADLESS_OPTIONS% -ue:olivsoftdesktopuserexits.DesktopEmailSender
    start "Headless Console (User-Exit)" %COMMAND%
            

    On Linux

     
    java $JAVA_OPTIONS -classpath $CP olivsoftdesktop.OlivSoftDesktop $HEADLESS_OPTIONS -ue:olivsoftdesktopuserexits.DesktopEmailSender &
            

    That's it!
    Important: Do not forget to edit and modify email.properties, so it matches your environment, and your needs.

And all this runs just fine on a Raspberry PI, I've tested it.

Multiple Access, for real

Now we've setup the ad-hoc network from the Raspberry PI reading the NMEA Data, we can simultaneously access the data, from several devices connected on the ad-hoc network defined on the boat, from the Raspberry PI itself:

Swing Console from a laptop

OpenCPN from a laptop

HTML Console from a laptop

HTML Console from an iPad

HTML Console from an iPhone

All the pictures above were taken with all the programs on the devices running simultaneously.
A small glitch I need to address: Android does not want to connect to an ad-hoc network. I need to fix that, more to come soon.

NMEA with Raspberry PI: All Good!

The last step - after this one - was not as straight forward. But finally, everything works fine.
The idea was to use PI4J to read the serial port (/dev/ttyAMA0). All the tests I made with PI4J were all very positive, but apparently, there is a bug when the baud rate is 4800. And unfortunately, this is the one we need.
But as reading a USB port (/dev/ttyUSB0) was not a problem, a simple adapter (serial 9 pin to USB) fixed everything. And on Linux (Raspberry PI runs Linux, a tweaked version of Debian), no driver or any such thing is required. Plug it in, and boom! It works.

The Raspberry PI reads the serial port with the headless console, and rebroadcasts everything appropriately.
The NMEA Console and OpenCPN can use TCP to get the data, The html5 Console uses HTML..., everything goes seamlessly. For less than 700mA. And around $50.
We will detail later all the steps to go through to get this done anywhere. This is just an easy check list.
And we'll built a nice box to host all this. The Raspberry, an optional small screen, and possibly a small keyboard.
More soon.

And just to give you a taste of what will come next,node.js works like a charm on the Raspberry PI, and the WebSocket protocol works as if it had been designed for this platform... That is going to seriously rock.

To summarize

This project goes along with the NMEA console, found here.

The main points this project addresses:

• Serial ports (most of the data we're interested in come through a serial port) are accessed exclusively. Only one program at a time can access the data. I had the problem on the ketch, when the cartography soft was accessing the data port (to plot the boat on the chart), the console (the one evaluating current and performances) had to wait.
• The laptop you can use to read the data draws a substantial amount of electricity (around 10W is not unusual).
• Several devices on the boat (tactician, driver, navigator, trimmers) might need to have simultaneous access to the data, and they might need to be already processed and smoothed (damped)

The various devices needing access to the data might not run the same Operating System (MacOS, iOS, Android, Windows, Linux...). We assumed here that they have a network access, and a browser supporting HTML5 (the tests I made for this particular point are positive).
So, here is the story:

1. The Raspberry PI creates its own ad-hoc network when it boots, and you start on it a utility that reads the data from the serial (or whatever) port connected to the NMEA station
2. The data are read, and stored on the raspberry in some cache (a hashmap).
3. The data are logged (optional), and processed (true wind is calculated, current is evaluated, VMG - on the wind or on the mark, performance, are evaluated). Those data are cached as well. Those calculations require some parameters to be set (max leeway, deviation curves, polars of the boat, some coefficients for the instruments, etc), they are available on the Raspberry PI.
4. The data rebroadcasted on TCP, UDP, and HTML (also possibly RMI; I dropped GPSd). You can select one or more of those channels for rebroadcasting.

Basically, this is all the RaspPi is doing.

The SD card containing the OS of the PI needs to be 4Gb big, minimal recommended. Mine is 8, and it can go beyond 32. This allows DAYS of logging.

Now, when a device from the boat wants to see what's going on (i.e. visualize the data), it connects to the boat's ad-hoc network. Then, depending on its possibilities and needs, it can use the NMEA Console (that one can read any channel for its data input), or the HTML5 Console (at the bottom of this page).

The chart plotting program (like OpenCPN) can use the exact same data stream.
And when you're done watching your device, you can turn it off, hibernate it, what not, the RaspPi keeps reading and broadcasting.

The RaspPi does not take more than 700mA.
And it costs less than $50.
The RaspPi does not need any keyboard or screen. (I use SSH from a laptop to start the reading program on it).
The main points are:

• Low consumption (and low price, if it makes any sense in this context)
• Data rebroadcasting
• Logging (ages of logging).
  I log VWR, RMC, MWV, RMB, VHW, VLW, HDG, MTW and GLL. It's about 1 Mb per hour.
  One day would be 24 Mb. One week around 168 Mb. Peanuts.

I have a lot of data, some logged during our Polynesian trip, I can replay them. This story seems to work.

I was very interested during the recent America's Cup, to see all the crews watching several kind of devices..., many had those displays on their fore-arms, tacticians had some iPad-like devices, fasten on their bellies with some shock-cords and velcro..., it kind of rang a bell! Those boats had for sure way more sensors that just an NMEA station (up to 3000 sensors for Oracle, I heard), but I believe that there is already a LOT to do with the data you can get from a regular NMEA station.

Once the ad-hoc network is setup, the crew members can even use their smart phone to access it, and visualize the HTML5 Console. That actually enhances one point: All the technology is here - nothing has been built or invented specially for this project. It's all about getting access to it with existing devices and techniques. Everyone (including me!) now has a smartphone, Linux has been around for ages, NMEA is one of the (if not THE) oldest standards in IT... And again, a small device you can get for less that $50 makes it all possible!
I like that.

Tropical phenomenons, Pacific, fall 2013

We've had quite a few tropical phenomenons in the Pacific since the end of August... Here is a list - still open - of what we've had, along with the time they were active, and their highest strength. Wind speeds are in knots. 60 G 75 is to be read 60 knots, gusting 75 knots.

Sep 01-02	TS Kiko, 60 G 75
Sep 13-16	TS Man-Yi, 60 G 75
Sep 17-18	Typhoon Usagi, 65 G 80
Sep 13-16	TS Man-Yi, 60 G 75
Sep 19	Hurricane Manuel, 65 G 80
Sep 21-27	Typhoon Pabuk, 90 G 110
Oct 01-04	Typhoon Fitow, 85 G 105
Oct 04-06	Typhoon Danas, 95 G 115
Oct 11-16	Typhoon Wipha, 115 G 140
Oct 16-30	Super Typhoon Francisco, 140 G 170 Super Typhoon Lekima, 140 G 170, Hurricane Raymond, 95 G 105
Nov 04-now	Super Typhoon Haiwan, 165 G 200

As a reminder, a hurricane (force 12 on the Beaufort scale) is over 64 knots.
Over 64 knots, it's a Category One hurricane.
Over 82 knots, it's a Category Two hurricane.
Over 95 knots, it's a Category Three hurricane.
Over 112 knots, it's a Category Four hurricane.
Over 136 knots, it's a Category Five hurricane.

Hurricanes and Typhoons are similar phenomenons. Hurricanes belong to the East Pacific, Typhoons to the West Pacific.

We also note that the Beaufort scale does not mention any such thing as a "Super Storm". You have Storm, Violent Storm, and Hurricane...
"Super Storm" is something invented by some journalists.

For Navigatrix users of the WeatherWizard

Apparently, the soft has been installed as root, and some write permissions are not granted to everyone.
That makes it difficult to write on the file system, like when downloading a file!
To fix that, you need to go to a Console, and enter the following commands:

 Prompt> cd /opt/WeatherWizard
 Prompt> sudo find . -name '*' -exec chown $USER {} \;

You might as well change the group of the same files. If your group is "mygrp", then just type:

 Prompt> cd /opt/WeatherWizard
 Prompt> sudo find . -name '*' -exec chgrp mygrp {} \;

Be careful, all characters are important.
That's a bit cryptic, but that should work!