Sailboat AutoHelm

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My project will be an Arduino powered autohelm for my sailboat. It will consist of a digital compass feeding heading info to the Arduino, which will attempt to maintain the set heading by driving either a stepper or server motor that is connected to the tiller. In this way, I can mess with the sails, get a beer, eat a sandwich, etc. while the boat maintains a somewhat straight course. Once the basics are there, coding will need to be iterative to improve the function of the device.

These things normally go for thousands of dollars. I am certain this can be built for < $200.

License: 
MIT license
j.kleijn's picture

I have an autohelm 1000. I

Submitted by j.kleijn on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 09:43.

I have an autohelm 1000. I hate that thing (constantly have to push the + and the - buttons to keep my boat in the proper direction. Would be nice to fit your creation in my hardware.