Soon I'll be bringing my half-completed Vanguard hull to my new home
so that I can complete it after two years lying dormant. Given this
momentous occasion, I've started to think about my next craft (much to
my wife's disappointment).
I've long thought it would be interesting to use an LCD display in a
hovercraft as a multifunction display, similar to those found in
modern aircraft. An in/out board could receive analog voltage signals
from the engine's factory senders for oil pressure, coolant
temperature, etc., converting them to digital signals read by an
onboard PC and displayed in a neat-o graphical form on the panel.
"Soft buttons" around the LCD bezel could select different functions
to monitor, etc. You could also rig up EGT and CHT senders. You
could monitor the electrical system with current and voltage sensors.
This idea was renewed when I came across www.phidgets.com. This is a
modular USB interface kit with a number of digital and analog input
and output options. Thinking about this, you could take it much
further than simply monitoring engine functions in an MFD and have a
Primary Flight Display with a rotating compass ring around the craft
showing heading (using a digital compass sender from Dinsmore, etc.),
crab angle and thus true course (using a vane on top of the craft
mounted to a rotation sensor). An airspeed indicator would be similar
to an aircraft's using pressure sensors inside ram-air and static-air
chambers. If you had a way to input GPS data into the card, you could
calculate wind velocity as well, or even have a moving map display.
You could take this system a step further and make the craft fly-by-
wire. I've ridden on one such craft and I know there have been
discussions about it on this and other groups. Phidgets sells (and
I'm sure others do too) analog slider and rotation sensors that could
be used for throttle and rudder inputs (The FBW craft I rode in used a
video game joystick). Even if you didn't want fly-by-wire, an input
for the throttle position could give you fuel burn data like modern
cars: average economy, current fuel flow, time/distance until empty
(would all need to be calibrated, of course). Further, Phidgets sells
key fobs and readers. If the computer controlled the throttle and
starter relay, the hovercraft could start itself automatically if you
pressed a button when sitting in the driver's seat, much like some new
cars (I know the Prius and some Lexus have key fobs). Add a
temperature sensor and you could have different start routines if
necessary on a carbureted engine. A visual or vibration sensor near
the prop could be calibrated to detect when the engine starts.
All this sounds great but unfortunately I have no experience with
stuff like this: I've never programmed anything more complex than a
graphing calculator. I'm sure the hardware would go together pretty
easily, but I don't know how I would go about processing the data from
the USB ****t and making a graphical interface. It will be a few years
until I'm actually operating a craft large enough (presumably an
Explorer) to mount any displays, so I have some time to develop the
skill set I'd need for such a project. I know that this will become a
hobby in and of itself! How do I get started learning these about
this? What kind of programming languages should I be looking at? I
particularly hope that this post catches Ken's attention, I suspect it
is right up his alley.
Dan
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