Category: SCANS

  • Building A Custom Optical Encoder For Rudder Position Sensing – Part 2

    Building A Custom Optical Encoder For Rudder Position Sensing – Part 2

    In Part 1, I introduced the problem of rudder position sensing for SCANS and explained why Gray code (and optical sensing) provides reliable absolute position encoding in the presence of mechanical imperfection and electrical noise. This second part examines the first part of the implementation: the translation of Gray code theory into manufacturable encoder disk.…

  • Building a Custom Optical Encoder for Rudder Position Sensing – Part 1

    Building a Custom Optical Encoder for Rudder Position Sensing – Part 1

    Part 1 of a multi-part series documenting the design and development of a 3D-printable optical encoder for sailboat rudder position sensing.

  • SignalK SCANS Switch HowTo

    SignalK SCANS Switch HowTo

    A Basic SignalK Node.js plugin for ReSTful control of switches connected to GPIO pins on the Raspberry Pi.

  • 290 Watt DC-DC Power Supply

    290 Watt DC-DC Power Supply

    In this post I discuss building a multi-voltage DC power supply, built from commodity components, that accepts 10 to 24 volts in and will supply 5V 10A, 12V 5A, and 24V 3A for powering Raspberry Pi’s, routers, POE equipment, etc.

  • Parts Replication System: Power Consumption

    Parts Replication System: Power Consumption

    Now that the prototype Parts Replication System (PRS) has been up and running for a bit I’ve been getting settings and procedures dialed in and collecting some data on power usage. The power consumption data were collected using the setup shown in the first photo and will be used to determine the power budget for…

  • Sérénité’s Parts Replication System (PRS)

    Sérénité’s Parts Replication System (PRS)

    Part 2: The Printer In my last PRS post I broached the idea of having an onboard 3D Printer to fabricate parts. After much consideration I decided to go with an economical, mid-range printer for the test. I needed one capable enough to make a variety of parts, with a good size build volume to…

  • Sérénitié’s Parts Replication System (PRS)

    Sérénitié’s Parts Replication System (PRS)

    Part 1 – The Idea A few years ago, while I was perusing NASA tech briefs, I came across an article about how they were testing additive manufacturing to replicate parts in space, on demand. That is, instead of carrying a store of spares onboard a Mars mission to replace anything that might break or…