Electric Steering for Outboard Motor..Help
Hello all, new to the forums and really not sure how I came about them. But after glancing at a few of threads I realize all of you are a lot smarter than myself and some of you would be able to help me with a ideal I've had for a while but don't really have the know how to to make it work safely. Or tell me that it sounds good on paper but a lot of bad things sound good on paper.
A little background and the why of wanting to electrically control my outboard motor with a small gaming flight control stick. This will be for personal use on my own boat.
I convert small aluminum boats (12'-14') Deep V boats/skiffs in "mini" bass boats. One the biggest things I have to watch for while building a boat is weight. Whatever I add to it must be as strong as possible, yet as light as possible. So whenever I can build a something that is not the "normal" why it would be done in a bigger boat, but is lighter in weight and still functions as just as well, it's a win. So if I can control the steering with a joystick and electric actuators, I would be able to loss about 40-50 lbs (est) in weight by removing the console, steering wheel, cables and pulleys. Plus space is at a perimun in theses small boats and removing a steering console would free up a lot of space.
Here is my "ideal" on how to make this happen.. Using a computer gaming Flight Control joystick mounted on the side of hull to control both the steering and throttle by wire. Which would send the control input to 2 small electric actuators for steering and a small R/C servo for throttle control. The buttons on the joystick would be used for shifting into D-N-R gears and using a R/C servo.
So my question is... Does this seem possible, while being both safe and cost effective..??
A little background and the why of wanting to electrically control my outboard motor with a small gaming flight control stick. This will be for personal use on my own boat.
I convert small aluminum boats (12'-14') Deep V boats/skiffs in "mini" bass boats. One the biggest things I have to watch for while building a boat is weight. Whatever I add to it must be as strong as possible, yet as light as possible. So whenever I can build a something that is not the "normal" why it would be done in a bigger boat, but is lighter in weight and still functions as just as well, it's a win. So if I can control the steering with a joystick and electric actuators, I would be able to loss about 40-50 lbs (est) in weight by removing the console, steering wheel, cables and pulleys. Plus space is at a perimun in theses small boats and removing a steering console would free up a lot of space.
Here is my "ideal" on how to make this happen.. Using a computer gaming Flight Control joystick mounted on the side of hull to control both the steering and throttle by wire. Which would send the control input to 2 small electric actuators for steering and a small R/C servo for throttle control. The buttons on the joystick would be used for shifting into D-N-R gears and using a R/C servo.
So my question is... Does this seem possible, while being both safe and cost effective..??
Comments
https://www.firgelliauto.com/collections/linear-actuators
https://www.servocity.com/servos/servo-gearboxes
https://www.servocity.com/motors-actuators
For anything other than trolling I would not be comfortable with a diy system - unless built to a professional level (more time and expense than buying a commercial system). The possible consequences of loss of control are too great.
One way to save a lot of room and some weight is to use a stick steer instead of a wheel.
And you have to think about a waterproof joystick and electronics. Boating stuff is subject to a lot of corrsion especially in saltwater.
Ok guy's do not be so negative, be positive.
Any failure or RED power off button and power off says boat off. Can happen with any boat.
We all can agree that a Servo can handle the throttle, power/pwm off throttle goes to zero pulled by a spring. No danger of failure, if it stops, it stops. But can still be manually used, the servo does not resist without power.
For steering I do also have some at least overridable Idea. the boat is small, in an emergency the OP might be able to jump back and steer manually.
So when system down one needs to steer manually at the motor.
How about that. Some horizontal ring around the engines turning point, does not need to be a full ring just 180 degrees, and a Parallax Motor,Mount and Wheel-Kit, with them pneumatic tires.
One of the motors/Tires mounted horizontal next to the engine, 'driving' on that ring in one direction turns the engine right, the other way left. Maybe the wheel assembly needs to be pressed with a spring against the ring because of Engine movement. A quick release for the spring and you can steer and drive as usual.
Now we are down to some springs, a servo, a motor mount and wheel kit and have a second motor and wheel left.
That could be used for shifting, no Idea yet.
On the software side we are basically back to servos, so the OP could even attach some Model Aircraft RC-Receiver and run his boat from the beach.
Enjoy!
Mike
Some of them have other functions that might come in handy, like a voltage display for your battery and other buttons that can be used for electric start, stop and your horn if you have one. The older, less "smart" the chair's joystick is the easier it will be to connect.
I can tell you if you have a small outboard boat, then at speed ehich can be up to 40 kts, you would not want to lose steering - the worst time would be while doing a tight turn - and a loss of steering could be disastrous !!!
If speed is limited to say 10 kts it may not be a disaster. We don’t know the circumstances here so best to point out known pitfalls.
He stated: To me that means an outboard.
It will have enough power to plane, which can be less than 5 hp up to about 40. A sudden loss of control at any planing speed can be dangerous.
If the boat is planing and there is a problem that results in a sudden steering change there will not be time to intervene manually before an accident can happen. A partial solution would be to use hardware that cannot move without power - that would eliminate the sudden yaw of the outboard which can overturn the boat, but then that same feature would make it harder to regain control.
I don't believe that a safe, reliable steer-by-wire system can be made for a small boat that would end up lighter than using a stick steer. Even commercial electronic steering systems made for similar type boats are not intended to be used while planing.
It would be a nice feature to have a joystick to steer while trolling, but electronic steering at planing speeds is a bad idea IMO.
I agree. By the time safety mechanisms were added there would be very little gain in space or weight.
Start out small. Simple 2 axis joystick, microntroller and servo. Get that working and a lot of your questions will be answered. You don't have to start with a full size boat, a complex PC joystick, or an outboard motor. As mentioned, things will go wrong, it's much better for things to go wrong in a controlled environment, such as your workbench.
Based on the OP's original post where he says:
It seems that he is trying to replace all of the above with the gaming flight controller. I think this can be done safely by setting up the throttle control mechanism range of motion so that the electronics can not open the throttle beyond a certain point.