[HN Gopher] Signal K - open-source universal marine data exchang...
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Signal K - open-source universal marine data exchange format
Author : pabs3
Score : 69 points
Date : 2023-03-08 07:19 UTC (15 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (signalk.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (signalk.org)
| msandford wrote:
| My only exposure is getting GPS and AIS data out of an OpenCPN
| computer and relayed to a tablet. Works great for that.
| mistrial9 wrote:
| OpenCPN needs a new maintainer in Debian --0 hint
| pvaldes wrote:
| Seems like a lot of regulation will stand in the middle of
| their path, and that will be adopted only by some sectors (No
| way military ships will pick this) but is intriguing. Security
| will be a problem.
| emilecantin wrote:
| Not sure what regulation you're talking about; the only
| existing standards in this space are either proprietary to
| one manufacturer (e.g Raymarine's Seatalk), or just industry
| consensus (e.g NMEA). There's no regulation enforcing the use
| of either except market forces.
|
| I know for a fact that security has been a big consideration
| in SignalK's development, but at its core SignalK is only a
| JSON schema; I don't see why military ships couldn't pick
| this up if they were so inclined.
|
| For now, it has basically become the standard in the open-
| source marine ecosystem; used by default in OpenPlotter (a
| marine-oriented Linux distribution) and supported in OpenCPN
| (a chartplotter/navigation software).
| throw0101c wrote:
| So this is an alternative to NMEA (which is a variant of CANbus /
| SAE J1939)?
|
| * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Marine_Electronics_As...
|
| * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NMEA_2000
|
| * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NMEA_0183
| yardie wrote:
| It's not an alternative to NMEA, thought it definitely started
| as an open source replacement of NMEA. Cooler heads prevailed
| and the NMEA body opened some of the IP to SignalK developers.
| So instead of the opensource hardware that used SignalK as
| originally envisioned we have the same NMEA based proprietary
| hardware that SignalK ingest and convert to JSON.
| Pasorrijer wrote:
| Just an FYI, the first link (NMEA OneNet) sounds great, but
| isn't actually used by any of the major manufacturers yet
| sadly.
|
| Also, only NMEA2000 is based on CANbus, NMEA0183 is not.
| floathub wrote:
| Indeed.
|
| NMEA2000 is essentially a Marine Electronics version of
| CANBUS with their own agreed upon PGNs.
|
| NMEA0183 is pretty close to RS-232 (and/or RS-422), usually
| at 4800 baud, but there's a "High Speed" variant at 38,400
| baud.
| emilecantin wrote:
| Minor nitpick: NMEA0183 is a text format (based on
| "sentences"), it's at the protocol layer, RS-422 is the
| most common transport layer but we often carry it over UDP
| or TCP too. SignalK can convert and output your data in
| NMEA0183 on TCP port 10110, for instance.
| pvaldes wrote:
| "allows for communication between instruments and sensors on
| board a single vessel, and also sharing of data between multiple
| boats, aids to navigation, bridges, marinas and other land-based
| resources"
| Jemm wrote:
| So will be finally be able to find out a bridge's name without
| a cruising guide?
| emilecantin wrote:
| Sharing beyond a boat's internal network isn't much used yet
| except for a few use-cases.
|
| You need to have a way for the individual boats to share that
| data. The most obvious way would be to have access to the
| internet, and host a server somewhere where all the boats
| would send their data (sensor data, mostly
| position/heading/speed information).
|
| For example, a regatta could host a server where participants
| send all their data, enabling a live map with all
| participant's position and course plotted on it, along with
| depth & wind instrument readings. This could let spectators
| understand the participant's performance (how high their
| point into the wind, etc.)
|
| Navigation information (routes, waypoints, etc) can also be
| shared over SignalK, altough that's not much used yet as
| OpenCPN doesn't support it. Again, in the regatta example,
| you could see a "dynamic" regatta, where the course isn't
| known in advance.
|
| IMO the main challenge here is having a peer-to-peer "local
| broadcast" mode, like AIS or DSC. There are regulatory
| challenges with this, though.
| Pasorrijer wrote:
| As someone with a boat, Signal K is super useful. It doesn't
| necessarily replace the other standards, but it means I can take
| my cats pajama's worth of other standards (NMEA0183, NMEA2000,
| homegrown Ethernet sensors) and ingest all of that data into one
| platform. After I've done that, it's really trivial to visualize
| it all in one place.
| BiteCode_dev wrote:
| Given how terrible NMEA formats are, this is fantastic.
| telecuda wrote:
| A $30,000 car today often has a far better screen/user experience
| than a $300,000 boat. iPad/tablet apps for boaters attached to
| mounts are common, though lack communication with the boat's
| sensors (without something like Signal K), and are hard to see in
| full sun. Compound that with the Coast Guard being a defense
| agency where getting new data typres in and out is "a process."
|
| Shameless but relevant plug -- I was annoyed hearing radio
| traffic of boaters trying to share their location with the Coast
| Guard, so I built a free tool for them (i911) that allows USCG to
| text the boater a link to share their location. The vast majority
| of distress calls are made within cell phone range (<15 miles
| from shore), so tapping that link isn't as much of an issue as
| you would think it is. It was the fastest tech to graduate from
| their R&D site to nationwide sector adoption.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF1pi2-ygXU
|
| Excited to dig into Signal K to see if something there can help
| improve that response even further.
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(page generated 2023-03-08 23:01 UTC)