Calibrating Speed Control

[Phil2360]

 

Just been thinking outside the square about speed control & the calibration factors that need to be considered.

Basically all boats are going to respond differently based on engines, propellors, hull designs & the list goes on.

When we think back to manual driving we got to know a boats response by the way it feels in relation to how it respondes to the throttle.

So why don't speed controls work in a similar manner.

Consider a built in calibration mode where the speed control take the boat to 34 mph & holds it there. It records the revs then has a few different "Pushes on the throttle" & records what happens. It would know how much throttle it applied & what RPM, acceleration & speed changes this made. This information could be recomputed & stored & used later as a reference factor so the unit is now aware of how responsive this particular boat is.

Why not throw way the "Switch". Replace it with a load cell that can actually monitor the load constantly on the ski pole. They're not that expensive these days. The system would now have even more feedback to work with. 

Would seem to me that this approach would overcome a variety of issues.

[eleeski]

Maybe we need an accelerometer. That might replace the seat of the pants feel that the good human drivers used to be able to use. Same idea as a strain guage (load cell) on the pylon but cheaper. Something other than a slavish quest for exact times.

Eric